Apartment Climatologist

I have not been out much lately, so I have not been able to post observations of plants and animals. Instead, I have been inside reading papers on climate patterns in the western U.S. I am working on a presentation about climate change and southwestern birds for the Cooper Ornithological Society Conference in April and for several weeks my mind has been occupied with drought, El Nino, monsoons, and floods.

I find this climate work very interesting because of the complex relationships between ocean temperatures, winds, and our weather. For example, we now appear to be in a La Nina stage of the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO).


This means that cooler Pacific Ocean temperatures have resulted in a cool, somewhat wet northwestern winter and a warm, dry southwestern winter.


This is the second La Nina event in two years, which seems abnormal because the ENSO cycle is supposed to last five to ten years. Throw in the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and its interaction with ENSO and your brain will really start to hurt.

Anyway, that's what I've been thinking about lately.

Updates

The Great Bird Count of February has ended and I tallied 23 species seen and heard from the apartment. Not bad, considering I was gone for a week of vacation.


My favorite bird was also the last addition: a western gull, like the one above, spotted on a snowy morning.


The most frequently seen birds were probably the mourning doves that spend their days on our deck.

Now that the bird count is over, I will start a list of birds nesting in the neighborhood so I, and anyone else interested, can keep tabs on the Orenco-area nesting community.


Our local hummingbird nest remains active despite snow, freezing temperatures, and heavy rains.


Today I watched the female leave her nest and fly across the street and a busy construction site to reach a feeder on someone's porch. She may have nestlings by now, but they would be too small to observe for a while.

Saturday Morning Nests

Our dog has made it clear that she no longer enjoys walking around our neighborhood due to the nonstop construction noise, so we took a walk at Dawson Creek Park. We checked on the great horned owl nest and were pleased to see an adult in place.

We walked east of the owl to check on a red-tailed hawk nest in a large oak.

The nest is still up there and the adults were flying around, but they did not go to the nest.

Back at the apartment, I found a "new" old nest in a Japanese maple.

Based on the size of the nest and the material, I think it was constructed by our resident scrub jays. These little maples collect a lot of nests from a variety of bird species, so they are nice to have around.

Return of Raptor Cam

It is now the season for large birds to start nesting on man-made structures, and we can can all monitor many of these nests via webcams. The Audubon Society of Portland recently switched on their Raptorcam. This is the third year they have featured the red-tailed hawks nesting on a fire escape in downtown Portland.

The little blue arrow marks the building. This year, the camera is pointed at a side view of the nest and the viewer can watch the goings on at the nest and the streets below.

At this time the adults seem to be guarding their nest and bringing in new materials.

Last year, two of these three chicks fledged. The year before, one of two survived. It will be interesting to see the outcome this year.

Weekend Trips

Today I led a birding field trip and Dawson Creek Park for the Audubon Society of Portland. About eight birders, a perfect sized group, came out and the rain stopped just in time for the walk. The highlights, as usual were the acorn woodpeckers, wood ducks, and the nesting great horned owl. Unfortunately, the hooded mergansers and red-breasted sapsuckers I saw last week did not show up. Maybe next time.

Dawson Creek Field Trip Birds:
Great blue heron
Canada goose
Cackling goose
Gadwall
Mallard
American wigeon
Green-winged teal
Lesser scaup
Ring-necked duck
Bufflehead
Wood duck
American coot
Mourning dove
Great horned owl
Anna's hummingbird
Acorn woodpecker
Northern flicker
Scrub jay
Black-capped chickadee
American robin
Yellow-rumped warbler
Spotted towhee
Dark-eyed junco
Song sparrow
Red-winged blackbird
Brewer's blackbird
House finch



Yesterday, we visited the confluence of the Willamette River and the Columbia at Kelly Point Park. Lately, I like to view the natural and human worlds coexisting on the lower Columbia and Willamette Rivers.

The Willamette is on the left side of the pilings and the Columbia is on the right.

Up the Columbia, Mount Hood could faintly be seen behind the noisy industrial area.

A tug boat cruised down the Willamette.

We saw three bald eagles, several double-crested cormorants, and a pair of mew gulls before our fraidy-cat dog demanded we return to the car because the noises were alarming her.

Dawson Creek Birds

I took a break from work today to scout Dawson Creek Park. I am leading a birding trip there on Sunday and if the birds I saw today stick around, it will be a great day.

A pair of red-breasted sapsuckers followed me around and sipped from their wells in the park's many maples.

Above, one of the sapsuckers works on a trunk while a robin watches from a branch.

At one of the maples, honeybees were taking advantage of the sweet sap provided by the birds.

I checked on the snag that held a great horned owl nest last year. It was tough to tell with binoculars, but I'm pretty sure I saw an adult in the tree. This weekend, we will have scopes to check for certain.

Butte Beer

While trying to decide on which beer to buy at New Seasons, I came across a familiar scene. I found a 6-pack of Bayern Killarney Red Lager with a painting of my hometown of Butte, Montana on the label. The Bayern Brewery is a few blocks from a house I once rented in Missoula.

I had to buy it for old-time's sake.

The painting features revelers leaving a bar with drinks in hand, still a common occurrence in Butte because police do not enforce open-container laws. In the background you can see the Continental Divide, smelter stacks, and the head frame of a copper mine. The smelters are now gone, but the bars and decommissioned head frames remain iconic symbols of a drinking town with a mining problem.