OregonJunco
Member
On July 3, I visited a central Oregon wetland at Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge. I walked a boardwalk trail above a muddy Alder marsh and saw the following birds.
List of birds in order of taxonomy:
great blue heron (1)
turkey vulture
Canada goose
mallard
California quail
American coot
killdeer
spotted sandpiper (2)
common snipe (life)
willow flycatcher
American crow
northern rough-winged swallow (life)
cliff swallow (3)
barn swallow
Swainson's thrush
American robin
cedar waxwing
song sparrow
black-headed grosbeak
red-winged blackbird
brown-headed cowbird
American goldfinch
Total Species: 22
(1) I watched a great blue heron on a log catch a huge bullfrog. The
frog was larger than its bill and head combined. It had the frog across the
top of the chest. The frog kicked and struggled and the heron kept
dipping it back in the water. Finally, the heron flew off with it.
(2) A spotted sandpiper sat perched atop a gate post. I questioned my identification at first, because I didn't think a sandpiper would perch like that, but its spotted breast, bobbing tail, and white wing patterns in flight were distinctive. It sat there for several minutes, flew around, landed in the mud, and returned. It let me get quite close, and was very vocal. At one point it was joined in flight by another spotted sandpiper. I wonder if it had a nest nearby.
3) Inside a blind at the end of a shorter boardwalk was a cliff swallow
nest with three babies. As I watched, two adults flew in and out of the open
windows with food, each time causing the nestlings to become quite vocal and open their mouths wide. The swallows seemed oblivious to my presence, and let me watch them for quite some time.
What a great afternoon!
Diane
List of birds in order of taxonomy:
great blue heron (1)
turkey vulture
Canada goose
mallard
California quail
American coot
killdeer
spotted sandpiper (2)
common snipe (life)
willow flycatcher
American crow
northern rough-winged swallow (life)
cliff swallow (3)
barn swallow
Swainson's thrush
American robin
cedar waxwing
song sparrow
black-headed grosbeak
red-winged blackbird
brown-headed cowbird
American goldfinch
Total Species: 22
(1) I watched a great blue heron on a log catch a huge bullfrog. The
frog was larger than its bill and head combined. It had the frog across the
top of the chest. The frog kicked and struggled and the heron kept
dipping it back in the water. Finally, the heron flew off with it.
(2) A spotted sandpiper sat perched atop a gate post. I questioned my identification at first, because I didn't think a sandpiper would perch like that, but its spotted breast, bobbing tail, and white wing patterns in flight were distinctive. It sat there for several minutes, flew around, landed in the mud, and returned. It let me get quite close, and was very vocal. At one point it was joined in flight by another spotted sandpiper. I wonder if it had a nest nearby.
3) Inside a blind at the end of a shorter boardwalk was a cliff swallow
nest with three babies. As I watched, two adults flew in and out of the open
windows with food, each time causing the nestlings to become quite vocal and open their mouths wide. The swallows seemed oblivious to my presence, and let me watch them for quite some time.
What a great afternoon!
Diane
