Cassin's Finch

 

During the early part of my last trip to Timberline Lodge on July 1st, I spent a fair amount of time shooting Cassin's Finches. They were out in large numbers in the grove of trees northeast of the lodge.

I noticed an area on the east side of the grove that was especially active, so I decided to sit just outside where the morning sunlight would be good. It didn't take long before a few finches started showing up and pretty much ignored me.

The finch above perched so close to me that I had to back off my zoom a little (not something I do very often).  The light was great, the bird was great, resulting in a nice photo.

Cassin's Finch

The only place I have seen a Cassin's Finch is on Mount Hood near Timberline Lodge. Not only is it the only place I've seen them, but I've seen them all three times I've gone birding there. This male was foraging for seeds on the downhill side of the lodge parking lot. Once I saw it, I just stayed in place taking pictures as it kept moving in closer and closer to me.

Cassin's Finch

Like I said Saturday, the birds were scarce up near Timberline Lodge. However, besides the occational Mountain Bluebird, I did see some Cassin's Finches. I did not see any males, but that doesn't mean there weren't any as it was hard to get near them.
The female in the image above was sitting on a rock along a service road leading up the mountain. It was much more trusting that most of the others and I was able to creep in pretty close allowing me to get some pretty good pictures of it. There's quite a bit of contrast in the scenery around the birds in the images taken up on the volcanic mountain compared to those at the wetlands near Portland.

Cassin's Finch

Today my daughter Caitlin and I took a trip up to Mount Hood. We first stopped at Wildwood Recreation Area. It's a very beautiful park and we heard many birds. Seeing was a little more difficult with all the trees. I do believe I saw a Yellow Warbler though, but it was for only a moment. I've never seen one before, so I wish I could have gotten a better look. We also heard many Hermit Thrushes and saw a few too.
After Wildwood, we headed up to Mount Hood. My goal was to see a Grey-crowned Rosy-Finch, but unfortunately that goal wasn't met. However I did see a couple of new birds for me; Pine Siskins and Cassin's Finches. Both birds were hard to photograph as they both spent a lot of time under pine trees scavenging for seeds to eat which left them in the shadows for the most part. All in all it was a very fun day.