Dawson Creek Nests

The nesting season is underway at Dawson Creek Park, which surrounds the Hillsboro Library. After dropping off an overdue book, Andie and I took a walk around a few ponds. I checked on the Canada goose island and noticed a small white pile of down. Looking through binoculars, I noticed one large egg.

The adults were swimming nearby, keeping the egg in sight.

I found my first American robin nest of the year near another pond. A female was bringing material to a birch tree in a grove where several nests were constructed last year. Now that the residents are hard at work, the migrants should be moving in and nesting any week now.

Pacific City Bliss

This weekend, we celebrated Sarah's 3oth birthday at the beach and it turned out to be the best time we have had at the coast since our wedding. Sarah's family and many of our friends joined us to mark the occasion.


After several days of cold and rain, the sun emerged on Saturday in time for a bird hike I led for the Pacific City Birding and Blues Festival. I had a small turnout for my group, but we saw 27 species of birds and found many interesting items on the beach including a beached longnose lancet fish.


These slender beasts swim in deep seas and occasionally show up on beaches.


After the hike, my friend Jere and I dug for clams in the mud flats of Nestucca Bay.


We returned to the beach house in time for the Birthday Dinner. We ate a lot of pasta, and the non-vegetarians enjoyed the clams.


We drank some wine and a lot of singing and dancing followed, making for a memorable night for all of us, including the yarn crab. I could not ask for a better weekend to share with great folks.

Dueling Hummingbirds and Winning Blazers

I spent Tuesday morning and afternoon at the Turner's house where I checked on our spring veggie garden.


The starts have not received much sun lately, but mild temperatures and plenty of rain are all they need to stay alive.


I tried to get some work done at the kitchen table, but I was distracted by the newly-arrived rufous hummingbirds. A female rufous remained perched on a branch near the feeder and chased away any Anna's hummingbirds that dared to come for a drink.


She occasionally came for a drink herself, but spent most of her time chasing others.

Last weekend, we put up a feeder at the beach, and a Rufous Battle Royale ensued. At least four males and females chased each other in every direction. Many of these aggressive little birds will move north to nest, then migrate south through the Rockies and southwestern mountains where they will harass the broad-tailed and black-chinned hummingbirds nesting there.

After we finished work, Sarah and I took the light rail to the Rose Garden in Portland and I watched my first Trailblazers game, a belated birthday present. The Blazers played their division rivals, the Utah Jazz.


Utah score the first basket of the game and did not lead again. The blazers scored a season-high 39 points in the first quarter and easily won 125-104. Two more wins and they are in the playoffs!

Stormy Weekend

We spent last weekend at the beach and enjoyed some wild weather, much like the rest of the northern U.S.

Pacific City was socked in on Saturday. Sarah and I are used to rain, but we felt a bit claustrophobic because visibility was so limited. We could barely make out Haystack Rock in the distance, but the ocean was invisible from the house most of the day.

A few sunbreaks made our beach survey much more tolerable on Sunday. Towards the end, however, it began to hail.

If you look closely, you can see the hail streaking in front of the dog's back. She was eager to get back to the beach house and relax on the couch.

Spring Break Camp on the Island

Yesterday I led an Audubon Spring Break Camp. With the help of a volunteer, I drove 12 second and third-graders to Sauvie Island to look for some birds.

The morning was quite rainy, but it started to clear when we reached the island.

We started by birding the Multnomah Channel.

A belted kingfisher and a group of common mergansers captured their attention.

We drove to Wapato Greenway, Oak Island, and several stops on the east side of the island. At a couple of covered areas, we made maps of the island and recorded the birds we saw at each site.

Though I was busy keeping the kids in sight and interested in the birds, I enjoyed one of the best days of birding I have had at the Island. Sandhill cranes were everywhere, ospreys and turkey vultures had returned from their winter country, and bald eagles were sitting on sedan-sized nests. The highlight for some of the boys was a "duck fight" between squabbling buffleheads. The boys embelished the story to include flying blood and death from an epic battle that lasted much longer than I recall, but I guess we create our own reality at that age.

Our final stop was the Columbia beach.

As I kept an eye on the kids playing in the sand, I spotted the best bird of the day.

It was a juvenile red-throated loon cruising up the River. The children whose attention had not yet waned were able to get good looks at it in the scope. This small loon usually winters along the coast, but a few stray up the Columbia to Hood River and beyond. It was a great sighting to cap a very productive day of birding for all ages.

Food Season Begins

On Saturday, the 2009 Portland Farmer's Market season began on the Portland State campus.


I feel like we are spoiled in western Oregon because the period in which it is difficult to buy fresh, local produce is ridiculously short. I can't cross-country ski or snowshoe every day like folks in my hometown of Butte, Montana can, however, so I guess it's a trade-off.


We found some great carrot diversity,

earthy piles of mushrooms,

and starts ready for planting.

We bought some early season greens and mushrooms, long-keeping root vegetables, and produce stored since last season.

We brought the starts to our raised bed at Sarah's grandparent's house. We quickly weeded, tilled and composted one end of the bed, then planted.

We now hope that the weather goes easy on the snap pea, golden beet, and lettuce starts.

Hummingbird Update

The Anna's hummingbird nest across the street remains active.


Yesterday, I saw two medium-sized nestling bills.


The nestlings are 13 to 18 days old and will be in the nest for another five to ten days.
The nestling period of hummingbirds is much longer than other small, open-nesting birds. Females care for young without help from males, so nestling growth rate is probably limited by the amount of food a tiny single parent can deliver.

The little nestlings here have already been hardened by cold and wet weather, so they should have no trouble making it out of the nest.