Pectoral Sandpiper

This past Monday, I spent the morning at Fernhill Wetlands. It was a little slower than the previous week, but I did get some real nice looks at small flock of five Pectoral Sandpipers.

I found them at the northeast corner of Fernhill Lake near all the construction. There is some nice mud there for shorebirds and is much closer viewing than on the west side.
The rufous coloring on its wings and back along with crisp new feathers would suggest that these are juveniles born this year.

California Quail

I hadn't been to Fernhill Wetlands since May 28 before this past Sunday. Reports have been that Clean Water Services has been draining Fernhill Lake providing some extensive habitat for shorebirds. While this is certainly true, most of the shorebirds were well out of range of my lens.  The best shorebird species I saw where five Red-necked Phalaropes.

Oddly enough, my closest encounter with a bird that day was this female California Quail. I saw it perched atop this cyclone fence from quite a distance, not realizing what it was until I moved in closer.

It seemed oddly tolerant of me as California Quails typically scurry off into the tall grasses when seen. It just sat there and watched me as I slowly moved in closer. It wasn't until a large covey of Quail that had been laying low all around me startled that it finally began to show any concern. Soon there were Quail scampering everywhere.

I assumed it was a juvenile since it was so calm and appeared a bit small.

But looking at these images, it appears to have fairly worn feathers, especially in its tail region. That leads me to believe that this is an adult female. Let me know if you disagree.

Golden-crowned Sparrow

I spent some time looking for the reported Swamp Sparrow at Fernhill Wetlands on Saturday. No luck with that. I talked with a few bird(er)s who said they had seen it earlier in the morning, so I decided to try again. I even got my iPad out and played its call to see if I could coax it out. Still no luck. It's the first time I have every tried play bird calls to attract a bird.
Later, on the Dabblers Marsh Trail, I came upon a few Golden-crowned Sparrows in a small grove of trees. They weren't far from me but they stayed in among the cover of the branches, not giving me a clear view. So I decided I try my iPad on these sparrows. Much better luck, not only did it pull one out very near me, they also began to sing along with the iPad.
I tried the iPad again in an area where I regularly see Bewick's Wrens and it worked again, if only briefly.
Even with the success, I'm not sure I'll try this too often as it's usually frowned upon, especially with rarer birds, but it sure was fun. :-)

Horned Grebe

It was a beautiful February day today. Sunshine and temperatures in the mid 50's. I got late start as I am still recovering for my trip to CA, but I couldn't let another beautiful day get away from me. Besides, the last time I got out birding in Oregon was on January 7th.
I set out for Fernhill Wetlands as it is a reliable avian hotspot for photography. While I've had better luck there, I did run across a cooperative Horned Grebe. It was working the west shore of Fernhill Lake and I got to play cat and mouse with it as I often do with Grebes, guessing where they are going to reemerge after diving for food. If you pick a spot, lay low and still each time, they typically aren't threatened by your presence.

Brown Chinese Goose

It appears someone unloaded some Brown Chinese Geese at Fernhill Wetlands. Hope they don't cause problems. They sure are pretty.

Bonaparte's Gull

I've only seen Bonaparte's Gulls twice before; once at Fort Steven's South Jetty and once on Pintail Pond at Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve. This past Saturday at Fernhill Wetlands I saw two, one of which was flying about Cattail Marsh, at times not far from me.

The images above make it obvious that this one is a first winter bird what with its tail feathers tipped in black and the extended black on its wing tips and upper wing coverts.

At one point it landed not far from me allowing for a few relatively close images.

The treat for me during this sighting was to watch it pluck prey off the water as it skimmed just above its surface. In both the images above, you can see a dark spot just in front of the bird on the water, which I assume is its prey. Cornell's site states that Bonaparte's Gulls feed on small fish and large invertebrates, including insects. I would guess it was feeding on insects.

Horned Grebe

There were at least 5 Horned Grebes on the main lake at Fernhill Wetlands today. I was watching a pair offshore a bit when this one appeared just off to my right in the corner near the burned shelter.

Normally, when a aquatic bird see you so close (and even when you aren't so close), it either flies or swims away. This one was more trusting and stuck around through several dives as it hunted for fish and crustaceans on the bottom of the lake.

It sure would be nice to see one of these during the mating season as they stunning with their red and black breeding feathers. They have a yellowish-white stripe across their eye which they can raise behind their eyes, producing their namesake "horns".

Killdeer

A killdeer taken at Fernhill Wetlands this past August 12. Note the frayed edges of its feathers.

Long-billed Dowitcher

Long-billed Dowitchers at the southwest corner of Cattail Marsh on October 22. This seems to be a favorite location for Dowitchers as I've seen them there many times, but it doesn't seem to attract other shorebirds.

Red-necked Grebe

I got some more close looks of the Red-necked Grebe at Fernhill Wetlands this past Saturday; and it was actually sunny at the time! Would be nice to get even closer, but I shouldn't complain.

Cedar Waxwing

I was surprised to see a fair number of Cedar Waxwings at Fernhill Wetlands this past Saturday. I shouldn't have since my field guides show them as year round residents, but I don't recall seeing any last fall or winter. There was a small flock at Dabbler's Marsh when I first arrived and then later while walking Dabbler's Marsh Trail, I ran into a flock of probably 20 - 30 birds in a tree.
It was around 2:00 in the afternoon which may have been why they were less flighty than normal, then again, they had young with them and I've found that the adults tend to stick close by while their curious young check me out.

The adult above is going through a molt as you can see the unevenness of the red waxy tips of its secondaries and the unevenness of the yellow tips of its tail feathers.

As I mentioned, there quite a few first year birds in the flock. They were the most active, reminding me a bit of Golden-crowned Kinglets the way they would hang from branches and hover in the air as they picked berries. (Anyone know what kind of tree this is?)

This young bird is also going through a molt. It looks as though it may have no more than one or two tail feathers left.

Green Heron - Juvenile

I'm not sure why, but it seems whenever I see a juvenile Green Heron, they tend to have their necks fully extended. You wouldn't know that Green Herons have such long necks from typical adult sightings as adults seem to always have it retracted. Maybe its just because juvenile birds tend to be more curious and trusting than adults, so they just want to see whats going on around them.
I saw this juvenile at Fernhill Wetlands back on Sept 9. I had to creep down through the tall grass to get a clear view of it as it stood along the shore. I saw another similarly extended necked juvenile here a year ago this past August. Here's a couple of examples of adults with their necks retracted; here and here.

Long-billed Dowitcher

I had a surprise at Fernhill Wetlands the Saturday before last. Dabblers Marsh was filled with about 50 Long-billed Dowitchers. I very rarely see shorebirds other than Killdeers there. They were busy feeding and really didn't seem to care too much that I was watching them. In fact, they seemed to take their cues from the few Killdeers that were there. If a Killdeer let out some sharp calls, the Dowitchers would take off, flying in formation around the pond until deciding it was safe to resume feeding.
I slowly worked my way down one of the large tree trunks fallen into the water until I got pretty close to them, then waited while they slowly moved along the edges of the water towards me.
They were all in some state of molting to basic plumage, either from pre-basic juveniles or from alternate adults. I'm still not totally sure how you tell the difference, but I have some pretty good pictures here to do some studying. Interestingly enough, I've found that my National Geographic field guide actually does a more complete job of describing the different plumage states than my Sibley.

Red-necked Grebe

There has been a lone Red-necked Grebe occupying Fern Lake at Fernhill Wetlands since early September. It typically hangs out in the middle of the Lake, so it's tough to get a good look at it unless you have a powerful spotting scope.
I got lucky this past Friday as I found it very near the shore. Usual behavior for it, like most Grebes, is to dive underwater when approached by a human and swim away. It did this the at first, but the next time I saw it, it had found what I think were Cackling Goose down feathers floating on the water as there were 1000's of the geese on the water that day and it was busy collecting and swallowing them. This gave me the opportunity to get a few fair pictures of it. To bad the lighting wasn't better.
I thought it odd that it was eating feathers so I checked on Cornell's All About Birds site and found the following; "Like other grebes, the Red-necked Grebe ingests large quantities of its own feathers. Feathers remain in the bird's stomach. The function of feathers in the stomach is unknown. One hypothesis suggests that the feathers help protect the lower digestive tract from bones and other hard, indigestible material."
I suppose it could have been its own feathers, but I doubt they would have been floating on the water like that.

Ring-necked Pheasant

I've taken much better pictures, but this is by far the best Ring-necked Pheasant photo I've taken. I flushed a rooster and this hen as I was walking the service road between Cattail Marsh and Eagle Perch Pond today at Fernhill Wetlands.
Sure gave me a startle. Reminded me of my early teen hunting days.

Western Sandpiper

I saw this Western Sandpiper at Fernhill Wetlands back on August 13th. I like the curly feathers on its crown I assume as a result of being wet.
I'm still way behind on getting pictures posted. :-(

Spotted Sandpiper

Last year I was confused by Spotted Sandpipers in late Summer, but this year I'm a little wiser and know that Spotted Sandpipers loose their breast spots after breeding season. These pictures were taken at Fernhill Wetlands last Friday evening.