Recent birds.

I managed to get out a lot the last few days, not always looking for birds necessarily, but birds are pretty much inevitable, aren't they?  On Sunday my friend and I headed to the gorge to wander around the waterfalls.  They never get old.

                              Multnomah Falls

Didn't see a lot of birds around, but there were some Chestnut-backed Chickadees lingering around the snack shop at Multnomah Falls.


It's such a pretty area to explore- I wish we hadn't run out of daylight...


Monday morning was cold but sunny and I headed up to Ridgefield.  Some of the geese had frosty backs...


Despite the chill, there were some mighty fine signs that the seasons are changing...  Tree Swallows (and even a couple Violet-greens) are starting to take over.  And the bird I was most surprised to see:


A yellowlegs!  The usual eagles and hawks were around as well...

Bald Eagle
 
Red-tailed Hawk

Another thing I was psyched about was the Great Horned Owl sitting on her nest...


Can't wait for owlets...   Yesterday morning I decided to head back to Sauvie Island and try for the Harris's Sparrow again.  I had read someone had heavily seeded the area on Monday so I figured my chances were much better.  Indeed!  He showed up within five minutes.  And disappeared in less than thirty seconds.  Dang it!  Forty-five minutes later he came out again...




Very cool- and I got much better looks at this guy than the one that was here last winter.  Stoked.  Very tempted to cut and paste this guy's photo into the center of this photo:


Mmm zonos...  My sparrow-nerd-destiny is coming together... 

Anyway.  Also on Sauvie Island, the heron rookery is looking good and full...


And lastly, I stopped to ooh and aah over the baby cows.  Calves.  Whatever.



I am pretty sure I should end every post with baby animals.  That would be living the dream.  Good times!

Comments

  1. Quad zonos! Fantastic. Maybe I should start rolling around with a massive store of bird seed in my car.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very cool. I'd trade my bone marrow and 14 arrows to see some of those sparrows.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The waterfall is astonishing! And I love that Great Horned picture, too-- really captures their mystery. Congrats on the Harris!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, congrats on the Harris Sparrow. It would have been great to get all sparrows on one shot. Love the owl on the nest, it would be cool to follow the progress on the nest. The baby cow is adorable I can not wait to see that waterfall myself and the chickadee. I hope the chickadee will wait for me till July. LOL! Great post and I loved the photos. Happy Birding!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree with ending with baby animals!! OH that owl, peeking just over the edge of that tree hollow is Just adorable..All you finds are terrific, Love the waterfall of course...wanna see this one in Real Life one day!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love the Owl in the tree! That is a fabulous find! I visited the gorge 2 summers ago; it is quite a beautiful place.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I don't know...that's a lot of sparrows...getting pretty nerdy around here...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nice birds! Love the Red-tailed thighs. I think possibly all bloggers should end posts with baby animals, preferably baby owls...Great Horned babies on the way, yay!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment