In terms of color, western tanagers are the closest thing we have in Oregon to a parrot. Just startlingly pretty. They're fairly common summer birds, but I'm still always stopped in my tracks when I see one for the first time each year. The thrush, which deserves a better name, was a nice treat too.
80) Western Tanager
81) Swainson's Thrush
#BirdsOf2023 #BirdsSeenIn2023 #oregon #pnw #BirdNamesForBirds
I should know by now, that whenever I'm on the fence about fitting a walk into my day, I should always take the walk. I was feeling lazy and almost skipped this one, which would have been a shame. Three of my favorite migrant songbirds that I hadn't seen yet this spring, including one, the evening grosbeak, that I'll never take for granted, given how they've declined over the past ten years.
77) Rufous Hummingbird
78) Cedar Waxwing
79) Evening Grosbeak
Two new additions from the coast range today, including one I assumed I had already listed. Side note prompted by goldfinches: I hate bird common names with "lesser" almost as much as "least". Back in my biologist days I used to work with so-called Least Auklets, which aren't the least anything. They're the best. Not as important as changing the ones named after colonist dudes, but still.
75) Warbling Vireo
76) American Goldfinch
I've spent a fair amount of time on the coast this spring, but almost none of it birding. Mostly work, farm upkeep and this weekend, hiding from the heat. In addition to these four, I *think* I saw my first Pileated Woodpecker of the year, but I'm not sure enough to add it to the list.
71) Pigeon Guillemot
72) House Sparrow
73) Barn Swallow
74) Black-headed Grosbeak
Spring birds keep arriving. Osprey have been here for a while, and I've spotted them while driving, but not where I could stop and list them. It was downright hot here yesterday, which I can't complain about too much after the wet, cool April we've had, but the sudden change was not welcome.
69) Violet-green Swallow
70) Osprey
Warbler season is officially here. Had OC's and Wilson's (let's call them black-capped, #BirdNamesForBirds) in the yard this morning, chasing bugs around the flowering trees.
67) Orange-crowned Warbler
68) Golden-crowned Sparrow
Spring is definitely here in terms of birds. The adorblers are arriving, along with other early migrants. The bonanza will be in May, but it's starting for sure.
63) Chestnut-backed Chickadee
64) Pacific Wren
65) Wilson's Warbler
66) Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Guess who (who-who who) was in my yard calling last night? Beautiful, powerful, fascinating birds. I'm always hesitant to positively ID owls, because I don't know many calls and rarely see them, but no question on this one.
62) Great Horned Owl
Moving is never fun, but the new place is just night and day better in a lot of ways, certainly including the birding. The first few days here have let me fill in a few I was missing from the winter and early spring.
59) Hooded Merganser
60) Spotted Towhee
61) Mourning Dove
Ian Rose
Rick Thoman