Mourning Dove – Ethical Birder

Summer at Fernhill

July 4, 2021 by John Rakestraw, posted in nesting, OR Birding Sites, seasonal movements

Record-setting heat and cloudless days are not the best conditions for birding or photography, but here we are. It is sometimes hard to motivate oneself to get outside when the weather is so harsh, but there is always something to see. So here are some images from a warm walk around Fernhill Wetlands.

bh grosbeak Black-headed Grosbeaks are one of our more attractive summer residents.

Lots of babies have already fledged. Here a Red-winged Blackbird is being harassed by a hungry youngster.

purple martins It has been such a delight to have an active Purple Martin colony at Fernhill the past few years.

p martin Purple Martin on an unclouded day

osprey Ospreys were soaring high over Fernhill Lake. I didn’t see any dive for fish while I was there.

pb grebe The ducks have started their summer molt, but the Pied-billed Grebes are still looking dapper.

modo A lovely Mourning Dove on an ugly fence

The most unusual bird of the day was this Western Grebe. They are frequent winter visitors here, but they do not nest anywhere nearby.

Southbound shorebird migration has already begun, so expect them to show up soon.

Happy Summer

Fernhill Wetlands

November 2, 2020 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites, seasonal movements

The rainy season has been slow to arrive this year, so we have had strings of sunny autumn days. While the dry conditions are preventing many of the seasonal wetlands from filling, the clear skies do make for some pleasant birding. Here are a few shots from Fernhill Wetlands.

This Mourning Dove was blending in nicely with the gravel on one of the wastewater filtering beds.

The Killdeer’s pattern provides good camouflage on a rocky background, but doesn’t do as well in dead grass.

Northern Harrier

The Green-winged Teal are starting to get some nice color.

Cinnamon Teal

The Cackling Geese are back in good numbers. There is currently an outbreak of aspergillus, a fungal infection that causes respiratory distress and pneumonia, that has killed dozens of birds at this site.

Ridgeway’s Cackling Goose

American Coot in the sunshine

The only gulls on this visit were these three Bonaparte’s Gulls, swimming with a Northern Pintail and a Green-winged Teal.

Most of the migrant shorebirds are long gone, but there are still some Long-billed Dowitchers around. Note the pattern on the tail showing wider black bars and narrow white bars. This pattern would be reversed on a Short-billed Dowitcher.

Happy Autumn

Random Spring Migrants

May 25, 2019May 25, 2019 by John Rakestraw, posted in seasonal movements

Our sunny warm spring has turned cool and wet. This is a good thing, as we continue to be far below average in rainfall amounts, but the weather has put a bit of a damper on birding and photography. This Tree Swallow put on a nice show at Koll Center Wetlands. I believe this is a young male, hatched last summer and just now molting into full adult plumage.

Most Golden-crowned Sparrows have returned north by now, but the few that remain are in full breeding plumage.

This past winter was not a big year for Pine Siskins, but one or two have recently been showing up at my feeder.

Mourning Dove at Tualatin Hills Nature Park

This singing Orange-crowned Warbler was actually displaying his orange crown at Pittock Mansion.

Male Anna’s Hummingbird, singing in the rain at Pittock Mansion

This next week will see spring migration winding down and the local nesting season kick into high gear. The slower pace will provide an opportunity to really study the local nesters, provided the rain stops.

Happy Spring

Fernhill Wetlands

December 12, 2018 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites

I visited Fernhill Wetlands in Forest Grove on a rare sunny December day. The sun is so low at this time of year that if there is no cloud cover the sun is either at your back or directly in your eyes. The latter makes birding very challenging, but the former can produce some lovely light, as seen on this Mourning Dove.

At least one Black Phoebe has been hanging out near the ponds behind the picnic shelter this fall. Black Phoebes were unheard of in Washington County a few year ago.

Any shorebird seen at this time of year is a treat. This lone Greater Yellowlegs was one of four shorebird species found on this trip. (Long-billed Dowitchers and Wilson’s Snipe were flybys.)

This Killdeer was probing with her foot to try to stir up food in one of the new gravel filtration tanks.

The main lake at Fernhill is hosting a nice variety of waterfowl, but most were distant or in the harsh sunlight. A Swamp Sparrow was a nice find, but stayed in the cattails to avoid being photographed.

Happy Autumn.

More Wetlands

February 6, 2016February 6, 2016 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites, seasonal movements

Wetlands in the Willamette Valley are very birdy in winter, so those areas tend to get most of the birding efforts this time of year. Of course, given the amount of rain we have had the past few weeks, it is hard to find any place that isn’t a wetland.

My recent waterfowl class was supposed to bird Jackson Bottom, but since that site was flooded we went to Dawson Creek behind the Hillsboro library. We found three Eurasian Wigeons, including this male.

Most of the Cackling Geese we saw were flying over, but this Taverner’s Cackling Goose posed nicely for us.

Smith and Bybee Wetlands hosted a large flock of Eurasian Collared Doves. Here are four feeding along the railroad track with two Mourning Doves in the foreground.

This Red-shouldered Hawk is a regular at Smith and Bybee, but seldom sits out in the open.

This male Ruddy Duck was on Force Lake. It seems odd to me that Ruddies don’t molt into breeding plumage until late spring.

A flock of Golden-crowned Sparrows were hanging out in the blackberries by Force Lake. I’ll have to start scouting sparrow patches soon for my Little Brown Birds class in March. Hopefully the rain will taper off by then.

Random February Birds

February 22, 2014 by John Rakestraw, posted in rarities

I have spent very little time outdoors this month, but here are a few nice birds from the past few weeks.

This Yellow-rumped Warbler was displaying his namesake near Ankeny NWR.

Northern Shrike, also at Ankeny.

This Lewis’s Woodpecker has spent the winter near Ankeny. It is unusual to find them west of the Cascade Crest. You have to love a green woodpecker with a red belly.

Portland’s recent “Snowpocalypse” was not appreciated by the local Anna’s Hummingbirds.

This White-throated Sparrow has spent much of the winter on our property, but I haven’t seen him since the big snow melted.

Mourning Dove at the feeder

This Downy Woodpecker has made several visits to the dead cedar outside our living room window.

Ulysses, KS

August 24, 2013August 21, 2013 by John Rakestraw, posted in beyond OR, nesting

We were visiting family in Ulysses, KS, the past week. The town is swarming with doves. This Mourning Dove was sitting on a nest over my mother-in-law’s driveway.

This nest with two young Mourning Doves was about 20 feet away from the nest pictured above.

Eurasian Collared-Doves are now much more common than Mourning Doves in town.

After the two species of doves, the most conspicuous birds in Ulysses are Mississippi Kites. They are constantly flying over town, hunting dragonflies and cicadas.

Here is a rare look at a Mississippi Kite sitting still in the open.

It has been a good summer for Red-headed Woodpeckers. I saw several families with young (note the young bird below and to the right of the adult above).

This is surely the most beautiful woodpecker in North America.

Tualatin River NWR

June 16, 2013June 19, 2013 by John Rakestraw, posted in mammals, nesting, OR Birding Sites, reptiles & amphibians

While the bird diversity has thinned out considerably in the past couple of weeks, I had some nice views of the summer residents at Tualatin River NWR. The resident Bald Eagles still have one youngster in the nest. He is expected to fledge any day now.

One of the parents was hanging out near the refuge headquarters, looking all regal.

This Common Yellowthroat was frequently seen carrying food, indicating he had a nest nearby.

Mourning Dove, feeding on the gravel road.
mourning dove eyes closed I think the blue eye shadow makes her look a little trashy.

Savannah Sparrows are common in the open habitats here.

Western Scrub-Jay

male Northern Flicker

Brush Rabbit. The tattered ear suggests that he has had a close escape or two.

This Townsend’s Chipmunk was eating grass seeds.

I saw two Rough-skinned Newts crossing the road. One of the most poisonous animals known to science, this species exudes equal amounts of toxins and cuteness.

Where all my sunflower seed goes

December 9, 2009 by John Rakestraw, posted in behavior

Along with the usual small songbirds that visit my bird feeder, I sometimes host larger birds that do their best to deplete the feeder as quickly as possible.

Western Scrub-Jays will fill their crops, then fly off to hide the seeds somewhere.

This Mourning Dove camped out on the feeder for the better part of a morning. Their thin bills are not designed to crack open seeds, so they swallow their food whole.

Northern Flickers don’t crack seeds open either, so they pull all the seeds out of the feeder until they find one that is already open.

Cimarron National Grassland, Kansas

August 22, 2009 by John Rakestraw, posted in beyond OR, mammals

In the very southwest corner of Kansas lies the Cimarron National Grassland. This area, along with the nearby town of Elkhart, is a favorite birding destination for Kansas birders. Several western species reach the eastern edge of their ranges here, and lost eastern migrants are attracted to the patches of trees in a sea of sand-sage prairie and cropland.

Cottonwoods along the usually dry Cimarron River provide a wooded migration corridor from eastern Colorado through southwestern Kansas.

Middle Springs is one of several oases on the grassland that provide trees and water to migrants like this Clay-colored Sparrow.

female Blue Grosbeak

male Blue Grosbeak

The fastest land animal in North America, Pronghorn evolved to outrun American Cheetahs, which became extinct somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago.

The white backsides of Pronghorn are visible from great distances.

Mourning Doves were by far the most common species seen on this day, with Eurasian Collared-Doves coming in a close second.

This Barn Owl was in a little cavern in a bluff overlooking the Cimarron River corridor. Note the little bones and other debris in front of the entrance.

This is the bluff where the Barn Owl had her cavity.

Curve-billed Thrasher

Northern Mockingbird

Gaillardia pulchella

As one would expect in the Sunflower State, these were everywhere.

The abundant Prickly Pear cactus makes walking a challenge in many areas.

The Elkhart sewage ponds are the only permanent bodies of water for many miles around, so they attract good numbers of migrant shorebirds and waterfowl. These American Avocets were swimming in the middle of one of the pools.

Spotted Sandpipers

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Burrowing Owls are one of many species that rely on prairie dog towns for shelter or food. I found several Black-tailed Prairie Dog towns on this day, each containing an owl or two, but the dogs kept out of camera range.