2019 More Yet

Here are the continuation of my pictures.  It is now just into August, and fall migration is heating up, and there are young birds all around.  Each year the swallows stage at my place, and just the other day there were over 200 hanging out on the wires here.  But the majority of them have gone south.

Least Sandpiper

Western Sandpiper

Immature Barn Swallow

Immature Tree Swallow

8/21/19

The weather man was predicting some rain, so with the weather front coming in I thought I might see if anything unusual would take a break from migrating.  I did not find anything of the sort, but did run into a flock of Lesser Goldfinches at the local sewage ponds, as well as lots of waxwings.

Lesser Goldfinch

Lesser Goldfinch

Immature Cedar Waxwing

8/26/19
Went birding today with Chuck Philo from Toledo in SE Lincoln County - specifically a place called Grass Mountain.  Chuck has been here many times over the years, mostly for hunting when he was younger.  We were looking for migrants, which were in short supply.  At one point we saw a Wilson's Warbler, so I began tooting a Pygmy Owl call, which sometimes can perk the curiosity of small birds which come out to investigate the noise, but he was not interested.  However, when we rounded the corner found I had called in the real thing, a Northern Pygmy Owl, and he was quite cooperative.  We were able to walk quite close to him and he did not seem to care.  So for both of us, we were "finally" treated to the photo op that we had spent years awaiting.  They can be quite confiding, but until now, we'd been skunked.

Northern Pygmy Owl

Northern Pygmy Owl (How about those nostrils!)

Northern Pygmy Owl

 Migration for raptors had just begun and we were treated to 2 Immature Coopers Hawks and 1 Immature Sharp-shinned Hawk, the latter being a smaller version of the former.  All raptors seem to like to harass each other, from the smallest to the largest.  Here are some shots of these two having a tussle in the air.

Cooper's Hawk

Yes, he is flying upside down.  I did not rotate it after on my screen

Coopers on the Left, Sharp-shinned on the Right

We attended a family reunion over Labor Day weekend just over into Washington state, and after Rosie went home, I headed south along the east flank of the Cascades.  I added a few birds to each of 4 counties.  On Wednesday, 9/4/19, I had the opportunity to join the weekly Bend birding outing.  We headed up into the Cascade Highland Lakes, and I was able to add Common Tern to my Deschutes county list.  Below are a few pics from the 4 day excursion

Lincoln Sparrow at Detroit Flats

Clark's Nutcracker coming to a watering trough

Western Chipmunk coming to that same watering trough

Yellow-rumped Warbler coming to that watering trough

A cow drinking at this watering trough

I wonder how long they have been farming......

Finally, a Canyon Wren to photograph

Wilson's Snipe near Prineville

Female Western Tanager, but this was where we stayed in Washington

American Robin in Washington

Sphinx Moth.  These are often mistaken for hummingbirds as they fly fast with fast wingbeats

Sphinx Moth

Sphinx Moth

Willow Flycatcher

In this pic I was seeing if I could take a pic of a hovering dragon fly.  Not too bad!

Mt Batchelor from Crane Prairie Reservoir in the high Cascades

As Rosie and I are going on a 10 day jaunt to Southern Oregon, I figured there would be plenty of pics from our vacation to start anew, so am mailing this one out.