Monmouth, OR and Ridgefield NWR.

I headed down to the Monmouth area yesterday to search for the Trumpeter Swan flock and check out random birdy places.  My first stop was near the intersection of Airlie Road and Simpson Road where there is a flock of Tundra Swans, supposedly with a couple Trumpeters mixed in.  They were too far away to tell.  I drove down Simpson Road and found 3 swans out in a field...


I have been trying to figure out which kind of swan they are but no luck.. Boo.



I followed Simpson to the end and unfortunately the sun had not broken through the fog for most of the drive and I did not see any other swans...

At the E. E. Wilson Wildlife Area I walked around looking for the sapsucker and a reported Northern Shrike.  Instead I found lots of thrushes...

Hermit Thrush

 This flicker was on one of the trails I took the dogs on...



 Turns out he was yellow-shafted:


After walking the dogs around and failing to see the sapsucker or the shrike, I drove over to the Coffin Butte Landfill.... The gulls were having a grand ole time in the pond.


I'm not even going to attempt any ID's this time...  Moving on.  Up the road from the pond were some birds on the phone lines... I was surprised to find out they were Western Bluebirds...


Pretty cute. 


I decided to head back to Portland in the early afternoon as it started to rain.  But by the time I got to Portland the sun was shining so I just kept on driving to Ridgefield...

This Pied-billed Grebe was my first greeter...


I was excited to see this hybrid duck though I'm not sure what it is... The beak makes me think Mallard X Pintail?  Mallard X Wigeon? 


I found a photo of a Mallard X Wigeon that looks very much like this bird... Cool to see whatever it is!  Here's one more shot:


On the last leg of the route I watched some swans for awhile... They would run on the ice before taking off and flying away... Unfortunately they headed right to the hunting area and every time a group would take off, a round of gunshots would follow. 


Thinking of those swans maybe not making it has made me think of my day on Friday.. Jake and I had to say goodbye to one of our best dog friends who was diagnosed with cancer of the spleen just a week ago.  He was one of the greatest dogs I have ever met and I already miss him so much.  I'm just glad Jake doesn't know he's gone... And that he got to play with him one last time.

A photo from my work's Halloween party this year of Jake and Butler:

RIP, buddy...

Comments

  1. What a great group of shots. Boom & Gary of The Vermilon River, Canada.

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  2. You mean they are shooting swans? OMG-
    I think those must be Trumpter Swan? All black bill....but I cant be sure..Sorry to hear about your dog friend going over the rainbow bridge...they just dont live long enough--
    Im in love with the grebe photo...very striking!

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  3. Jen, it's great how you get out to so many different areas to take pictures. What a super variety of birds you have shared! Sorry to hear about Butler--that's always sad. By the way, your grebe shot is superb!

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