Force Lake, a small lake at the edge of a golf course in north Portland, is not a terribly attractive site, but it can be quite birdy at times. On this visit, a large flock of Golden-crowned Sparrows was feeding in a little patch of lawn.
When startled, the birds would take cover in a patch of blackberries, but would soon come out again to resume feeding.
I only found two birds in the flock that weren’t Golden-crowned Sparrow. One was this White-crowned Sparrow.
The other was this White-throated Sparrow. This species has become increasingly common in Oregon over the past couple of decades, but I am still stoked to find one. This bird was especially cooperative.
The lake hosted a decent variety of waterfowl, but I was intrigued by the Canvasbacks.
This male would dive down to root around in the muck at the bottom of the lake, then come up and do this little dance on the surface. He didn’t seem bothered by the mud facial.
Happy autumn
Ethical Birder 