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Descriptions of over 250 birding sites
Checklist of 543 species with seasonal abundance chart
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Category Archives: seasonal movements
Gull Season
Late autumn and early winter is the time to find the biggest diversity of gulls in Oregon. I led a field trip to the coast at the end of October. Strong storms from the west had moved a lot of … Continue reading
Wet (land) Birds
Here are some non-waterfowl that I’ve seen in various wetlands recently. I often struggle with photographing white birds, but this Great Egret came out OK. Most of the shorebirds have moved on, but a few Least Sandpipers are still around. … Continue reading
Waterfowl
Waterfowl numbers have been increasing in the Willamette Valley as the rains have begun. This male Northern Shoveler is still in his drab summer plumage. This Emperor Goose is currently a local celebrity in the Beaverton area, hanging out with … Continue reading
Posted in seasonal movements
Tagged American Coot, Common Merganser, Emperor Goose, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler
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Random Birds
Here are some random bird images from the last couple of weeks. Belted Kingfisher on a very fancy perch Bonaparte’s Gull in first winter plumage Gull Season is just around the corner. juvenile White-crowned Sparrow Green Heron with an American … Continue reading
September Shorebirds
Shorebirds have been trickling through the Portland area all month. Finding proper habitat can be challenging. As wetlands dry up during the summer, we have to hope that deeper bodies of water recede enough to create mudflats for shorebirds to … Continue reading
Low Tide
Trestle Bay, just off Parking Lot D at Fort Stevens State Park, can be one of the more productive shorebird spots on the north coast. Timing is critical, as the bay fills completely with the high tide. When the tide … Continue reading
Posted in behavior, mammals, seasonal movements
Tagged California Gull, California Sea Lion, Common Merganser
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Summer in the Wetlands
Our brutal summer continues. When the weather is this hot and dry, the best bird diversity is usually found around wetlands, so I spent a little time at Fernhill Wetlands and Jackson Bottom. The first record of Black Phoebe in … Continue reading
Summer at Fernhill
Record-setting heat and cloudless days are not the best conditions for birding or photography, but here we are. It is sometimes hard to motivate oneself to get outside when the weather is so harsh, but there is always something to … Continue reading
Random Summer Birds
Spring migration has come and gone, and many birders agree that it was a dud. Numbers and diversity seemed quite low in the Portland area this spring. So now we concentrate on the summer residents, like this Black-headed Grosbeak. Most … Continue reading
Tualatin River NWR
The long hiking trail at Tualatin River NWR is open, and this refuge always offers some good birding in the spring and early summer. A pair of Blue-winged Teal was in the southwest pond. As is typical for this species, … Continue reading
John Rakestraw 