I made my first visit to the Sandy River Delta area this past Saturday. As with all new areas, I spent some time just learning the place. It was interesting as I was expecting a sunny day and it started out that way when I left home from Wilsonville, but as I started traveling east on I-84, it started getting cloudy and gloomy and stayed that way the whole time I was there.
As with most places now, there were a fair number of juveniles. I found a couple of juvenile Willow Flycatchers (along with juvenile Common Yellowthroats and Lazuli Buntings) in an active Blackberry patch. I have to thank members of the Portland Area Birds with their help in identifying the flycatcher as I don't see a lot of flycatchers for some reason and of course the Empidonax genus can be a challenge as they are very similar in appearance. Lack of eye ring, habit (they nest in bushes like Blackberries), and a browner coloration rather than greenish were reasons given for choosing a Willow Flycatcher.
As with most places now, there were a fair number of juveniles. I found a couple of juvenile Willow Flycatchers (along with juvenile Common Yellowthroats and Lazuli Buntings) in an active Blackberry patch. I have to thank members of the Portland Area Birds with their help in identifying the flycatcher as I don't see a lot of flycatchers for some reason and of course the Empidonax genus can be a challenge as they are very similar in appearance. Lack of eye ring, habit (they nest in bushes like Blackberries), and a browner coloration rather than greenish were reasons given for choosing a Willow Flycatcher.
Nice! I used to take my dog to the delta a couple times a week, but of course that was before I was into birds... It's a great place.
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