American Kestrel – Ethical Birder

Powell Butte Nature Park

June 19, 2025June 19, 2025 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites

I led a field trip to Powell Butte Nature Park on the east side of Portland. This is a wonderful park with a nice variety of habitats. I don’t make the trek across town to visit very often, but I am always glad when I do. Columbian Black-tailed Deer are often found in the grassland habitat.

Common Yellowthroats are, wait for it, common in the thickets.

Lazuli Buntings are always a crowd favorite.

This American Kestrel had caught a vole. It amazes me how these birds can spot little rodents in the tall grass.

Powell Butte is a great spot to find Savannah Sparrows. This particular bird was perched on a banana peel that some moron had left on a trail marker. Pack out your trash, people.

Speaking of bananas, this Banana Slug was munching away on a cheese puff that had been dropped on the trail. Salt is deadly to slugs, causing rapid dehydration. I’m hoping the salt content of this snack item is not too high.

As parasitic nesters, Brown-headed Cowbirds get a bad rap, but I have always appreciated the subtle beauty of this species.

Happy summer!

Autumn Colors

November 22, 2023 by John Rakestraw, posted in reptiles & amphibians, seasonal movements

Trees may get all the credit for creating pretty colors in autumn, but I think the birds do their part.

Spotted Towhee flashing his rusty sides and red eye

American Pipit on the rocks along the Columbia River

It is seldom that a Lincoln’s Sparrow will pose out in the open.

Yellow-rumped Warblers are not nearly as colorful in autumn as they are in spring, but they are still quite striking.

This Downy Woodpecker added some bold black and white and a little pop of red to a murky green thicket.

American Kestrel is our most colorful raptor.

Merlins are not really colorful at all, but they are much harder to find and should be celebrated whenever they appear.

The male ducks, like this Northern Pintail, are finally molting out of their drab summer plumage.

I got to do very little herping this past spring and summer, thanks to the incessant needs of a certain puppy, so I was delighted to find this Western Skink out and about. The blue tail indicates a young individual.

Happy autumn.

Autumn at Last

October 27, 2022 by John Rakestraw, posted in behavior, mammals, reptiles & amphibians, seasonal movements

After a very long dry summer, autumn has finally arrived. While we don’t get the extensive fall colors found in eastern forests, the red Poison Oak highlights the eyes on this Spotted Towhee.

This very ragged Bushtit was found at Wapato Lake NWR, which has finally opened up to birders after a long wait. The refuge will be closed to non-hunters from December-February, but should offer some great birding when it is open.

American Pipits are common migrants this time of year on mudflats and other open habitats.

Male American Kestrel

This American Crow was actively fishing in a tide pool along the Columbia River. I don’t normally think of crows as fish-eaters, but they take advantage of whatever food source is available.

There are still a few American White Pelicans around. They will be gone soon.

Brush Rabbit, blending in with the fall colors

Pacific Tree Frog on a maple leaf. These frogs are very common, but they seldom perch out in the open.

This Black-tailed Deer was just off the path at Cooper Mountain Nature Park.

Happy Autumn

Wetlands in the Summer

September 12, 2022September 8, 2022 by John Rakestraw, posted in behavior, seasonal movements

In mid to late summer, when conditions are very hot and dry in Oregon, most of the wildlife activity is found near wetlands, at least until they dry up as well. Here are a few images from various wetlands in the Portland area this summer.

A Purple Martin strafes an American Kestrel at Tualatin River NWR

Barn Swallow about to nab an insect off the water’s surface

Anna’s Hummingbird feeding on a cedar at Fernhill Wetlands

Two Northern River Otters at Koll Center Wetlands

This otter was almost too close for my camera to focus

Several young Soras put on a nice show at Commonwealth Lake Park

Black Phoebe with a damselfly at Fernhill Wetlands

Summer is Ugly Duck Season, as males molt into eclipse plumage and all the duck replace their flight feathers. This Cinnamon Teal at Beal Street Wetland is best identified by his shape.

Happy Summer

Jackson Bottom

December 16, 2020 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites

I spent a foggy morning at Jackson Bottom Wetland Reserve. This Great Egret was blending in with the foggy background at Pintail Pond.

Belted Kingfishers are almost always distant subjects for my photos. They are quite skittish.

The Coyote Hill Trail is a nice loop around a weedy field that can be good for upland species, like this American Kestrel.

House Finch

Northern Pintail was the most abundant species of waterfowl on this day.

The north end of the reserve hosted a flock of 20 Tundra Swans, always a nice find.

There weren’t any great rarities on this trip. But there were a lot of good birds and a nice four-mile hike without any rain – a great trip for December.

Happy Autumn

Mt. Hood National Forest

September 29, 2019September 29, 2019 by John Rakestraw, posted in mammals, OR Birding Sites, seasonal movements

I had the opportunity to guide a lovely couple from Florida on a trip to Mt. Hood National Forest. The weather was not great, with dreary conditions at lower elevations and driving rain at Timberline Lodge. But we did manage to find some great birds.

Our first stop was Wildwood Recreation Site for riparian and lower elevation species. The first bird of the day was a Bald Eagle flying over the river; a nice start. Our main target was American Dipper, and the footbridge over the Salmon River is a pretty reliable spot.

One of two American Dippers we spotted in the early morning gloom

We next tried to bird around Timberline Lodge for high-elevation species, but the rain and wind made birding impossible. So we headed down to Little Crater Lake.

Birding in the forests this time of year can be deadly slow, but we did encounter two groups of Canada Jays. Even when you don’t have food, these birds will come in close to check you out.

On the way back from Little Crater Lake, we came across a group of six Sooty Grouse. This was a lifer for my client, and the largest “flock” that I have seen.

deer duo After a second trip up to Timberline proved equally unbirdable, we decided to head back toward Portland to look for sparrows and other grassland species at Powell Butte Nature Park. We found a few sparrows, but the highlight of this spot was the group of three Black-tailed Deer feeding on fallen apples.

One reason songbirds may have been so hard to come by at this site was the pair a American Kestrels (female shown here) that were actively hunting. A Sharp-shinned Hawk was also lurking about, so the sparrows may have been keeping a low profile.

Some nice birds and excellent company made for a good day, despite the dreary conditions.

Happy Autumn

Autumn at Fernhill

October 29, 2016October 29, 2016 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites, seasonal movements

Fernhill Wetlands is the place to be in autumn. Even after the extensive wetland renovations that have taken place, resulting in less open water, the Cackling Geese still congregate here by the thousands.

This Great Egret was catching the sunshine on the top of a tree.

Northern Pintail. I don’t often see them hanging out on dry ground.

Killdeer and Green-winged Teal

Greater White-fronted Geese migrate over the Willamette Valley in large numbers, but not many touch down, so it is always nice to see some on the ground.

Fernhill Lake is about half of its original size, but it is still big enough to attract divers, like this Horned Grebe.

Western Grebe

male American Kestrel

Waterfowl diversity continues to increase, and winter sparrow flocks should pick us soon. I’m looking forward to watching the show, assuming the Bundys don’t move in.

Powell Butte

March 30, 2016March 30, 2016 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites, rarities

I hadn’t been to Powell Butte Nature Park in east Portland since they finished renovations. They had been working on one of the water system reservoirs and have added more parking, a visitor center, and new trail markers and maps. The targets of this visit were several Mountain Bluebirds that had been hanging out for a while.

I found a male and two three females, all of whom kept their distance.

There was a big wave of Yellow-rumped Warblers in the park. All that I got a good look at were Audubon’s race, and most were male.

Another regional rarity that has been hanging out at Powell Butte is this Say’s Phoebe. This bird was active and vocal, but also kept his distance.

The open meadows are attractive to Northern Harriers (not photogenic) and American Kestrels (slightly more cooperative). The raptors can make it harder to study the grassland songbirds, but this site is still very productive. There was one singing Savannah Sparrow while I was there. In a few weeks, that bird will be joined by more Savannahs and Lazuli Buntings.

Random Images

November 30, 2014 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites

Here are a few photos from recent ramblings.

After delivering some books to Tualatin River NWR, I took a quick walk on the path that leads through some newly planted oaks and along the river. This male American Kestrel had just captured a shrew.

These Western Canada Geese (and the Common Merganser on the log in the foreground) were napping at the Sandy River Delta.

The Beavers are really enjoying the young trees at Sandy River Delta.

This old American Robin nest was tucked into a crevice of a tree.

Pileated Woodpeckers are fairly easy to find at Sandy River Delta. This one was perfectly hidden behind a branch.

Peregrine Falcon, Sandy River Delta

This Hermit Thrush was chasing another outside my bedroom window early in the morning.

Dawson Creek

November 1, 2013 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites, rarities

Nala and I went out to Dawson Creek Park in Hillsboro to look for a Rusty Blackbird reported the day before. This site, a private park associated with the office park behind the public library, is a manicured park with paved trails around a series of small ponds. It attracts good numbers of waterfowl in winter, some migrant songbirds, and a few resident Acorn Woodpeckers.

Wood Ducks are common in the ponds.
Some of the males were displaying to the females, swimming around slowly with their heads lowered.
Such a handsome boy

Cackling Geese were grazing on the lawns.

American Kestrel
The same bird later, with lunch

There were just a few American Wigeons in one of the ponds. I expect their numbers to increase at this site within the next couple of weeks.

Just as I was finishing my tour of the site, I finally saw my target bird (the Rusty Blackbird, not the Mallard). It would have been nice to get some full-frame photos like some other birders were able to get about three minutes earlier, but I was glad to add this species to my Oregon list. There are less than 20 accepted records of this species in the state. Rusty Blackbirds have experienced drastic population declines in the last few decades.