All photos copyright John Rakestraw unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.
Tag Archives: White-crowned Sparrow
Force Lake
Force Lake, a small lake at the edge of a golf course in north Portland, is not a terribly attractive site, but it can be quite birdy at times. On this visit, a large flock of Golden-crowned Sparrows was feeding … Continue reading
Fernhill Wetlands
During the current pandemic, it is not always easy to visit favorite birding sites. I have found that if I go very early, I can get some good birding in at Fernhill Wetlands without encountering too many folks. (Of course, … Continue reading
Little Brown Birds
Late winter is when I typically concentrate on sparrows. There isn’t much else going on this time of year, and the vegetation is worn down enough that visibility is pretty good. Rentenaar Road on Sauvie Island continues to be the … Continue reading
Random Ramblings
Most of my recent outings have been while leading trips or in dreary conditions, both of which limit any photo opportunities. So here are some dribs and drabs from recent weeks. This Black-tailed Deer and her fawn were at Cooper … Continue reading
Random Images
February birding is famously slow around much of Oregon, but, as I like to remind myself, there is always something to see. This male Redhead has been spending the winter at Commonwealth Lake Park in Beaverton. It is not often … Continue reading
Sauvie Island
I went to Sauvie Island to scout areas for my Little Brown Birds class next week. The huge flocks of waterfowl that spend the winter there have dwindled, but there are still a lot of birds around. This White-crowned Sparrow … Continue reading
North Coast
I made two trips to the coast this week, once to scout for my Portland Audubon shorebird class, and again for the class itself. It is amazing how much difference a couple of days can make in the make-up of … Continue reading
Tualatin River NWR
Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge is still a fairly new addition to the Willamette Valley refuge complex, but it offers a nice variety of habitats very close to Portland. I don’t know if the resident Bald Eagles had a successful … Continue reading
Pacific City
I led a couple of tours for the Birding and Blues Festival last weekend. The weather was dry and reasonably warm, despite rather vicious afternoon winds on the beach. North winds brought good numbers of migrating shorebirds close to land. … Continue reading
Sandy River Delta
Nala and I spent the morning at the Sandy River Delta east of Portland. Bird activity is definitely picking up, although many of the summer residents haven’t arrived yet. White-crowned Sparrows were singing as were Savannah Sparrows. Rufous Hummingbirds were … Continue reading