A Walk Down Wilson Rd

Feeder Watch

The red-breasted nuthatches found our new feeder outside the kitchen window. I took this while doing dishes, not a bad distraction. We are seeing 2-3 of these guys at our feeders daily. Today we had the biggest flock of House Finches yet, ~30. There were a couple orange males mixed in with the usual pink ones. Other visitors were 2 american goldfinches, 4 black-capped chickadees and 2 song sparrows.

Earlier this week, I saw a northern pygmy-owl on a road sign close to our house. I rushed home for the camera, but he was gone by the time I got back.  It's easy to forget they are only 6.75in in length. For some perspective, an american robin is 10in long.

Heading to Creston tomorrow for a week, hopefully for some great birding and photography opportunities.

Yard List

When we moved to our new home I decided it was time to start a yard list, something I hadn't done before. My yard list consists of birds that I've seen or heard from my yard, not necessarily birds physically on our property. As of yesterday I had recorded 69 species from our home in Robson. Today brought me a suprise while I was having my coffee, watching our feeders and scanning the fruit trees.

The usual suspects were there: Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Song Sparrow and then.......a Northern Shrike(#70) showed up! He just posed there while I enjoyed the view, clearly forgetting I have a new lense I could take such a shot with, sigh. Here's a list of the birds seen from my yard:

1. Black-capped Chickadee
2. Pacific Wren
3. American Crow
4. Common Raven
5. Bald Eagle
6. Pine Siskin
7. Common Redpoll
8. Downy Woodpecker
9. Northern Flicker
10. Common Goldeneye
11. Canada Goose
12. Barrow's Goldeneye
13. Bufflehead
14. Ring-billed Gull
15. Cedar Waxwing
16. House Finch
17. Cooper's Hawk
18. Song Sparrow
19. Dark-eyed Junco
20. Rock Pigeon
21. Steller's Jay
22. European Starling
23. Townsend's Solitaire
24. American Robin
25. Merlin
26. Red-breasted Nuthatch
27. American Goldfinch
28. Spotted Towhee
29. Violet-green Swallow
30. Killdeer
31. Red-tailed Hawk
32. Brewer's Blackbird
33. Yellow Warbler
34. Yellow-rumped Warbler
35. Osprey
36. Turkey Vulture
37. Hairy Woodpecker
38. Rufous Hummingbird
39. Tree Swallow
40. Calliope Hummingbird
41. Black-chinned Hummingbird
42. Yellow-headed Blackbird
43. Nashville Warbler
44. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
45. Orange-crowned Warlber
46. Red-winged Blackbird
47. Gray Catbird
48. Lazuli Bunting
49. Chipping Sparrow
50. Bullock's Oriole
51. Olive-sided Flycatcher
52. Veery
53. Western Tanager
54. Wilson's Warbler
55. Brown-headed Cowbird
56. Western Wood-Pewee
57. Barn Swallow
58. Red Crossbill
59. Western Kingbird
60. Spotted Sandpiper
61. Red-eyed Vireo
62. Common Nighthawk
63. Golden-crowned Kinglet
64. Cliff Swallow
65. Peregrine Falcon
66. Mallard
67. Sharp-shinned Hawk
68. Double-crested Cormorant
69. Pileated Woodpecker
70. Northern Shrike

100 for Waldie

I got up this morning to find a dark and rainy landscape outside my window. Might as well go birding. I was excited to try out the new camera lense I had ordered, despite the less than optimal conditions outside. It turned out to be a good time, finding my three species I had only seen once before along this trail: Pied-billed Grebe, Ruffed Grouse, and Brown Creeper.

I was also quite amused to watch an American Dipper moving along the rocks and through the water right beside the trail. He would "paddle" along from rock to rock.

While heading back to the car I stopped to observe some House Finches. I noticed something larger in a tree silhouetted against the clouds, a Townsend's Solitaire, my 100th species for this trail! A pretty wicked milestone for this little area.

Location: Waldie Island Trail
Observation Date: 12/14/10
Number of species: 22


Mallard
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Barrow's Goldeneye
Common Merganser
Ruffed Grouse
Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Ring-billed Gull
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Brown Creeper
American Dipper
Townsend's Solitaire
Song Sparrow
House Finch