birding today

My lovely wife Peggy arranged a birding trip for us today, our first, with a group from Tryon Creek State Park. I knew we were off to a good start when i saw a colorful bird about the size of a jay land on a wire next to the road. I stopped the car and out loud i wished it to turn around. It promptly obliged and was happy to see it was an American Kestrel.
We met everyone at the Wapato area of Sauvie Island. We were given an introduction to birding talk, describing where we were going (a 2-mile loop around Virginia Lake) how to focus and use our binoculars, how to identify birds using several different methods, and general safety and common sense rules for the trail. The fifteen of us split into two groups and headed in opposite directions around the lake trail.
The Virginia Lake trail has a nice mix of habitat ranging from the lake, of course, to swampy vegetation, to blackberry thickets to a mix of deciduous and evergreen forest.
The first bird we heard and saw was a Red-Winged Blackbird. We then observed some American Wigeon paddling around the lake. Black-Capped Chickadee were abundant. It took us only about 20 minutes before we reached a spot that was alive with birds in the trees, the best find was the Downy Woodpecker. At about this time several Brown Creepers were seen. When the group reached the Multnomah Channel, we paused and watched the Cormorants dry their wings in the warming morning sun. Not much further down the trail we paused to talk about the time last year when the leader of the group saw a bald eagle in the trees not 30 feet above her head. As we were looking up a group of 5 Tundra Swan flew overhead, calling out their friendly honks. A moment later i caught sight of a large dark bird taking wing from the tops of the trees not 40 yards ahead, and we all watched it soar over the channel. We could only agree that it was a large dark bird that soared, but we were all excited at the prospect of seeing a bald eagle. Only 50 yards down the trail, as i was scanning the far side of the channel, i noticed a large dark bird in the trees and again everyone stopped and the conversations became excited once again. We were not able to identify this bird, but it was exciting to see nonetheless.
We met the other half of our group who reported seeing a large red-tailed hawk and a pair of coyotes. We had heard the hawk but not seen it. One hundred yards later as we emerged from a clearing we had a wonderful fly-by of two hawk-like birds and three of us tried to i.d. them. At the time some agreement was reached that they were Swainson's Hawks, but I'm not sure. They were overhead, squared tailed, light colored under-wings with some spotting but no large dark areas. Large, deep wings that beat regularly as they passed, nearly circling the three of us. We were watching some finch like birds when they arrived, and we promptly forgot about them, absorbed by the raptors.
I heard a woodpecker say peet and thought i would find another Downy, but this one was larger, with a longer bill- it was a Hairy Woodpecker. A pair! It was quite a sight.
Our group had done a lot of studying of the trees and underbrush, and were behind schedule. Some of the not-so-into-it of the group had forged ahead, and it had been four hours since food and bathrooms, so people were beginning to hurry the trip along. We passed some open grassland, more forest, crossed a bridge and the terrain changed again to more of a wide open farm and open pine forest area. There were plenty of birds going back and forth across the trail, but the absolute highlight was when i turned my head to look to where we had been and saw two birds coming out of a tall pine. These two birds were Red-Breasted Sapsuckers and they were just beautiful. Three of us stared for as long as the birds were present in the tree over our heads. They were fantastic to observe.
The last bird the group saw together was a Hooded Merganser. It was paddling on the still lake with the sun behind it, causing its head feathers to create a nimbus both on its head and in its reflection on the water.

The best came last, as if often does, when Peggy saw two Bald Eagles crossing the open fields to our left, headed across the channel on our right. They were very large, very handsome, mature Bald Eagles. What a finish!

birds.

last winter, or maybe the winter before that, but probably much further back than i can really put my finger on, i became very interested in watching birds. It came naturally from my love of the outdoors, hiking, camping, breathing... I would take notice of them, watch them wheel in the sky, eat, play, bathe, hover, hunt, but i wasn't really paying attention. Then, last year, i decided to pay attention, but i made the decision in january, and the weather was crappy, and it was hard to get motivated to go tromping when the weather is crappy, yes?

My wife and I bought a house several years ago in east portland that sits on a nice lot, larger than usually seen, and much more treed than is usual. we have huge pines, and something like a maple, a giant tree. we have lots of shrubbery too. with all these woodsy places, we have several critters we see regularly, such as squirrel, raccoon, possum, and many many birds. we have lots and lots of windows in our house providing us with a near 360 degree view of the wildlife around us. Of course, its not that wild, living in the city, but you make of it what you can, right?

anyway, to birds... I regularly hear the red-shafted flickers in the tops of the pines around us, and on the top of the telephone pole in the back yard. Starlings are omni-present when the weather is fair, robins, black-capped chickadees, all of them are usual visitors. Now that i am paying attention, i am seeing much more variety. I see dark-eyed juncos all the time, and today i think i had a slate-colored junco in the yard. Scrub Jays are regular, and there is a stellar jay or two that comes and goes. I have had a red-breasted nuthatch visiting this week, a red-naped sapsucker hanging on the tree 10 feet from the front window. A solitary bewick's wren has threatened to live in the bird house i built last summer, paying a visit once a week, feeding, curiously poking around in the little house and flying away. a flock of bushtits come and go. all manner of finches, sparrows, an unidentified warbler or two have been spotted, and, although we don't have a hummingbird feeder, i have seen them in and out of the pines in the backyard. I recently had a (what i think was) a juvenile cooper's hawk on the roof-rack of our car, in the driveway, it blew me away to see it up close.

whenever we go out of town, or even on an around town hike, i am scanning the skies and trees and listening for the birds around me. i hope to keep a list with me and begin to keep some kind of amateur-ish record of what i see and where and when. but i dont think i am organized enough for that. I would like to be efficient enough to take pictures of some birds. my family has become used to my sudden hushed cries of slow down, be quiet, move quietly. they used to worry what was wrong, but now they now its just a bird. they will even point out birds to me, or ask me what it is they see. it was my 6-yr old that pointed out the sapsucker on the tree outside the front door last week.

i was inspired to write a blog by my wife, who does a lot of posting, and it gives me a little outlet to write about things i find interesting.