Oregon Birding - Day One

We arrived late last night at PDX, flying in for a couple of weeks vacation while house sitting for our daughter, checking out the Salem grand kids and their folks, and seeing our Corvallis son. The leg of the flight from Chicago to Portland was uneventful except for some spectacular lighting storms over the Rocky Mountains - from 35,000 feet we looked across and down on the tops of clouds that were lit up and silhouette by discharges of electricity in rapid succession.

Mallard Duck family

After old grandma and grandpa shared a bunk bed and air mattress with our second grandson in his room, we drove to Albany to settle in for the duration of our trip and had lunch and then some down time for the afternoon. Mid-afternoon isn't the best time for viewing birds, but I drove over to Talking Waters Garden Park and walked the a good part of the roads around the facility checking out whatever happened to be around. My son-in-law brought me here last winter for the first time. The park vegetation has grown a great deal, and azola has covered much of the water surface area, leaving the appearance of green carpets covering the ponds that quickly engulfs the wakes of the ducks as they pass effortlessly through the water.

Mallard Duck female

Mallard Ducks were the most common bird of all. They were working the azola a lot, and the most viewed pose was them exiting before I reached near where they were doing their activities. I hadn't before seen the bright blue colored patch of feathers on the females' wings.

Killdeer

There were three species of shore birds, two which I hadn't seen before. The Killdeer was common on our farm in Central California, and annually I could find nests on the gravel parking lot near my office on the west side of the Oregon State University Campus. The one today went into its defensive posture as I walked along one of the elevated roads on the berm that held one of the ponds. She announced her presence, and walked slowly away from where I was standing. After walking in her direction for a while, she would fly back in the other direction beyond where I had come, and when I walked back that way again, she repeated her previous effort. I figured roughly the area where her nest must be - as I slowly walked back and forth, she would take off and fly beyond me - again, repeating her actions as I repeated mine.

Spotted Sandpiper

The Spotted Sandpiper was one of the two new shore birds I saw today. A pair were holding their place on rocks near the drainage outlet for one of the ponds. The call was the first thing I noticed, before I had seen them. They were fairly compliant as photographic subjects - not too alarmed by me jockeying for positions where brush and tree limbs didn't obscure my line of sight.

Unknown with yellow legs

My second shore bird unknown is still that - other than having yellow legs, I can't figure out what it is. I found a Website of sandpiper that is pretty straight-forward, but that hasn't helped with the identification. I thought it was a Greater Yellowlegs, but the coloration doesn't seem to fit - the clear, white underside. Also, the range seems out-of-place - it would have to be in the process of migrating to be here. This bird walked effortlessly on the surface of the floating azola in a conducting channel along This bird's identify will have to stay a work in progress for now - I will see if any of my friends on Facebook happen to know what it is.

Song Sparrow

This Song Sparrow was the first passerine bird that I saw this afternoon - the ducks are as prominent as the ponds. The way this bird flicked its tail feathers reminded me of the Carolina Wrens that frequent our yard in Annapolis. This bird vocalized a lot while I watched it - it kept moving around on the willow bush that served as its perch. I don't have a good handle on sparrows in general, there is a guide for sparrows that is on my list of books to get sometime soon. In the mean time, there are Websites showing a range of sparrows to identify.

Red-winged Blackbird

The Red-winged Blackbirds were among the most abundant birds at the park, and also pretty much totally uncooperative for holding a pose so I could get good pictures. This female was the only bird that held in long enough for me to get close, focus, and get a decent shot. The female red-wing's size makes it easy to distinguish from a sparrow. The red and yellow shoulder patches on the males were not very obvious today, but then, the birds continually flew out of range when I tried to walk close to them.

Cedar Waxwing

This Cedar Waxwing was the most exciting find today. I had seen the bird in my birding guides, but had never seen one until today. When it flew onto the cattails, I knew what it was right away. The only challenge was trying to get the auto-focus on my camera to work in time before it flew on its way - just a so-so photograph, but at least it was good enough to document the moment and verify the identification.