Lesser Goldfinch
January 2013 – Hillsboro, Oregon
At a quick glance, these birds can pass for an American Goldfinch in winter plumage. But, the olive back is a good indicator.
Lesser Goldfinch
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Dark-eyed Junco
Dark-eyed Junco
January 2013 – Hillsboro, OR
More Dark-eyed Juncos on a branch… Ok, maybe time to “branch out” from this setup…
Dark-eyed Junco
Dark-eyed Junco
December 2012 – Hillsboro, OR
These are common backyard visitors… visiting the back yard. I took this image and the one below trying out a new camera trap – an automatic trigger when the bird lands on the branch. Still have to work out the bugs on this, but it shows promise.
Dark-eyed Junco
Varied Thrush
Varied Thrush
December 2012 – Eugene, OR
These are normally very skittish birds. Their song is familiar to anyone who has spent time in northwest forests – a series of alternating tones, each sung after a pause of a few seconds. But, they don’t make themselves visible very often. The pair pictured here was bucking that trend a bit… perhaps it was the winter that made them less apt to fly at the first sight of people?
Varied Thrush
This female was a bit less bold than the male… both in personality and in coloration. She generally hung-back in the undergrowth.
Varied Thrush
Another view of the male, to see the coloration on his back. These birds are visually similar to one of our most common birds – the American Robin. They’re both thrushes of about the same size, and have similar colors.
Western Scrub Jay
Scrub Jay
December 2012 – Eugene, OR
These are pretty common birds throughout the Willamette Valley in Oregon. This one was a regular visitor to a backyard.
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
December 2012 – Eugene, Oregon
A few of these birds were visiting a back yard in Eugene, OR. Sometimes, you can barely see the yellow-crown, but there’s no mistaking it. Read More
Anna’s Hummingbird
Anna’s Hummingbird
December 2012 – Eugene, Oregon
This female has something wrong with her leg, which appeared to just dangle. She was able to cope with it, but she might have been having a hard time cleaning herself (these birds use their feet for that), as you can see all the crud on her bib. Hopefully, she’ll be OK in the long-run.
Anna’s Hummingbird
June 2012 – Hillsboro, Oregon
This male was looking a bit beat-up. You can’t see it in this photo, but he’s missing nearly all the secondary feathers from his left wing (they’re just growing back in). It didn’t seem to slow him down though – he was busy chasing other hummingbirds from the area…
Northern Shoveler
Northern Shoveler
October 2012 – Fern Hill – Forest Grove, Oregon
This female Norther Shoveler only paused for a second before resuming her relentless search for morsels on the water’s surface. Those big flat bills are handy tools.
Northern Shoveler
A small group of males spent a good deal of time preening their feathers. After the preening, they flapped around a bit, getting all their feathers back into place.
Long-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
October 2012 – Fern Hill – Forest Grove, Oregon
A group of 3 Long-billed Dowitchers were probing the shallows in a corner of Fern Hill. We spotted them when we first arrived… and when we left an hour or so later, they were still there… still probing.
Long-billed Dowitcher
These birds spent the summer on the Arctic coast, but by mid-autumn, are in their wintering grounds from the Oregon coast down to Mexico.
Surfbird
Surfbird
November 2012 – Bandon, Oregon
A number of Surfbirds were picking through the tidepools at Bandon Beach. Interestingly, there weren’t a whole lot of birds at all at the beach on this particular outing.
When you look at this image contrasted with the one below, it doesn’t even look like the same bird. But, in flight, these birds are very distinctive.
Surfbird
March 2009 – Seal Rock State Wayside, Oregon
This Surfbird (Yes, that’s the actual name of this bird species), was one of a small flock, picking through the tidepools looking for small morsels. These frenetic little creatures don’t linger long in any one place.
Steller’s Jay
Steller's Jay
September 2012 – Lilliwaup, WA
This Steller’s Jay was sitting on a driveway, all “puffed-up”. I thought something was wrong… but it jumped to attention once I got close enough.