Shillapoo Wildlife Area.

I took the dogs for a walk at Shillapoo this morning, hoping for some migrants or really any birds at all.  My last few outings have been slow to say the least.  Before I get to the birds, let me just say (again) that getting two boy dogs is really dumb if you are planning on walking them with one hand most of the time.  Why?  Because they pee on each other ALL THE TIME.


Yeah, that's Ralph's pee on his chest.  Damn dogs.  Anyway, back to birds...  The first thing I noticed when I arrived was the loads of White-crowned Sparrows.  A few adults, but mostly gnarly-looking young ones..


The most abundant bird, rivaled only by starlings, was the House Finch.  Dozens of them were squabbling over the ripe blackberries, but not this fella.  He was sitting around looking sharp.


We walked a trail through some wetlands with lots of willow trees.  I was psyched to see a Lincoln's Song Sparrow trying to keep a low pro...


One of the willows seemed to be bustling so the dogs and I took a seat in the shade and watched.  A Yellow Warbler was the first to show itself...


Quickly followed by an Orange-crowned Warbler [apparently another Yellow actually]...


At one point a young Common Yellowthroat developed some curiosity about me and the mutts.  He kept creeping closer and peeking at us between branches...


Suddenly there were two right behind us, checking us out.


They decided we were not interesting at all and moved on.  Eventually we got up and moved on also.  The last bird we saw in the area was a Mourning Dove perched on the fence at the entrance...


Good times!

Comments

  1. Looks like a cheery trip. You got a healthy share of sparrows and finches for sure.

    So, do you talk to yourself or to your dogs more when you're out and about?

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  2. Too bad you can not let the dogs run loose. Loved all the bird, especialy all the warblers. It seems like a lot of them are on the move. Great post, happy birding.

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  3. Now that shot of your dog is too funny...he kind of looks proud of his new scent. I guess that's one benefit of only having one dog. Great shots of all the beautiful birds!

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  4. Birding with dogs is one thing, but bird photography with dogs is tough. I like to take Sophie along when we go for hikes, but holding her with one hand and the camera with the other makes getting a shot almost impossible - assuming she doesn't scare away my subject ;)

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  5. Female dogs for the win! I love the curious Yellowthroats.

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  6. Jake looks quite happy with pee on his chest. Perhaps one for dogshaming?

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  7. That piss is impressively yellow. In other impressively yellow news, your Orange-crowned Warbler is a Yellow Warbler (note lack of eye line, among other things). I reckon a Song Sparrow also appears in one of your pictures (boldly marked face, heavily streaked breast).

    Sorry you are in a slump...its because you got all those lifers a couple weeks ago.

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  8. LOL, well my girls dont do that but they sometimes do the dribble and run thing..YUK.
    You saw some really great birds on this trip, and it looks like it was an excellent day!

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