I Used to Hate Birds

Yesterday I went up to Cathlamet, Washington, to check out the area including the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-Tailed Deer.  I found a nice pair of the deer on Puget Island:



At the refuge I took a picture of a goose with a neck band- I reported it and will hopefully find out where the goose has been!

I came upon a pair of blue herons doing an interesting dance- I wasn't sure if they were mating or fighting but one flew off before I snapped a picture.  The other heron was in a similar pose before flying off..


Adjacent to Ankeny NWR is this field of sheep.  What I didn't get a picture of was the abandoned house just to the left that sheep seem to have taken over... It's weird.

I think this is a Cooper's Hawk...

A cute little Dark-eyed Junco.

A Bewick's Wren.

It so looks like Spring!

I love how the red part puffs out when they sing.

An American Wigeon and a Ring-necked Duck.


I believe this is a Tree Swallow.


A goose and a nutria...

And...

A beaver!!! Finally!  It only took 8 and a half years of living in the beaver state before I finally saw a beaver! In the evergreen state, nonetheless..

I keep seeing this area mentioned when people write about birds in the area, so I thought I'd check it out yesterday while the weather was still beautiful.  I am so glad I did!


This Song Sparrow was one of many birds chattering away at Zuwalt Park..  I randomly stopped at this park first and lucky for me it was an off-leash area.  Jake had a blast charging through the overgrown grass.

Here is a terrible terrible picture of what I believe is a Bewick's Wren?

This next one was hanging out in the parking lot of a mini-mart down the road from Zuwalt & Jean Parks..

 Is this a Western Bluebird?

At Perkins Peninsula:
There were tons of robins and this Western Scrub-Jay.

At the road leading into the Fern Ridge Wildlife Area Headquarters was this Ring-necked Pheasant.


As I drove up he refused to budge for at least a minute, but finally gave in and hopped into the bushes.

From the Fern Ridge Wildlife Area:

I wouldn't have even bothered trying to identify this bird but he showed me h…

The eagles had taken over Ridgefield this morning!

Last weekend at Chinook Park in Washington...

Semipalmated Plovers? 


And from Cape Disappointment..


I thought the deer was fake until he walked off...


Jake didn't even notice him. Or her.

From Willapa Bay National Wildlife Refuge..


I thought it was funny.

And from the sidewalk in front of my apartment...


Usually I only see the gulls and crows my neighbor feeds, so a flicker is kind of exciting.

And... the sunrise last Saturday over the Columbia River...

I always go to Ridgefield thinking I'll be taking the same pictures I've already taken, but this never happens.  I mean, sure I've got a million pictures of herons and geese, but there's always something new I find.

First off is this guy:

Just another Red-tailed Hawk..

This next one I was not ready for and had my camera's settings not right, but you get the idea..
He dove underwater and disappeared right after this picture.  A Pied-billed Grebe?

This harrier came out a lot blurrier than I realized...

And another Red-tailed Hawk that I thought was a Peregrine.. oops!

I'll spare everyone the rest of the same old same old pictures...