Belted Kingfisher – John Rakestraw

Wet (land) Birds

October 30, 2021October 26, 2021 by John Rakestraw, posted in seasonal movements

Here are some non-waterfowl that I’ve seen in various wetlands recently.

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I often struggle with photographing white birds, but this Great Egret came out OK.

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Most of the shorebirds have moved on, but a few Least Sandpipers are still around.

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The winter sparrow flocks are building up. This Golden-crowned Sparrow was still sporting their breeding plumage.

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Golden-crowned Sparrow taking a bath

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Song Sparrow

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I remember when it was hard to find Lesser Goldfinches in the Portland area, but they usually outnumber American Goldfinches now.

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Lesser Goldfinch taking a bath

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Belted Kingfisher sharing a perch with a European Starling

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Red-winged Blackbird striking a pose

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The numbers of Nutria in the Willamette Valley have exploded in recent years. The are indeed non-native and invasive, but the babies are so cute.

Happy Autumn

Random Birds

September 29, 2021September 23, 2021 by John Rakestraw, posted in seasonal movements

Here are some random bird images from the last couple of weeks.

belted kingfisher small Belted Kingfisher on a very fancy perch

bonaparte's gull 1 small Bonaparte’s Gull in first winter plumage
bonaparte's gull 2 small Gull Season is just around the corner.

white-crowned sparrow small juvenile White-crowned Sparrow

Green Heron with tadpole Green Heron with an American Bullfrog tadpole. It is nice when the native species eat the invasive ones. It is often the other way around.

teal small This is an odd duck. It is a teal, probably Cinnamon, but is either leucistic or is going through a brutal molt.

American White Pelicans are now common in the Portland area in late summer.

American White Pelican flight American White Pelican coming in for a landing

Happy Autumn

Jackson Bottom

December 16, 2020 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites

I spent a foggy morning at Jackson Bottom Wetland Reserve. This Great Egret was blending in with the foggy background at Pintail Pond.

Belted Kingfishers are almost always distant subjects for my photos. They are quite skittish.

The Coyote Hill Trail is a nice loop around a weedy field that can be good for upland species, like this American Kestrel.

House Finch

Northern Pintail was the most abundant species of waterfowl on this day.

The north end of the reserve hosted a flock of 20 Tundra Swans, always a nice find.

There weren’t any great rarities on this trip. But there were a lot of good birds and a nice four-mile hike without any rain – a great trip for December.

Happy Autumn

Autumn Images

October 25, 2019 by John Rakestraw, posted in seasonal movements

Between the recent bouts of rain, we have seen a few sunny days. The birds seem to really take advantage of the nice weather to bulk up for winter. Cedar Waxwings, like this juvenile, have been working fruiting trees and shrubs. Most of these images were taken at Koll Wetlands in Beaverton.

adult Cedar Waxwing

The red nape on this Downy Woodpecker blended in with the red berries.

This noisy Belted Kingfisher blended in amazingly well with the foliage.

This one was not so well camouflaged.

Yellow-rumped Warblers are starting to arrive in the valley.

Most migrant shorebirds are long gone, but three Greater Yellowlegs were lingering at Koll. There is no exposed mud, so the birds were wading deep or actually swimming.

Young Red-tailed Hawk, keeping an eye on me

The male ducks have mostly finished their molt into their colorful plumage, a nice change from the dreary summer look of “Ugly Duck Season.” These Wood Ducks were at Commonwealth Lake.

I followed this Bewick’s Wren around for a while, waiting for him to emerge from the shade and land in a bit of sunshine. When I shoot in RAW, my camera cannot shoot multiple frames, so I only got one chance when the bird popped up into the light.

A much more cooperative model, this Barred Owl hung out by my bird feeder for about half and hour one day. He watched the little birds flitting around, but I think he was hoping for one of the squirrels or rats that often clean up under the feeder. Unfortunately, the rodents did not make an appearance, so the owl eventually moved on.

Happy Autumn

Commonwealth Lake

December 5, 2018 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites

When time is limited or weather is sketchy, I appreciate having Commonwealth Lake close to home for a quick birding fix.

Early in the morning, River Otters will often visit the lake to fill up on fish. There were three otters present on this visit, but they stayed out in the middle of the lake most of the time.

This Belted Kingfisher called from the tangled branches that overhang the water.

Male Common Mergansers lent a splash of color with their red bills.

This female Hooded Merganser kept to the far shore.

Some of the dogwoods still had a few berries, and this Hermit Thrush was taking advantage of this seasonal food.
It was a treat to see this species sitting out in the open, rather than skulking in the undergrowth.

So nothing too exciting this trip, but it is enough to ward off insanity/crankiness until the next outing.

Happy Autumn

Spring on the Coast

May 19, 2017May 19, 2017 by John Rakestraw, posted in seasonal movements

I have made four trips to the Oregon Coast in as many weeks this spring. For three of the four, I was leading groups. That, combined with rainy weather, limited my photo opportunities, but here are a few shots. The big news on the coast this spring was a Laughing Gull and at least four Bar-tailed Godwits. I missed these birds, but as I like to tell myself, there is always something to see.

Rainy skies at Ft. Stevens. The wreck of the Peter Iredale is visible in the center of the photo.

Harbor Seals enjoying the sunshine in Netarts Bay.

It was fun to see this Red-breasted Merganser hauled out on a rock at the Netarts boat launch. I don’t see them out of the water very often.

Belted Kingfisher, Netarts boat launch

Surf Scoter, Yaquina Bay

Common Loon, still in winter plumage, Yaquina Bay

Harlequin Ducks on Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach

former whale, Ft. Stevens

Sanderling have been one of the more common migrants along the coast this spring.
Sanderling, Ft. Stevens

Whimbrel with a Mole Crab, Ft. Stevens

Black-bellied Plover, with a Sanderling in the background

Black-bellied Plover, still in mostly non-breeding plumage. Such faded birds often show some brown coloring, which fosters ideas of Pacific Golden-Plover. But eventually the birds raise their wings to reveal black axillaries (wing pits), and confirm the Black-bellied ID.

Fernhill Wetlands and Jackson Bottom

July 28, 2016July 28, 2016 by John Rakestraw, posted in behavior, nesting, OR Birding Sites

I made a quick trek around Washington County’s two prominent wetlands. There was nothing unusual to report, but there is plenty of bird activity at these sites this time of year.

Green Heron, lurking

Great Blue Heron, not lurking

Juvenile California Gulls are very common lately.

I didn’t find many migrant shorebirds this trip, but the resident Spotted Sandpipers posed nicely.

Killdeer

Fifteen years ago, White Pelicans in the Portland area were a pretty big deal, but now they are expected in the larger wetlands in summer.

Belted Kingfishers like the perches that have been installed at Fernhill.

Osprey over the lake at Fernhill

Clouds of swallows are hanging out at Jackson Bottom. This Tree Swallow spent a long time just sitting in the opening of her nest box.

They have installed a water feature near the visitor center at Jackson Bottom. This soggy Black-capped Chickadee was enjoying a dip.

Lesser Goldfinch on the fountain

As nesting season wraps up and water levels drop, I can soon start obsessing on migrant shorebirds.

Sandy River Delta

April 23, 2016April 23, 2016 by John Rakestraw, posted in nesting, OR Birding Sites, seasonal movements

Our freakishly nice spring weather continued this week, so I took Nala to the Sandy River Delta to check for spring migrants. Actually, Nala could not care less about spring migrants, but found the cool waters of the Sandy River just right for ball fetching. Nesting species have not arrived in any numbers yet, but spring is definitely taking off.

Savannah Sparrows were the most obvious singers in the grassland habitats.
catching his breath before the next number

A pair of Belted Kingfishers is nesting along the channel that runs between the Sandy and the Columbia. They kept to the far bank, so these distant grainy images will have to do. This is the female.

And here is the male.

This is a hole. Not terribly interesting on its own, but very cool when it has a Belted Kingfisher entering or leaving it.

Northern Rough-winged Swallows also frequent this area.

The next couple of weeks should bring the delta’s specialties; Lazuli Bunting, Yellow-breasted Chat, Willow Flycatcher, and perhaps Eastern Kingbird. Happy Spring.

Summer at Sandy River

July 11, 2014 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites

I made an early morning trip to the Sandy River Delta. This late in the summer, with the weather being so hot, most bird song is limited to the hour or so around dawn. This Willow Flycatcher was singing right at sunrise.

fledgling White-crowned Sparrow

The resident pair of Eastern Kingbirds was hanging out on the power lines.

American Goldfinches were common in the grassy areas.

Belted Kingfisher on a side channel of the Sandy River.

The stars of this site are the Lazuli Buntings. This male was keeping a close watch on his lady.
The female Lazuli Bunting was a little more shy.

Any Minute Now

April 27, 2014 by John Rakestraw, posted in nesting, seasonal movements

Spring migration is picking up, with good numbers of warblers just starting to arrive, just in time for my Warblers and Flycatchers class next week. Here is a Yellow-rumped Warbler in a field of little flowers which I think are spring beauties. How appropriate is that?

Townsend’s Warbler

Black-throated Gray Warbler
Migrant warblers are often found in big leaf maples this time of year. The blossoms attract insects that the birds feed on.

Not a warbler, but still a neat find is this Belted Kingfisher burrow along the Columbia River. The burrow is pretty low, and in a area that gets a lot of human and dog traffic, so it will be interesting to see if the birds can successfully nest here.