The 'couv.

Vancouver, Washington.  Portlanders love to mock Vancouver ("Vantucky") almost as much as they like to mock Gresham.   I get it.  But there are awesome things about both towns too.  Vancouver has attracted three rarities over the weekend- a Blue Jay, an Ash-throated Flycatcher, and an Indigo Bunting!  I tried for these birds every day for the last three days.

On Saturday I was looking in the wrong areas.  But I found a couple Red-tailed Hawks snacking on a dead squirrel...


The hawk on top was really upset about me being there and started calling loudly at me, until I finally left.



Yesterday I returned to the area armed with more info on the bird locations.  In the Blue Jay area I found oodles of young scrub-jays everywhere.



No Blue Jays, though.  This morning I headed out again and found several birders already in the area.  They had just seen the bunting twice so I was pretty psyched.  While waiting for him to make another appearance we saw quite a few other birds...

 Barn Swallow

American Goldfinch

Finally we heard the bunting singing and were able to spot glimpses of blue in the grass.  Thankfully he was a bird on the go and perched in a nice variety of spots for us.






Hell yeah, such a freakin awesome bird.  Seriously.  Awesome.  Never found the flycatcher or the jay, but I am okay with that.  One last bird to share- I finally got a shot of the dove that has joined the House Sparrows and squirrels in the yard...


Good times!!

Comments

  1. That bunting is awesome! So I guess you will consider Vancouver for your house hunting? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, I have never been screamed at by a hawk. Cool hawk captures. I love the Bunting shots, they are such a beautiful blue. They seem to be pretty common birds around here in the summer. Your Dove is a sweetie, so cute. Great photos and post. Happy Birding. And I wish you a Happy 4th of July!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Indigo Buntings are just so, so sick. Outrageous yet subtle in showing some shades of blue you never even knew existed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Seriously. So glad it was the male that showed up.

      Delete
  4. Lovely birds, I specially like them hawks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, that Hawk does look po'd... The Indigo Bunting is beautiful, what a color!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Indigo Bunting in Vancouver???!!! NOOOOOO!!!!! I won't be able to make it to Vancouver in time :-( NOOOOOO!!!!!

    Thank goodness I have it for Texas!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh bummer! But then again you are hanging out with murrelets and owl babies, so I feel slightly less sorry for you.

      Delete
  7. Your Indigo shots turn me red with envy (is red the color of envy?).

    That bird is tops, totally reconciles the Collared Dove. We've had them move into our neighborhoods down here too. It's kind of a shame at first, but I actually prefer them to the other Doves and their numbers don't grow so exponentially.

    Good luck with the other two birds. Be sure you get trash-throated (drunk) after seeing the Ash-Throated!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow, great shots Jen!

    Show the world, share your adventures! www.theintertwine.org/recess

    ReplyDelete
  9. DAMN!! thats awesome--how'd they get so farrrrrr west? Good for you, great shots of him too.
    Those hawks were giving you your walking papers eh? Funny!!!!!
    SO hot here cant even see thru the bins, fogs up immediately!! :-/

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment