February 11, 2018

My birding since Ms. Eider has comprised fits and starts, mostly, but has garnered me a few more species for my list.

This post isn’t very excited, so let’s begin with the full moon on January 31. I was hoping to see the lunar eclipse, which was supposed to be ideal in the west. I woke up at 4:30 AM, walked around my house peering out the windows, and I’m pretty sure it was cloudy, and I went back to bed.

Full moon; Salem, Oregon; January 31, 2018; photograph by Linda Burfitt.

On Sunday, February 4, we headed to Astoria, Oregon, because C had a work conference. En-route, we stopped near Cedar Mill, Oregon, at Commonwealth Lake Park where a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was being seen regularly. Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers don’t really occur in the western U.S. I’m pretty sure I caught a quick glimpse of said sapsucker, but then I lost him. I’ll try again this upcoming Tuesday when I’m back up in that area for an eye appointment. I did, however, get two 2018 new birds at this park: a *Red-breasted Sapsucker (lifer!) and a *Redhead duck.

Red-breasted Sapsucker; Commonwealth Lake Park; Cedar Mill, Oregon; February 4, 2018; photograph by Linda Burfitt.

Redhead; Commonwealth Lake Park; Cedar Mill, Oregon; February 4, 2018;  photograph by Linda Burfitt.

American Wigeon; Commonwealth Lake Park; Cedar Mill, Oregon; February 4, 2018; photograph by Linda Burfitt.

While in Astoria, I was determined to find the White-Winged Crossbills that are being seen almost daily at Fort Steven State Park hanging with a larger flock of Red Crossbills. The first two times were failures. The third time, I’m almost positive I saw (from a distance) and heard the crossbill flock fly away from one tree and disappear into another dimension. I’m certain of this. Their calls were loud sounded like they were coming from all directions until they just stopped. We sifted and sifted, but no crossbills. Different dimension. Who knew this about crossbills? Fort Stevens State Park did, however, yield me a two new 2018 species: *Raven and *Sanderlings.

Raven; Fort Stevens State Park; February 7, 2018; photograph by Linda Burfitt.

Sanderlings and Dunlin; Fort Stevens State Park; February 8, 2018; photograph by Linda Burfitt.

Ring-necked Ducks; Astoria, Oregon; February 8, 2018;  photograph by Linda Burfitt.

While at the hotel in Astoria, I got three new species for 2018: *Glaucous-Winged Gull, *Western Gull, and *Western Grebe.

*New Birds for 2018: 7
2018 Year-to-Date Talley: 84

January 4–5, 2018

I saw a Ruddy Duck today!

I wasn’t even going to venture out today, because I wanted to give my “new” eyes some rest, and because it was pouring rain this morning. I was going to chalk it up as another feeder-yard day and leave it at that.

But, the sun came out, so I hastily grabbed all of my birding paraphernalia and set off to Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is approx. 2,800 acres and comprises cropland; wooded swamps; large, ephemeral wetlands; and various forms of edge habitat in between. The refuge was established in 1965 to provide optimal wintering habitat for the “dusky” Canada goose, which is a subspecies of the Canada Goose that nests only in the Willamette Valley.

I focused my birding today in the wetland areas. My list is as follows, followed by some photographs.

American Coot*
American Crow
American Wigeon*
Belted Kingfisher*
Bewick’s Wren*
Black-capped Chickadee
Canada Goose
Great Blue Heron
Green-winged Teal*
Mallard
Northern Flicker*
Northern Pintail*
Northern Shoveler*
Ring-Necked Duck
Ruddy Duck*
Tundra Swan*

Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge; January 5, 2018; photograph by Linda Burfitt

Bufflehead (male) and the backside of an American Wigeon (male); Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge: January 5, 2018; photograph by Linda Burfitt

Mallard and American Wigeon; Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge; January 8, 2018; photograph by Linda Burfitt

Tundra Swans (and a coot); Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge; January 5, 2018; photograph by Linda Burfitt

And, my feeder list from today and yesterday:

American Goldfinch
Bewick’s Wren*
Brown Creeper*
Dark-eyed Junco
Lesser Goldfinch*
Red-Breasted Nuthatch*
Song Sparrow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Western Scrub-Jay

Dark-Eyed Junco; Salem, Oregon; January 5, 2018; photograph by Linda Burfitt

Lesser Goldfinches; Salem, Oregon; January 5, 2018; photograph by Linda Burfitt

And on that note, I need to stop staring at this screen and rest my eyes for the rest of the evening. Tally below.

*New Birds for 2018: 14 species
2018 Year-to-Date Talley: 41 species