Rain. Sun. Thunder.

Yep, it must be spring.  Our weather is all over the place and yesterday evening we even had a thunderstorm, something that many of us transplants dearly miss in the northwest.   They are so rare here that I didn't even realize what was happening during the first rumble (and went flying off the couch thinking a plane was about to crash on my roof).  Birding has been interesting- from cold and wet to hot and sunny.   Here's some recent stuff...

From Kelley Point Park on Thursday morning...

Spotted Towhee

 Young robin


Flycatcher... yep...


Wilson's Warbler


Warbling Vireo


Another young robin


Stick dog


I don't know what this next plant is called but I love it...


 From Force Lake also Thursday morning...

Mallard family
 
 Anna's Hummingbird


Common Yellowthroat

From Oaks Bottom yesterday afternoon...

Barn Swallow

The cotton in the sky was kind of hypnotizing...


Check out this enormous turtle:


I swear it's the biggest one I've ever seen in Portland.  I didn't have too much luck with birds at Oaks Bottom but it's a really nice place to wander around... Always good for a heron:


And I wouldn't be Flycatcher Jen if I didn't scrounge up at least one mystery bird... who unfortunately turned his head the second I got focused on him (and then flew away).



Eh?  The meadow at the end of the trail had tons of western box elder bugs, many of which liked landing on my arms. 


And that's about it for the last few days... Hope to get out somewhere more exciting this weekend.  Good times!!

Comments

  1. Great variety of birds! The young Robins are too cute, especially the second one. What a face. And stick dog seems to be enjoying himself greatly!

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    1. Yes, thankfully it only takes a stick to make him happy!

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  2. That shot of the mallard family is really one of the nicest I've seen. Lovely, lovely shot.

    I love the Wilson's Warbler--they look to me like BRIGHT yellow Friar Tuck. =)

    Love spotted robins and happy dogs. Nice work!

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  3. Yikes!

    Without thinking too hard (which often makes my head explode), I'm leaning towards Hammond's on the Empid. To put it simply - its bill is tiny and its primary projections are long. Head shape and bill length/color doesn't look right for Pacific-slope (our default Empid. in Portland).

    As for the mystery bird, Ash-throated Flycatcher has been detected at Oaks in migration before? That's a toughy.

    Good post!

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  4. Great variety of birds, Jen! The hummer is pretty, it would be nice to see another species of hummingbirds beside the Ruby-Throated. I think the stick dog is my favorite photo. Happy birding and I hope you are having a great holiday weekend.

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  5. OH stick dog is a good BOY!! love that shot. I love the Heron with the mallard fam in the foreground the cute meter all the way over to adorable on that one. ITS a very long tail on your flycatcher no IDEA at all.
    Thanks for pointing me to the You Tube really cool...IM Trying to upload one myself, but Youtube thinks Im old fashioned with my old version of everything...

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    1. Ooh, I hope you get it figured out, I want to see the little fella in action!

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  6. Oh Flycatcher Jen. Such joy you bring me!

    Well, you would be happy to learn that the first bird is a Western Wood-Pewee. Any smallish flycatcher on the west coast that lacks an eye ring is either a pewee or a Willow, and the long primary extension makes it a pewee. As for the faceless bird, it could be the same thing, but I wouldn't bet a lot on that.

    BTW we have the same number of followers now. I've caught up to you, watch out!

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    1. Ah, I had been thinking Willow because of non-eye-ring so thanks for setting me straight. Damn, I saw you were creeping up on me, I might have to start paying people!

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  7. Wow, I was WAY off! I completely forgot about this whole eye-ring thing we're supposed to consider. Yes, Steve is quite correct. I agree with Wood-Pewee. As for the second...???

    Nice save, Steve!

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  8. Your photographs are way cool! The birds are great model but my favorite model is Robin. I want to hug that him. You did an awesome job.

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  9. That flower is a geranium. My mom made the mistake of digging some up for her garden- majorly invasive and she regretted it. Best to enjoy it in the "wild." Even though they are just mallards, the ducklings are so darn cute!

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