Spotted Redshank

I never did post pictures of all the birds I took during my trip to Switzerland back in late April. Not all are good enough to post, but I still have some interesting ones.
While I was at the BirdLife facility, I spent a lot of time in the three excellent bird blinds they provided. Each blind could accommodate several people and the birding was reasonably good. The biggest problem I had was that the sun was not at an ideal angle. Not only did it cause harsh foreshadows, but the glare also seemed to mess with my camera's sensor as the pictures turned out somewhat soft.
None-the-less, these images of a Spotted Redshank turned out pretty well. I followed the shore bird as it worked its way around the pond, eventually ending up right below the blind.
The facility provided pictures and some information on the back wall of the blind of many of the frequent birds one might see. A fellow bird photographer pointed out this one for me.

I tried to take pictures of all the images of birds that I saw to help me determine their identity. Only trouble is that none of the text was in English. The Swiss speak three languages; German, French and Italian. I think there was a little of each sprinkled throughout the images. Luckily it turned out to be easy to decipher as all I had to do is do a Google search on the name. Inevitably, the scientific name would be included in the text and I could search on that to find out the English name for the bird. I guess those weird Latin scientific names are good for something and this may be the reason why they are used.

Swainson's Thrush

I'm still nursing a cold. I can't gather the strength to get up in the morning. I slept about 13 hours both Friday and Saturday night. Went to immediate care this afternoon, just to be sure I didn't have anything that was treatable, but no such luck, it's just a nasty virus. I got some Sudafed though and it seems to be drying me up.
I did take a trip today out to Milo McIver State Park with my wife. We visited there years ago when the kids were young and really enjoyed it. They have a fish hatchery there where you can observe salmon close up. It's pretty cool and have always meant to return, but never have until today.
It was about 4:00 PM before we got there so the birding wasn't very good, but the scenery was wonderful. The trails that we took were a little muddy, but navigable.
I did get some views of a Swainson's Thrush shown above. I'm 95% sure that it is a Swainson's and not a Hermit. They look pretty similar, but the Hermit's should have moved out of our region for the summer. In addition, this is one of the few birds I have learned to identify by sound. Swainson's Thrushes make a sort of whistle or "whit". Kind of like whistling for a dog. It's short, increases in frequency and ends abruptly. I saw my first Swainson's at Champoeg State Park earlier this spring. I heard it make that sound, memorized it by repeating it with my own whistle and then listened to both Thrushes on Cornell's All About Birds sit. It was a perfect match for the Swainson's.

Song Sparrow - Early Fledgling

Travel, travel, travel. I'm getting tired of it. I've been on the road on business four of the last six weeks. On top of that, I've been fighting a cold for going on two weeks now. Oh well, could be worse, could be raining. Oops.
Last Sunday I stopped by Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve. I don't bird there as often since I've discovered Fernhill Wetlands. It was mid-afternoon and things were fairly slow as expected. Highlights include my first Ring-necked Pheasant photograph, though it was way off in the distance. It's been the only bird I have seen and positively identified and not photographed. I also saw a few Warbling Vireos. Last spring I saw one, this spring I've seen many in lots of various places. Not sure why.

Another interesting sighting was that of an early Song Sparrow fledgling. You can see the gummy corners of its bill in the images above. I saw some of these last year as well and they threw me for a while. This is quite a bit earlier than I noticed them last year.The next two images are adults. I took one of my favorite pictures of a Song Sparrow on this same wire last spring about this time.

Western Tanager

A few pictures I took of Western Tanagers at Fernhill Wetlands on May 14th. It was easily the most I had seen at one time and perhaps the most I had ever seen. The numbers of Western Tanagers were up considerably this spring migration based on my own observations and the postings on birding server lists in the area. I'm not sure why, but it sure was fun.

Canada Goose - A Whole Lot of Flapping

The Canada Geese Goslings are growing up up fast. I took these pictures a week ago yesterday at Fernhill Wetlands near the parking lot. Birds are typically pretty tame in this area as people frequently feed them here.
At one point one the adults flapped its wings boldly.

This seemed to catch on as one the goslings also started flapping. Of course, it doesn't have much to flap yet.

Eventually, the gaggle made their way down to the water. I've noticed a behavior that the parents exhibit with their young on more than one occasion. They lower their head, then extend it out forward. It's kind of like they are herding the goslings, showing them the way.

I'm not sure if this is the real intent, but it is interesting.

Rabbit

The RNWR wildlife brochure lists two species of rabbits; the Eastern Cottontail and the Brush Rabbit. Both look very similar to each other and belong to the same genus. While the Brush Rabbit is exclusive the western NA coast, the Eastern Cottontail's range is mostly in the eastern part of NA except for a small area that encompasses the Portland area. I'm not sure which this is, but it sure is cute.

Killdeer - Fledglings

I guess fledgling is the correct word to use for these young Killdeer. Merriam-Webster states: to acquire the feathers necessary for flight or independent activity; also : to leave the nest after acquiring such feathers. While they can't yet fly, they definitely have left the nest.
Ever since seeing a pair of Killdeer flirting at RNWR earlier this Spring, I have been watching for the first signs of youngsters and today was the day. I
t was a nasty day at times, raining hard with dark clouds. The young would run around for awhile under the watchful eye of the parent (mother?). Then, maybe because of the rain, the cold or possibly my presence, they would snuggle up under their parent. It was rather cute.

I got a little wet taking these pictures, but it was worth it. Now I hope to see some on a sunny day. In this low light, the fine, wispy feathers of the fledglings turned out rather soft in the images even though their legs were usually rather sharp.

Update: It was pointed out by a commenter that these are actually 'chicks', not 'fledglings'. Quote "These are not fledglings, but are chicks. They are precocial, meaning they are born with downy feathers and are able to walk and feed themselves. Once they molt their downy feathers and acquire flight and body feathers they are fledglings. Takes 4 weeks or so."
My thanks to the anonymous commenter!

Black-headed Grosbeak

Now if I could just get the Black-headed Grosbeaks to be as cooperative as the Song Sparrows I'd be a happy camper. :-)
I am having better luck this year than I did last year though. I had to work around the branches and fight the sky to get these shots at TRNWR last Saturday, but at least the bird was much lower in the tree than most I come across.
Very pretty birds.

Song Sparrow

As with last year at this time, Song Sparrows are providing themselves as excellent subjects. This one appears to be going through a molt.

Black-tailed Deer

It's been a while since I've seen a Black-tailed Deer at TRNWR. This one, as some are there, was pretty tolerant of me and never did flee as I passed by it.

Song Sparrow - California Subspecies

I took these pictures of a Song Sparrow in San Francisco on May 2. I noticed that it was a little different than the Song Sparrows I am used to seeing here in Oregon, but I wasn't aware of the breath of subspecies identified. Some 52 subspecies have been named, however only 24 are currently actually recognized.
This Song Sparrow, I believe, belongs to the California group of six subspecies. I haven't figured out which yet, but I'll keep working on it. While there is a fair amount written about the various subspecies online, I found few pictures to help me. It's clear though, that this sparrow has darker and more crisply defined stripes on its breast and throat. If anyone is an expert, I'd love for you to point me to where I can find out more about this topic.

European Starling - Nesting

I spend some time at TRNWR this morning. Not a great picture taking day, but I saw several birds. Sure does seem to be a good Spring for Warbling Vireos. Now if I could just get a good close up...
I stopped at the platform looking over the river as I usually do, when I noticed a small head peering out of a hole in a dead tree truck right along side the the platform. But, before I could get a good look at it, it ducked down into the hole. I waited patiently for a bit until it raised it's head again.
It was a young bird, but I wasn't sure what kind. Then another head popped up and soon they were calling out as a European Starling flew in. It sat in the branches above for a bit, then swooped down and quickly fed it's young before flying off again.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

More Yellow-headed Blackbird pics from RNWR. Still haven't gotten the real close shot I'd like to get. These are getting there, but the sun was at a bad angle and I had to wait behind other cars.
This is the bird along South Big Lake that perches on the cattails near the road. There are others along South Quigley Lake, but they typically stay away from the road's edge.
I hope they stay all summer. They are gorgeous birds.

White-crowned Sparrow

I took these pictures along Lands End Trail in San Francisco on May 2. White-crowned Sparrows were easily the most numerous sparrow along the trail. The one in the pictures above was building a nest in the tall grass very near the trail. I watched as it would fly a short distance away to find some dried grass, sometimes yanking and shaking it to free it from the ground or untangle it from the brush.

I thought I may have found a new life bird. The mixture of brown and black on its crown was not something that I had seen before, but when I took a closer look on my computer I am pretty confident that this is a young White-crowned that is transitioning from the brown striped crown of a juvenile to the black and white crown of an adult.

Yellow Warbler

This past Saturday is the first time I've seen a Yellow Warbler in Oregon. I saw a couple in Minnesota last Summer while visiting my sister. I probably saw about five of them at Fernhill Wetlands. As with most Warblers, they are hard to get a good shot as they don't sit still and are always in amongst the branches.
The warbler I saw in Minnesota had very faint lines across its belly compared to the ones I saw on Saturday.

Black-headed Grosbeak

I've taken many pictures of Black-headed Grosbeaks, but I have never posted one because I have always been dissatisfied with them. I usually find them singing high in the upper branches of a tree. In addition, there is usually a bright sky in the background and ultimately the sun is at the wrong angle. What this all adds up to is a poorly exposed, grainy and/or blurry picture.
The image above isn't a lot better, but has to be one of the best I have been able to get. I took it yesterday at Fernhill Wetlands along the new Dabblers Marsh trail. I used the monopod my son got me for Christmas, which helped with the sharpness of this distant photo.
The Black-headed Grosbeak has to be one our more tropical looking summer birds. You can hear their song from far away. It sounds somewhat like a Robin, but it just goes on and on. Some people refer to the song as a Drunken Robin. :-)