I Used to Hate Birds

Back to the woods!  On Sunday afternoon we took the dogs on another hike, this time down a random forest road off of 1018.  One of the first birds we found is one of my favorites:


I will never get sick of White-headed Woodpeckers.


The day was turning out to be a lot cooler than the previous day, for which Jake was probably the most grateful.


My friend jumped at one point when he spooked a lizard along the side of the road.  The lizard did not make it far and we were able to inspect it closely.  A pygmy short horned lizard!


So damn cute.  We hiked up to yet another view of North Sister...


Yellow-rumped Warblers and Chipping Sparrows kept us company on the hike back.


Grasshopper...red-legged?

After our hike we drove down to Cold Springs campground to fill up our water jugs and wander around a bit.  Best free water source in town.


This area offers up a nuthatch trifecta.

Red-breasted Nuthatch


Pygmy Nuthatch


White-breasted Nuthatch (future Rocky Mountain Nuthatch??)

On the drive back up to our …

I spent this weekend camping with my friend down in the Deschutes National Forest outside of Sisters.  Before we looked for a camp site we stopped along Cold Springs Cutoff to walk the dogs and check out the birds.  Mountain Chickadees were abundant. 


After that we drove out to FS 1018 and starting looking for a good spot.  About six miles down the road we found a pullout that had a fire pit and a couple trails leading out from it.  Looked good.  Jake was bummed on the heat so we took a break in the shade nearby,  where a couple wood nymphs came to visit.


We set up camp and then headed back into town.  A California Quail family crossed the road in front of us- my first quail kids!


Cute.  Since it was about 90 degrees and Jake was not doing so well with the heat we decided to take an air conditioned drive down to the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway.  It was a pretty drive, though most of the pulloffs and lake spots were packed with people.  A few weren't bad, and Jake was even able to…

It's July.  I don't have a whole lot of birds to show you.  Time to get random.  I will be interspersing Northern Pygmy-Owls throughout this post to make it interesting. 

Frog, Alder Flat Trail to the Clackamas River

You all should check out Sondra from South Carolina's Birdathon post from last month!  She joined my team, the Bloggerhead Shrikes, and had an awesome day of birds I can only dream about.  Not only does she include photos of a Summer Tanager, an Anhinga, and a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, but also a video of a gator!!  Go now!

Portland, Spring 2014

Yesterday I walked the dogs along the Frenchman's Bar trail in Vancouver.  It was warm and tame but a there were a few highlights...



Portland, Spring 2014

A Swainson's Thrush was being followed by a vocal young bird that did not strike me as a young thrush.  I never got a good look at it, besides this quick photo:


Perhaps if the thrush had read this helpful information, it would not have had to spend so much ti…