Wood Ducks on Memorial Day

We witnessed the most amazing thing this morning!!! Right from our own backyard!

We saw the female woodduck going in and out of the nest box Chuck built for her in February.

We had seen her flying in the box at the end of April for the first time.

Here she is flying into the box.

Now she is on her way back out of the box.

She was doing this over and over so we knew something was up. From what I have read - when she is on the eggs she will only come out a couple times a day to feed.
She is in the pond calling to her chicks to come out of the nest box.

The chick is peeking out of the box.

Another one.

At one day old - they take that flying leap to their mother.

Weeee!!

We saw about ten of them jump.

They were swimming in the pond afterwards, but we decided to leave them alone as not to scare them away.
And Chuck thought the box was just to make me happy - boy did it ever!!!!!


A video of the female going into the nest box one last time before coming out and calling the young ducklings to join her.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0-7QLyeMc4

A video capturing the last one coming out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIcl6b0M3G4

Weekend in the Gorge

We took a couple days in the Columbia Gorge this weekend. The weather was beautiful and we saw quite a few birds. We were hiking up a hill at the mouth of Cascade Locks and an osprey flew right over us with his dinner in his talons. He has the fish positioned for the least wind resistance. I located the Western Tanager at Memaloose Overlook on the way to Rowena Crest.


We saw the female in town at The Dallas.


This was one of the many beautiful flowers that were in full bloom.

We ended up seeing so many birds that I really don't recall seeing before. In the past I didn't stop to identify the birds like we do today. So we might have seen them before, but just didn't know it. Some of the highlights are: Western bluebird, Bullock's Oriole, Black Headed Grosbeak, Western Tanager, and cliff swallows.

American Goldfinch

I have a movie of the goldfinches in our yard. The quality is not as good as the movie I have on my computer, but you can see the quantity of birds.

New Critter on the back deck today!

I saw a new critter this morning by the hot tub. He saw me while he was probably hunting a rabbit or other small mammal. In the last picture you can see the long tail which leads me to believe that he is a long-tailed weasel. When I spotted him I had to decide between grabbing the camera or finding Chuck out in the garage. You can see the route I choose...Here he is ready to pounce.

This was the first encounter!

TOO COOL!!!

April Birds

Seems we do have some Brown Headed Cow Birds.

The American Goldfinch - one of many!

The male wood duck came up to the feeder.

The female wood duck has taken to her nest box that Chuck built in February. I saw her fly in on April 27th for the first time. She has made a use for the tree that fell in one of the winter storms. You can see her nest box in the background on a tree on the left. This is the third day in a row - so I am thinking there are 3 eggs so far. Chuck thought he was just building the nest box to keep me happy. Little did he know the wood duck would find it. He may have to build more now!

Spring has arrived

The birds were out this weekend. The Pine siskin was looking very handsome on the feeder.

An iris from Easter.

This bird looks like a Savannah Sparrow to me. I don't think I have seen him here before.
The goldfinch looking to see what I was up to.

The Pine Siskin didn't seem to mind me watching him.

The pine siskin was dipping into the pond for a blade of grass.

He got it.

April updates

Chuck built the wood duck box and now they are arriving. We will wait and see if they use it for their nest or if the resident mallard chases them off. The pileated woodpecker sure makes enough noise to let me know he is in the area.

This tree at Nisqually last month captured my attention - not as much as seeing a great horned owl though.