I decided to be optimistic in my title - The Magnificent Seven, because if I add seven more species by the end of the year, I will set the new record. There are 5 species which are or will be more or less gettable, so I will focus on them. The first is Townsend's Solitare. I searched in the coast range a number of times so far this spring and early summer and came up empty. I should get up there more before they head south but since it is fire season, access is quite limited. Two shorebirds already mentioned - Baird's and Pectoral Sandpipers, will take some effort to keep checking 2 certain ponds in the south part of the county during fall migration with hopes these birds will show up there. I did see a Pectoral Sandpiper at one of them last September. Eared Grebe, which I missed in spring migration I hope to find at the sewage ponds during fall migration. Common Goldeneye, I missed last winter, so hope to locate one at the sewage ponds come December.
Beyond these, there are fairly good hopes of finding both Surf Scoter and Red Phalarope after winter storms coming in from the coast and downing these at the sewage ponds in November. Swamp Sparrow is a reasonable rare one to find come December as well.
Lewis Woodpecker usually comes into the Willamette Valley by early September as part of a post-breeding dispersal, so may be gettable. Other than these, I will just have to hope for other rare birds to show up somewhere.
Lewis Woodpecker usually comes into the Willamette Valley by early September as part of a post-breeding dispersal, so may be gettable. Other than these, I will just have to hope for other rare birds to show up somewhere.
7/7/17
My morning routine of late is to sit on my porch in the morning, sometimes watching the sun come up if I get out there early enough, and drink fresh juice from my juicer. While sitting there this morning I noticed a flycatcher searching my grapes. Even before getting the binocs on it, I felt I could tell it was not a local species. After getting the binocs on it, my first thought was a Dusky Flycatcher because of the short wing extension. But I also noticed a tail dipping type of behavior and the underside of his wide bill was mostly yellow, both indicative of a Gray Flycatcher, which has never been recorded in the county. But there was a slight contrast between the gray head and the back which was tinged greenish, so I was a little puzzled.
I went inside to get my camera, but when I came out he was no where to be found. I viewed him for about 30 seconds at 40 feet, and decided to put the sighting out on OBOL for comments. One good birder from the east side of the Cascades (where these birds reside) said he had never seen a Gray Flycatcher with greenish on his back. So that was a let down. However, a different great birder who I respect said he had. Plus, one field guide showed that immature birds show a contrast between the gray head and greenish back. Plus, in reviewing pics of gray flycatchers online, I found that some did show that contrast between the head and the back. So with all things considered, I decided it was a rare bird, and number (205) for the year.
Later in the day I went around to the few wet areas I knew of. Since writing the above, I found, or remembered 3 other places that could have water/mudflats, and so I will be checking these (as I did today.) I checked the areas with water in southern Polk County, but they were devoid of birds. I next went to the Wendal Kreder Reservoir which still has water in it, as well as exposed mud shorelines, and found a Baird's Sandpiper (206).
I next went to the small farm pond on Talmadge Road which held no shorebirds. I then went to the back side of the Monmouth Sewage Ponds where I can drive up a rise and stand on my car to look into the large, third pond from the east end. I had forgotten about this possibility. The other day there were about a dozen least sandpipers, and about half as many today. The algae there is getting thick enough for the birds to walk on so this is worth checking. Lastly I went to the refuge where the main small body of water is almost completely dry, and there were no birds there. It should get interesting now. The next day I went to a marsh on the refuge which you have to walk a half mile to get to, and found the water starting to dry up and the algae getting thick, so this is a good thing for shorebirds. Here is a distant pic of a Short-billed Dowitcher.
8/21/17
This was a nice diversion today - the total solar eclipse. This was truly an awesome and unforgettable experience to see the sun blocked out by the moon passing in front of it. The corona was fabulous and through binocs you could see sun flares jetting out. When the landscape darkened, it was like time stood still, and the little town of Falls City irrupted in war-woops. It was something I'll never forget. Here is my best shot of the diamond ring.
8/24/17
After successfully chasing an American Avocet just south in Benton County, I took a short side trip to the farm pond in Buena Vista as this has turned out to be the best place in Polk County for shorebirds now, and there was one Pectoral Sandpiper (207), the last of the easier, expected shorebirds of the year.
Here is a pic of one which I took an half hour earlier where the avocet was.
9/1/17
Two days ago I received the devastating news that my PSA level was >26. Three months ago is was 20, and I had really refined my diet, starting juicing, taking ginger and a few other things, so this was indeed perplexing. Looks like I'll need to take more extensive measures to deal with it. I suppose this is the underlying reason for feeling so poorly these last 3 months. Maybe it is not limited to the prostate?
Yesterday Rosie and I went for a long walk at Luckiamute Landing, all the way to the end for a picnic and relaxation in the shade of a willow at the bank of the river. It was a nice setting. We were here a week ago and enjoyed the same and saw 5 species of raptors. I like trying to set new records of sorts, and was able to see 6 this time. While laying on my back I noticed a swift flying high overhead, and got my binocs on him. It turned out to be a Black Swift (208). I have seen a few during spring migration, but never in fall. It was a nice uplift considering my present situation.
9/15/17
Early this afternoon Rosie and I headed over to Luckiamute Landing since we enjoyed it so much last week. Just outside of Falls City I spied a bird sailing near a snag, and then it landed on the snag in an upright position. As it appeared all dark, I pulled over, got out, and walked across the road where I was able to clearly see a Lewis' Woodpecker (209). I knew by early September these could be possible as they are known to visit and/or winter in the valley from over the other side of the Cascades.
10/5/17
While eating a late lunch at 4 PM, I saw a sapsucker fly into a small poplar just uphill at my Mother-in-law's place. Placing the binocs on it, I could tell it was not one of the local Red-breasted Sapsuckers, and after taking a few long distance shots and uploading them on the PC, and consulting with some other birders, it was determined to be a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (210). This is only the 2nd county record and a first for me, and a nice uplift as well. Here are two shots of him along with one of the other local sapsuckers.
11/1/17
With today being the first of November, I have 2 more months of birding to pad the list. Today I went up to Bald Mt, then back into the valley where I viewed the Lucky 99 Pond, and then looked through the fence at the sewage pond, where I can tell ducks and gulls are piling up. I am hoping to access the latter later this week or some time next week as I am told construction ought to be finished. When I was about 6 miles from home, I spied 2 coyotes, and one stopped long enough to snap his picture.
Later in the day I heard there was a Heermann's Gull to the south in Benton County, so I made the dash there but was unsuccessful. I did take this shot of one of the local Black Phoebes who had caught an insect. The next day a White-throated Sparrow showed at my feeding station, something that does not happen every year.
11/16/17
While eating breakfast this morning, a pair of Acorn Woodpeckers showed at our feeder, probably some of the ones that patronized it back in February. My wife also noticed what she though was some trash between our house and her mom's place, but after getting the binocs on it, she determined it was a couple dozen mushrooms, the kind that one might think of as being hallucinogenic...........or, what one sees when he is on a hallucinogenic........
Well, we are certainly back to the rainy days of fall and winter, with expected rain most of the time. I have been checking Lucky 99, the Sewage Ponds, and the Refuge, and know of 3 Common Goldeneyes and few Canvasbacks, but nothing rarer as yet. Am still hoping the rain will down something good, so we shall wait and see.
11/20/17
11/27/17
12/7/17
I drove around quite a bit today, checking Lucky 99 and the sewage ponds, then went over to Marion County to try for that elusive Say's Phoebe without success. I then meandered to the refuge where as I was returning down the trail from Morgan Lake spied a sub-adult Golden Eagle (217), a difficult bird to find in the county anymore. As I hear there were Rosy Finches on Mary's Peak this morning, my plans for my wife Rosie and I are to head to Bald Mt tomorrow since it is her day off. Hmm, one more addition to the list and the magnificent seven will be repeated.
12/8/17
12/12/17
12/26/17
12/28/17
The local CBC was a success! A new record was formed in that 116 species were listed, beating the old record by one. But, there was nothing seen which I have not already seen so far this year. It appears my jaunt for the year will end at 218. It has been a fun big year and I enjoyed it a lot. Next year......I am not sure where I will be birding. I'd like to work on other county lists. It all depends on my health. Now that I have insurance, and have a MD appointment on 1/2/18, I hope it can be determined why I have severe fatigue. I am basically tired of trying to figure it out, only to come up short in my diagnosing.
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Because I did a big year and stayed local, I did not get far abroad very often to continue shorter birding blogs. However, I did make other short blogs here in Polk County which may not have gotten out to everyone, so these are included below, some of which should appeal to some of the readers.
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| Immature Short-billed Dowitcher |
This was a nice diversion today - the total solar eclipse. This was truly an awesome and unforgettable experience to see the sun blocked out by the moon passing in front of it. The corona was fabulous and through binocs you could see sun flares jetting out. When the landscape darkened, it was like time stood still, and the little town of Falls City irrupted in war-woops. It was something I'll never forget. Here is my best shot of the diamond ring.
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| "Some Days Are Diamonds" - John Denver |
After successfully chasing an American Avocet just south in Benton County, I took a short side trip to the farm pond in Buena Vista as this has turned out to be the best place in Polk County for shorebirds now, and there was one Pectoral Sandpiper (207), the last of the easier, expected shorebirds of the year.
Here is a pic of one which I took an half hour earlier where the avocet was.
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| Pectoral Sandpiper - Philomath Sewage Ponds |
Two days ago I received the devastating news that my PSA level was >26. Three months ago is was 20, and I had really refined my diet, starting juicing, taking ginger and a few other things, so this was indeed perplexing. Looks like I'll need to take more extensive measures to deal with it. I suppose this is the underlying reason for feeling so poorly these last 3 months. Maybe it is not limited to the prostate?
Yesterday Rosie and I went for a long walk at Luckiamute Landing, all the way to the end for a picnic and relaxation in the shade of a willow at the bank of the river. It was a nice setting. We were here a week ago and enjoyed the same and saw 5 species of raptors. I like trying to set new records of sorts, and was able to see 6 this time. While laying on my back I noticed a swift flying high overhead, and got my binocs on him. It turned out to be a Black Swift (208). I have seen a few during spring migration, but never in fall. It was a nice uplift considering my present situation.
9/15/17
Early this afternoon Rosie and I headed over to Luckiamute Landing since we enjoyed it so much last week. Just outside of Falls City I spied a bird sailing near a snag, and then it landed on the snag in an upright position. As it appeared all dark, I pulled over, got out, and walked across the road where I was able to clearly see a Lewis' Woodpecker (209). I knew by early September these could be possible as they are known to visit and/or winter in the valley from over the other side of the Cascades.
10/5/17
While eating a late lunch at 4 PM, I saw a sapsucker fly into a small poplar just uphill at my Mother-in-law's place. Placing the binocs on it, I could tell it was not one of the local Red-breasted Sapsuckers, and after taking a few long distance shots and uploading them on the PC, and consulting with some other birders, it was determined to be a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (210). This is only the 2nd county record and a first for me, and a nice uplift as well. Here are two shots of him along with one of the other local sapsuckers.
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| Red-breasted Sapsucker |
10/8/17 Sunday
I slept well last night, so had energy to take off birding. I headed toward Bald Mountain with hopes that the gate was now open since the threat of fire has greatly diminished. It was closed. Beside that, the local sewage lagoons are still closed until November, so they tell me. Morgan Lake at the refuge is now off limits, and the rest of the refuge is quite unproductive. This leaves me with few options at a great time of year for fall migrants. It seems like the powers that be are trying their best to hinder me from getting that last one which gets me over the hump.
In a similar vein, my health appears the same way. My new doctor thinks it is likely I have prostate cancer, and is now persuaded I have adrenal insufficiency and likely hypothyroidism. I have labs later this week and am hoping for some good news from those results. I deal with daily fatigue and brain fog, fairly consistent insomnia, and occasional headaches, but at least the latter appear to be lessening. I used to relish taking the stairs instead of the elevator, and often 2 steps at a time. If I have to use the stairs now, it is slow going. I nap every day. I go to Portland 3X/week for IV Vitamin C/mistletoe treatments through the end of the month, and these leave me wasted. But, I must press on. I have to admit it is a most difficult thing to stay positive. Sometimes the brain fog and gloom is quite thick. I used to get elated when I had a good day, but since these are less often, I don’t get too optimistic knowing it is just temporary. Such is life of late, and I can only hope it gets better.
I did walk in the sparrow habitat at the northern most part of the Luckiamute Landing complex. It was nice to see a few Lincoln’s Sparrows. I had to turn around after a few hundred yards as I was nearing my limits. About 1:45 I went up to my mother-in-laws as my wife was there preparing her meal, and I often eat lunch with them. I was visiting with her and she began asking me about the rare bird (Yellow-bellied Sapsucker) which was hanging around, so it was fun explaining that to her. While doing so I thought I saw a shadow or something through the window out of the corner of my eye, and went over to see if per chance he was on the poplar tree he seems to patronize, and sure enough, he was. I had brought the camera just in case as I wanted better shots than the ones I had.
So I cracked open the front door and slowly walked to a post which holds up the porch roof, and since he was staying put, I started snapping pictures. Since he was OK with that, I went onto the lawn for better shots. Since he was OK with that, I slowly meandered down the driveway so I’d be at a better angle for lighting, and he stayed put, so it was there I let the shutter rip off dozens of pictures, obtaining over 100 total. A few were sure to be of decent quality.
He finally flew off to the oak grove adjacent to my house, and I went inside to eat. After taking a few bites, I just had to check out some of the pics, so turned on my camera. The first shot I looked at showed a red nape! I was stunned! This would mean that it was not a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker after all, and I’d have to eat crow in front of the birding community. But the more I looked over the photos, something was amiss, and I was starting to believe there were two different sapsuckers. The rest of lunch was a mechanical activity of feeding my face and trying to be sociable, but my mind was elsewhere.
I was finally done, kissed my wife and thanked her for the meal, and went home to the PC and downloaded the pics. It became clear now that this bird was indeed a Red-naped Sapsucker (211) and the one from last Wednesday (which is still around) is a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Wow! I could not have scripted a better way to get the last 2 of the magnificent 7. I have to admit I was finally elated, and it was an uplift. In reality, it may have been too much of an uplift for me, as I hardly slept that night. The next day my wife went with me to Portland for the scheduled treatment, which was a good thing, as I was in no shape to drive home.
So now I have the record. Sure, such is a nice feat. However, I’d trade it all and more in a flash for a clean bill of health. But God is good. I sense this is His way of letting me know he is watching out for me, and that I should keep my head above the clouds, not knowing what my future health will be or where the next bird will come from. Here are a few shots of the Red-naped Sapsucker. I hope to obtain better ones of the Yellow-bellied to post, but you’ll have to wait for such.
10/11/17
I dealt with some insomnia last night, so felt I ought to skip the treatment in Portland. I knew it was going to be a “blah” kind of a day, but felt I had enough energy to drive around the county a little and see if last night’s rains downed anything unusual. We did locate 14 Surf Scoters (212) at the Lucky 99 farm pond in the southern part of the county, so these were a nice addition to the year list. One never tires of seeing Bald Eagles, and here is one more shot of one we saw before we got to Lucky 99.
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| Bald Eagle |
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| Surf Scoter at the Lucky 99 Pond |
10/16/17
After going to Portland for another cancer treatment, my wife and I ate at a Mexican restaurant. We felt we could celebrate a little since my PSA was lower - not much, but enough to make a difference. While there I checked OBOL to see a birder had found a Tropical Kingbird at the Sheridan Sewage Ponds, and since we did not have to be home asap and Sheridan (Yamhill County) is not too far away, we headed there and were able to refind this rare bird. Each fall some show up on the coast from south of the US border, but only rarely are they ever inland, so this was remarkable, and a nice uplift. On our way home we stopped at the Post Office and as I was walking across the street, what should fly over but a Sandhill Crane! Unbelievable! I have lived in the county for > 30 years and had never seen one here until this year when I find 3 of them (and the year is not over yet…)
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| Tropical Kingbird - Sheridan Sewage Lagoons |
10/26/17
The other night while driving home in the pouring rain from Portland we had a bird fly across the road about 5 miles from home. It flew about 2 feet off the road from left to right, which I think was likely a Poorwill. I have never seen a poorwill fly, and seeing how this is out of range and out of season, my conscience won’t allow me to add that one.
My health, in general, continues to slide, but I wanted to get out for a morning of birding, so headed up to Bald Mountain. The gate is now open, so that is encouraging. It took me about 3X longer to get to the top than usual, having to stop and rest often. Close to the top were a small flock of Golden-crowned Kinglets, but when I tried looking up to see them, I began passing out, so figured I had better pass on them.
It was quite clear (check out the pic) and the view was invigorating. I wanted to sit at the top, but it was just too winding, so back-tracked a little lower to find a calm sunny spot. In the process a bird took off from a snag and flew against the wind, right by me, which was the long hoped for Townsend’s Solitare (213). A nice uplift. As mentioned previously, I looked for one a number of times in the coast range in spring and early summer without success, and I pretty much wrote them off as the chances of encountering one now was slim. However, they are a hardy bird and I have seen them before in October in the coast range.
Afterward I drove around the valley to check out the Lucky 99 pond, the farm pond in Buena Vista and the Sewage Ponds, or what I could see of them through the fence. Some good birds were Bonaparte’s Gulls and a Western Grebe.
I also took the picture of the Kestrel with her mouse. One would assume that these birds are easy to photograph, being so conspicuous. But since they are so skiddish, it is much harder than you might think.
I have to admit that I am toying with the idea of going for the second set of 7 Magnificent Birds since I am part way there with 2+ months to go. We shall see.
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| Looking south from Bald Mountain. The larger mountain just left of center is Mary's Peak in Benton County |
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| Female American Kestrel with her lunch. |
With today being the first of November, I have 2 more months of birding to pad the list. Today I went up to Bald Mt, then back into the valley where I viewed the Lucky 99 Pond, and then looked through the fence at the sewage pond, where I can tell ducks and gulls are piling up. I am hoping to access the latter later this week or some time next week as I am told construction ought to be finished. When I was about 6 miles from home, I spied 2 coyotes, and one stopped long enough to snap his picture.
Later in the day I heard there was a Heermann's Gull to the south in Benton County, so I made the dash there but was unsuccessful. I did take this shot of one of the local Black Phoebes who had caught an insect. The next day a White-throated Sparrow showed at my feeding station, something that does not happen every year.
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| Black Phoebe |
11/5/17
While working on building a wheel chair ramp (this was for my mother in law who will be moving in soon) to my back door with my brother-in-law Glen, our local Red-shouldered Hawk paid us a visit. He perched on a power pole while we were carrying on, and let me take his picture. I finally got a great pic of him, and here’s proof.
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| Red-shouldered Hawk |
11/9/17
The sewage ponds finally became accessible, so of course I headed there. For the last few months I have only been able to look through the fence at the first and third ponds, so it was nice to finally be able to view the second pond, which is where a good portion of the birds reside. The first good bird I found was a Western Grebe, the 5th for the year. The second pond was loaded with birds, but nothing different. There was a rainbow in the sky above it, and I thought it would be fitting for a new year bird to appear there, but it did not happen. On the third pond were 4 Canvasbacks, so this was cool. On the way back I scanned over the waterfowl, and just as I was finishing up, I spied a Common Goldeneye (214) which made the occasion sweet.
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| Wilson's Snipe along Livermore Road |
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| Common Goldeneye at MSP |
11/11/17
This morning a California Ground Squirrel showed up at our feeder. This is rather unusual as these animals are generally all hibernating now.
11/12/17
Birds have been coming to the feeder in good numbers, and here are pics of a Stellar's Jay and Pine Siskins. The immature shrike was at BSNWR.
This morning a California Ground Squirrel showed up at our feeder. This is rather unusual as these animals are generally all hibernating now.
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| California Ground Squirrel |
Birds have been coming to the feeder in good numbers, and here are pics of a Stellar's Jay and Pine Siskins. The immature shrike was at BSNWR.
11/16/17
While eating breakfast this morning, a pair of Acorn Woodpeckers showed at our feeder, probably some of the ones that patronized it back in February. My wife also noticed what she though was some trash between our house and her mom's place, but after getting the binocs on it, she determined it was a couple dozen mushrooms, the kind that one might think of as being hallucinogenic...........or, what one sees when he is on a hallucinogenic........
Well, we are certainly back to the rainy days of fall and winter, with expected rain most of the time. I have been checking Lucky 99, the Sewage Ponds, and the Refuge, and know of 3 Common Goldeneyes and few Canvasbacks, but nothing rarer as yet. Am still hoping the rain will down something good, so we shall wait and see.
11/20/17
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| The original gold digger, a Raven at the end of the rainbow |
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| The bird with the reddish on the back of his head is a hybrid American X Eurasian Wigeon. You tell by the greenish area by the eye, and the whole head is not red, and his lower sides are brownish when they should be gray. The bird with the green on the head is an American Wigeon. |
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| This Eurasian Wigeon has a fully rufous head and gray sides |
Yesterday I went up to Bald Mt as it was not engulfed in snow as yet, and it was looking like the rain was going to hold off until later in the day. It was cold and there was a stiff breeze, and I managed to see as many bobcats as I did birds - 1 bobcat and 1 junco. I chanced on the cat on the way back down, and as I was not paying attention to the road ahead of me, by the time I realized he was there, he was staring me down at 100 feet away. My camera was in my daypack and as I started to slowly take that off, he sprung into a full gallop down the road. A nice little uplift for the day.
It rained like cats and dogs last night, so I went out today to see what might have gotten downed, and at long last found an Eared Grebe (215) at the sewage ponds. This was the last one on the list for “gettable” birds, so it was great to complete the accomplishment. There was also an hybrid American X Eurasian Wigeon (see pic). From there I headed to LaFayette for my Rife Treatment (you can look that up if adventurous), and on the way back stopped at the refuge where I was able to relocate a Swamp Sparrow (216), probably one of the two which were reported there last week. At this stage in the game to add 2 to the list in one day is a worthy feat, not likely to be repeated again in my remaining 6 weeks.
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| Eared Grebe - Monmouth Sewage Ponds |
11/27/17
I still get out fairly often. The cold of winter seems to be holding off as there has only been one frost so far and no snow that I can see in the Coast Range. I usually go to the Lucky 99 Ponds, the Sewage Ponds and/or the refuge. Today I drove around after my Rife treatments and came across this Peregrine Falcon and a dead Barn Owl.
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| Immature Peregrine Falcom |
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| Roadkill Barn Owl |
11/29/17
As I needed to go to Portland today to see my oncologist, I thought I’d swing by the location where the Virginia's Warbler has been hanging out for the last 3 weeks or so. I ran into Wink Gross and a couple other birders named John and Diane. I waited for about a half hour and the bird finally showed up, which was a good thing as I was about 10 minutes away from needing to leave to the MD office. This was a nice addition to my state list, and below are 3 pics at the suet feeder of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet with his ruby crown showing, the Va Warbler, and some of the local hoard of Bushtits that patronize the suet.
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| Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
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| Virginia's Warbler |
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| Bushtits. The one with the light iris is a female |
I drove around quite a bit today, checking Lucky 99 and the sewage ponds, then went over to Marion County to try for that elusive Say's Phoebe without success. I then meandered to the refuge where as I was returning down the trail from Morgan Lake spied a sub-adult Golden Eagle (217), a difficult bird to find in the county anymore. As I hear there were Rosy Finches on Mary's Peak this morning, my plans for my wife Rosie and I are to head to Bald Mt tomorrow since it is her day off. Hmm, one more addition to the list and the magnificent seven will be repeated.
12/8/17
Before leaving to Bald Mt, a few Acorn Woodpeckers were visiting our feeders, and, as I wanted to obtain photos of them in a more natural setting, I was able to get a few while they were on a small fir tree, away from the feeder, and the results were OK. On these cold and clear mornings many birds come for breakfast, and are fun to watch.
The weather up on Bald Mt was just gorgeous - clear, almost balmy, and only a slight breeze at times. We basked in the sunshine for about a half hour. Only problem - there were hardly any birds. But I guess one cannot complain since the nice day made for a good trade off. Here is one pic of us up there. You could see Mt Rainier in the north to Mt Batchelor in the south.
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| Immature Male Acorn Woodpecker with gray iris |
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| Adult female Acorn Woodpecker on right with yellow iris |
12/11/17
A very recent discussion on the Corvallis bird list of a possible female Tricolored Blackbird (218) with a picture reminded me that I had seen a similar bird a few weeks back (Oct 24). So I mailed a few pics of my bird to Doug, one of the local ornithologists at OSU who felt mine really is a Tricolored Blackbird. So here are 3 pics of it. Since I have no experience with females of this species, I was at a loss to nail it down. However, it was decidedly different than the many female red-winged blackbirds with rufous overtones in the flock at the refuge, one of which you can see in the background of the blurry shot. This bird was a cold gray with no rufous tones at all, which was what made me suspicious. Soo, this has enabled me to reach the 2nd magnificent seven mile mark. I don’t think I could repeat such, but will still get out there with the 3 weeks I have left.
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| Immature female Tricolored Blackbird |
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| Immature female Tricolored Blackbird |
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| Immature female Tricolored Blackbird with female Red-winged Blackbird in background |
Today I went to the sewage ponds and then to the refuge. At the sewage ponds was a Eurasian Wigeon. I put the pic under the pic of the hybrid I took there a few weeks ago. At the refuge I took a pic of a Peregrine Falcon. Like Bald Eagles, one never tires of seeing such a magnificent bird. As it has been cold at nights lately, there was a thin layer of ice at the refuge. I watched a nutria fall through once. After a couple minutes he was trying his luck again, so I snapped over 100 pics just awaiting for him to fall through again, and it paid off. Here is a quick series of him doing that.
I also received some depressing news today from my BLM contact regarding Spotted Owls. A bit of history first: 20 + years ago there were 12 pairs in the county. 4 years ago there were 4 pairs and 4 single birds accounted for. This spring BLM and other workers were only able to locate one female! The likely reasons are the invasion of the Barred Owls into the Pacific NW, lost of habitat, and predation of young by Great Horned Owls and other predators.
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| Peregrine Falcon. Appears to be a different one than the pic of a few weeks back |
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| Nutria at BSNWR |
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| Nutria at BSNWR |
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| Nutria at BSNWR. 12/12/17 |
Only a few days left in this year. I have been getting out of late, but have not seen anything new. The local CBC is tomorrow and I will help out for a few hours, yet am also hoping with all the concerted effort, something good will turn up for me to chase.
Today I went south to Benton County where a Rose-breasted Grosbeak was coming to a feeder, and was successful in seeing him. While there I photographed this Varied Thrush. I next headed over to Linn County where a Gyrfalcon had returned for a second winter. I was not successful last year trying to find him, nor this time. I may head there in a few days to try again. While there I was able to photograph a female kestrel up close which turned out OK.
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| Varied Thrush |
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| Immature male Rose-breasted Grosbeak |
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| Female American Kestrel |
The local CBC was a success! A new record was formed in that 116 species were listed, beating the old record by one. But, there was nothing seen which I have not already seen so far this year. It appears my jaunt for the year will end at 218. It has been a fun big year and I enjoyed it a lot. Next year......I am not sure where I will be birding. I'd like to work on other county lists. It all depends on my health. Now that I have insurance, and have a MD appointment on 1/2/18, I hope it can be determined why I have severe fatigue. I am basically tired of trying to figure it out, only to come up short in my diagnosing.
12/31/17
Finally, the last day of the year! But before I get to today, I thought I’d relay that yesterday Rosie and I took my mother-in-law out for a drive, mainly to get her out of the house. In the south part of the county we spied an immature Golden Eagle circling around, after having spooked a flock of geese, so that was fun
Since it was sunny, clear and cold, and the Coast Range was free of snow, I decided to go to Bald Mountain one last time. The view was great, but as expected, birds were few - the best being 3 Gray Jays. I returned to the valley and looked at the Lucky 99 and sewage pond, but nothing new for the year. I suppose I could go listening for the spotted owl tonight, but I am just not up for it, as well as being satisfied where I ended up - at 218.
Judging by what rare birds showed up in nearby counties, I guess the potential to add a few more was certainly real. It turned out to be fitting to do a local big year due to my circumstances. I needed to stay local for a few very valid reasons. As far as 2018 goes, it would all appear to depend on my health. It is somewhat depressing to be limited by poor health, something that has never been an issue with me until now. So if you start seeing birding blogs by me come next spring, it will be a good sign.
Here are a couple shots from driving around today, the last of the year:
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| Gray Jay on Bald Mountain |
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| Bald Eagle 1.5 miles from my house. |
Because I did a big year and stayed local, I did not get far abroad very often to continue shorter birding blogs. However, I did make other short blogs here in Polk County which may not have gotten out to everyone, so these are included below, some of which should appeal to some of the readers.
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