Common Crow
May 2012 – Eugene, Oregon
Ok, I see crows all the time… there is one hanging out in the neighbors tree with a sore voice; he’s been trying to caw for a couple years, but it just comes out as a soft burp. Poor guy. The one photographed here was along a suburban driveway in Eugene, Oregon. Exotic location, eh?
Spotted Towhee
April 2012 – Tualatin National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon
Spotted Towhees are common lowland birds in this area.
White-breasted Nuthatch
April 2012 – Tualatin National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon
This White-breasted Nuthatch was gathering nesting materials (mostly bits of lichen it seems) just above the Tualatin River.
Western Tanager
May 2011 – Shore Acres State Park, OR
Another mediocre photo of a female Western Tanager. Shore Acres is a great place to see birds. There are a number of habitats in the park, plenty of places to sneak-up on the birds, and a lot of open space in an otherwise pretty brushy landscape.
Western Tanager
May 2010 – Hell’s Canyon, OR
Not a great photo… but it is a female Western Tanager. About mid-elevation in the canyon in the springtime.
Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher
December 2010 – Phoenix, Arizona
This Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher was shooting through a bush… catching gnats? This image was taken in winter 2010/11 in Phoenix Arizona.
Pelagic Cormorant
May 2011 – Bandon, OR
The Pelagic Cormorant is a common seaside nester along the Oregon coast. This one stopped for a moment on a barren cliffside just off Bandon Beach.
Pelagic Cormorant
April 2010 – LaConner, WA
These Pelagic Cormorants were hanging out on the piers near downtown LaConner, WA.
Killdeer
March 2004 – Jackson Bottom wetlands, Hillsboro, OR
Not much to say here… a Killdeer wading in the shallows.
Blue Grouse
June – 2010 – Rock Mountain Trail, Washington
As I was heading down the Rock Mountain Trail in the Washington Cascades, I heard the familiar “whoop, whoop, whoop” of a grouse. This is a commonly heard sound. However, it’s not common to actually see the bird making it. After a bit of looking, I spotted the culprit, perched on a branch about 20 feet overhead. He wasn’t going full-out with the puffy colorful chest display, just making his presence known…
June 2009 – Todd Lake, Oregon Cascades
This wasn’t a typical place to see a Spotted Sandpiper, but a bunch of them were hanging out along the shoreline of Todd Lake high up in the Oregon Cascade mountains. Surely, it was a good place to be, as the newly thawed shoreline muds were crawling with bugs. Yum.
Lincoln's Sparrow
July 2008 – Little Crater Lake, Oregon
This bird was singing in the sun at Little Crater Lake, just to the southeast of Mt. Hood, OR.