Dark-eyed Junco – John Rakestraw

Tualatin River NWR

December 9, 2021 by John Rakestraw, posted in behavior, OR Birding Sites

Like other national wildlife refuges in the Willamette Valley, Tualatin National Wildlife Refuge has limited access in autumn and winter. But the trail that is open can provide some good birding.

The highlight of this trip was a fresh sapsucker well that was attracting both Anna’s Hummingbirds and Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Sapsucker wells are an important source of nectar and insects for birds in the colder months.

Bewick’s Wrens spend much of their time buried in the depths of brush piles, but this individual popped up and posed for a few photos.

It is always worth the time to check out brushy hedgerows this time of year.

I don’t normally think of Dark-eyed Juncos as having a camouflage pattern, but this individual was doing a great job of blending in with his environment.

Happy Autumn

Still Waiting

May 18, 2021 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites, reptiles & amphibians, seasonal movements

wt sparrow 2

Every spring, birders suggest that the migration is running a little late. I think a lot of that feeling just comes from a desire to see spring migrants again. But this year, a lot of species are arriving noticeably late. It was May 11 before I detected my first flycatcher of any species. Shorebird migration on the coast didn’t really pick up until the second week in May.

So a visit to Cooper Mountain Nature Park during the first week in May provided mostly resident and locally nesting species, like this White-crowned Sparrow.

towhee 1 Spotted Towhee, really working that red eye in the sunlight

rt hawk 2 This young Red-tailed Hawk was checking out the meadow.

rt hawk

A young Northwestern Garter Snake crossing the trail

junco The local Dark-eyed Juncos have seemed quite tame lately. I wonder if they are just really busy gathering food for their nestlings.

wt sparrow 1 Another White-crowned Sparrow. Despite their limited color palette, I have always thought this species was especially attractive.

Happy Spring

Random Images

June 20, 2016June 20, 2016 by John Rakestraw, posted in nesting, OR Birding Sites, seasonal movements

A spate of cloudy damp days has not allowed many photo opportunities the past couple of weeks, but here are a few random images.

Lazuli Bunting, Cooper Mountain Nature Park, Beaverton. This is a great natural area that I really need to visit more often.

I made two trips to the clearcut near Milepost 8 on Larch Mountain. It is very birdy this year, with a lot of nesting activity going on. Here is a rather wind-blown Dark-eyed Junco.

Red-breasted Sapsucker

MacGillivray’s Warbler

Willow Flycatcher

A trip to the north coast brought all the expected species. One of the highlights were these two Heermann’s Gulls among the Westerns. Heermann’s are common in mid to late summer, but are just starting to arrive on the Oregon Coast now. This is the first time I have seen them in breeding plumage. In a few weeks they will lose the white plumage on their heads and replace it with mottled gray.

Today is the summer solstice. Pretty soon the nesting season will wrap up and the southbound shorebird migration will begin. Always something to look forward to.

Pacific City

May 6, 2016May 8, 2016 by John Rakestraw, posted in behavior, seasonal movements

I led the Three Capes Tour for the Birding and Blues Festival last weekend. Spring migration had not quite kicked into high gear, but there were some nice birds around. This is one of two Black-bellied Plovers we saw on the beach the day before the tour. They were losing their dull winter plumage and growing in some crisp black and white feathers.

Black-bellied Plover with a Mole Crab

Black-bellied Plover tracks

At Whalen Island, this Dark-eyed Junco and Purple Finch were sharing a treetop.

These Long-billed Dowitchers were some of the few shorebirds we saw on the tour. Most shorebirds were migrating well off-shore that day.

This patch of Red-hot Poker at the Whiskey Creek Fish Hatchery always seems to attract good birds. This year it was a pair of Downy Woodpeckers.

This Barn Swallow sat and posed for us for quite a while.

Tilley Jane Trail

June 21, 2015 by John Rakestraw, posted in mammals, nesting, OR Birding Sites, Uncategorized

I walked the Tilley Jane trail on the east side of Mt. Hood. This trail starts near the Cooper Spur Ski Area and goes about two and a half miles up to the Tilley Jane Campground.

Much of the trail goes through an area that burned a few years ago, so there are lots of standing dead trees and wildflowers.

Burned areas are great for woodpeckers and other cavity nesters. This is a young Northern Flicker that was peeking out of her nest hole.

Olive-sided Flycatcher

Dark-eyed Junco. Yes, I can see them out my living room window, but they look better on the mountain.

We came upon this Black-tailed Deer nursing her new fawn. If the fawn had been hidden, I think the doe would have taken off. But since the baby was exposed, they both just froze as we passed by.

This Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel looks like she might be carrying a litter.

Charismatic megafauna among the lupines

At higher elevations, Cassin’s Finches became common, if not cooperative.

Along with the wildflowers are butterflies. The flowers are interesting in person, but not so much in photos. A few butterflies, like this Pacific Fritillary, posed for good looks.

This is a Persius Duskywing, which I had never heard of before.

Rentenaar Road, Sauvie Island

January 2, 2013January 2, 2013 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites, rarities

Rentenaar Road, on Sauvie Island, is one of the better sparrow patches in the Portland area. I found ten species this morning, about typical for this time of year. This boldly patterned White-throated Sparrow was one of the prettier ones.

Dark-eyed Junco

Golden-crowned Sparrows are the most common sparrows along this stretch of road.

Lincoln’s Sparrow, one of my favorites and one of the hardest to photograph

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Spotted Towhee with two Golden-crowned Sparrows

The rarest bird of the day was this Harris’s Sparrow. This is the third winter in a row that a Harris’s (perhaps the same bird) has been wintering at this location.

Harris’s Sparrow with Golden-crowns

Harris’s with White-crowned

and finally, the Harris’s with a tan-morph White-throated Sparrow in the background. It’s nice that this visitor from the Great Plains gets along with everyone.

While certainly not a sparrow, this American Robin was just begging to be photographed, so here you go.

In the Bleak Midwinter

December 26, 2012December 26, 2012 by John Rakestraw, posted in seasonal movements

In honor of the winter solstice, in a month that brought Portland 7″ of rain, here are a few dark grainy images from recent weeks.

Orange-crowned Warbler

Anna’s Hummingbird

Dark-eyed Junco

Here is a nice comparison of American (foreground) and Lesser Goldfinches. Notice that the American Goldfinch has white undertail coverts, while the Lesser has yellow.

Here is a very dull American Goldfinch (probable first-year female) in front of a Lesser (probable first-year male).

Chestnut-backed Chickadee, looking ever perky

To Bird or to Twitch?

January 13, 2012 by John Rakestraw, posted in birding philosophy, rarities, Uncategorized

I finally had a few hours to get out birding, and had planned to visit some of the Washington County wetlands. But a Brambling visiting a feeder in Woodburn presented me with a dilemma. Should I spend my birding time standing around in someone’s back yard hoping to see a particular bird, or should I explore large areas of habitat and find birds on my own?

The Brambling, an uncommon visitor from Asia, was only a 30 minute drive from home, well within my “chase radius.” (I will drive up to an hour and a half to chase a rarity, although it had better be a darned good bird if it is over an hour away.) The species would be a lifer for me, a nice tick on my Oregon list, and this would perhaps be my only chance to see this species. Then again, if the bird didn’t show up, I would have spent my limited birding time not looking at birds. With some reluctance, I decided to go for the twitch.

When I arrived at the stake-out site, a small group of birders informed me that I had just missed the Brambling. How typical is that? So I began my wait, hoping that the bird would maintain her schedule of repeated visits to her favorite feeder. I had come this far, so I might as well stick it out.

As luck would have it, this yard was very birdy. A small flock of Evening Grosbeaks was a rare treat. Several species of finches and sparrows worked the feeders, interrupted occasionally by a hungry Cooper’s Hawk. After about an hour of waiting, three things happened; my cell phone rang, the owner of the home came out to offer me a cup of coffee, and the Brambling appeared.

So with one hand holding my phone (it was an important call), I used the other hand to hold my binocular to get a brief look at the bird, then snap a few photos, all while thanking my host for the coffee (he didn’t realize that I was on the phone, and didn’t know that I don’t drink coffee). Then the Brambling flew away.

So now what? I had gotten a brief glimpse of the Brambling, although not a very satisfying view of a lifer, and had no idea if any of my photos would be usable or not. The bird had established a pattern of visiting the yard about once an hour for less than a minute. Do I hang out for another hour (did I mention it was really cold?), or do I cut my losses and go do some real birding? I was leaning toward the latter when an acquaintance of mine arrived to look for the bird. The prospect of visiting with him, along with the general birdiness of the this yard, convinced me to stay and try for another look at the Brambling.

This Downy Woodpecker worked on the suet feeder.

Notice that the Dark-eyed Junco on the left has some dark gray on the sides and a darker back than the typical Oregon race birds.

Here is the same bird from the back. The brownish cast on the bird’s back is not right for a pure Slate-colored Junco, so I think this bird is an intergrade Slate-colored/Oregon.

After about an hour, the Brambling returned for less than twenty seconds. I spent the entire time watching her with my binocular, making up for the fleeting view of the previous visit.

So I had gotten my lifer, adding my twitch to the checklist, but I had also gotten some actual birding in, as well. I had seen about 20 species in that little yard, and had a nice visit with some other birders. While I really enjoy getting out and finding large numbers of species, there is often birding to be had in confined situations such as this. I will still struggle with the choice of birding or twitching, but hopefully I will allow myself to find the joy in either.

Tualatin River NWR

January 5, 2012January 5, 2012 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites, rarities

Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, located just a few miles southwest of Portland on Hwy 99W, is a wonderful refuge for wintering waterfowl, despite its location in such an urban area.

The dikes around the wetland areas are closed to public access in the winter to prevent disturbance to the birds. But the trail leading through the wooded habitat beyond the wetland is open year round.

Northern Pintails and a Ruddy Duck

several Double-crested Cormorants perched on a log

a congregation of Northern Pintails, Mallards, and Ring-necked Ducks

The star of the refuge in recent weeks has been a lone Emperor Goose. He is the pale gray blob with the white neck tucked under his wings, right in the center of the photo. No, really.

This Dark-eyed Junco was a little more photogenic than the goose was.

Given the amount of brown on the crown and hind neck of this Dark-eyed Junco, I’m guessing she is a first-year female.

Golden-crowned Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco

Sparrowpalooza

December 1, 2011December 1, 2011 by John Rakestraw, posted in seasonal movements

I spent the morning in Scappoose, OR, this morning looking for a Brambling that was seen about a week ago. I didn’t have any luck with the Brambling, but it was great fun watching the variety of sparrows that were feeding in the area. Winter brings great flocks of sparrows to the Portland area. I saw the eight species pictured below, all within a few minutes, while sitting at the edge of the trail.

Dark-eyed Junco

Song Sparrow

Lincoln’s Sparrows are among the most beautiful sparrows in North America, but are also rather shy, so they tend to stay out of range of point-and-shoot photography.