Birds in the snow

Goldened crown sparrows were everywhere in the snow.
Juncos galore too.

Squirrrels needed food too.


Now I believe this is a Cooper's Hawk (Thanks to Portland Birds). I caught a glimpse of a hawk out the front window. I saw the markings of a Harrier so I assumed this was the same bird. A bit later I saw him perched above the main duck pond in the back yard. Then I noticed ALL the little birds were hiding in the bushes. Mr. Hawk perched in the cottonwood tree for about an hour. He let me get close, yet I didn't want to make him mad.

Snow Birds and others watching them

The ducks were walking over to the squirrel feeder. The duck in the front is real - it was snowing and he went into a dip in the snow. I thought it was a cool picture.

We heard the coyotes howling the night before and wondered how they were surviving the storm. The two main ones that we normally see were out in the morning. I saw one licking his chops when he saw the 100 ducks swimming in the pond.

The cats were jumping at the window thinking they could catch a bird or two. Yet they have NEVER been outdoors cats. I think they were starting to get tired.

I just love the song of the black capped chickadee.

Snow Again

I wonder how much more snow we can get??? We cleared off the table on Sunday afternoon and it is full again. I don't know if the deck can handle the weight of the snow. It has to be 2 feet by now. I think I am ready for some rain instead. The power outage this morning and the large amounts of snow was sufficient to block the vents for the furnace. So after no power for a couple hours, then we had no heat. Thankfully Chuck got it working again, yes, after climbing a ladder to the roof in the snow and ice. Yikes!! I started to shovel a path in the driveway, but Chuck says it will take me a month to get all the way to the road so I stopped. At least there are a couple more tunnels for the birds to play around in driveway.

Snow and Ice

The snow makes for pretty pictures. I just wonder when it will warm up enough to do any thawing. We have about 10 inches, including 1/2 inch of ice on top. My sister says I got the icing on the cake for my Birthday today!!!

Busy and birds

I have been very busy with work and school so I have not posted lately. I just finished another term and am on my break before January and my LAST class for my BS degree. Yippee!!

On our latest trip we went to the William Finley Refuge in Corvallis. There were more birds there that I have ever seen in one place. I will post more later. For now I wanted to show off my new creation from my photo to see what you think. I am creating watercolors from my bird photos.

Wasp hive

Chuck got the wasp hive out from under the deck. He sprayed it a few times to kill the wasps first. We are taking it over to the local middle school (of course where I went to school a few years ago) for the science teacher. She is excited to receive it.

Pileated Woodpecker

I had been hearing a different sounding bird for a couple of weeks and today they showed their faces. There were two of them in the tree and the female flew to the tree closer to the woods. They really like to eat carpenter ants, so I hope they have found all the ones from the dead log we just cut recently. These birds are very large, bigger than the crows. It was cool to hear them flying around from tree to tree this morning.

Hummingbirds in July

The hummingbirds were plentiful last night. While I was in the backyard I finally saw the first fawn of the season. She was about a month late showing up at our place. Better late than never. There were 4 hummingbirds and then 4 deer. I knew I liked the number 4.

Painted Hills

We were at John Day Fossil Beds for my geology class this weekend. The painted hills were my favorite part. When we returned I noticed the Red Tail in the back yard and he was devouring the cute little bunny I saw last week. BLAG!!! Poor bunny, yet the hawk needs to eat.

Sunset after the storm

The sunset was beautiful right after the storm ended on Sunday night.

Canada Goose Upriver

A momma goose was heading her young up the river. It was a bit swift and one had some trouble. This was the view from our hotel room in Bend. I think I might have to return.

Bend Part 2

Obsidian Flow

Wren

Swan

Brewer's Blackbird

So you think you can dance deer

This deer was going crazy in the backyard. Everytime I chased him away he came right back to eat the trees.

Bend trip

Bend Obsidian Flows
Of course this is the set of stairs I chose to slip and fall on. The hand rails broke as I was falling.

Cute little wren

Gray Crowned Rosy Finch

Eagle and Seal

I took this over the weekend at Simpson Reef on the Oregon Coast. Do you think the eagle wants to eat the seal?

Ospreys in the Gorge

These ospreys were very intently watching two turkey vultures. You can barely see the vultures in the second picture.

This was from our gorge trip last weekend. I was supposed to be getting photos of the geology in the area from Troutdale to the Dalles and back on the Washington side. I thought these birds would make a nice addition to my paper.

Egret

This Egret was another one we saw at the Ridgefield refuge. I may have to back there again!

Terrie - the Heron

This cute Great Blue Heron was hanging out with the ducks in our pond in the backyard. His nicknamne is Terrie, since he is so prehistoric looking. I am still amazed everytime I see how large the wingspan is when he flys. The wingspan can be a great as 72" (6 feet).