[birding] Wrentits and wood ducks

[howard bruner]

On 4/5 we ran 8 miles of the Mary’s River and found masses of flowering willows emitting a constant hum from thousands of pollinators. 2 wrentits miles apart sang as did purple finch, oc warbler, wc sparrow, yellowthroat, and Hutton’s vireo. Pairs of common mergansers, multiple wood ducks, and dc cormorants were not comfortable with our passage and either bounced on down river ahead of us or flew up and over us. As we neared the confluence with the Willamette, osprey, great egret, rt thawk, and crows appeared. No river otter this time but did encounter a beaver.
 
4/4 coast trip provided male and female harlequin ducks at Marine Gardens and on the rock piers along the Yaquina south jetty.  It will not be long before the 2+ year olds will head up into the mountains to find a clear cold stream and build a family (only the 3+ year olds will pull this off, the younger ducks are just checking the whole reproduction thing out). Also on the estuary were a m/f red-breasted merganser, horned grebe (in astonishing breeding plumage), and several common loon in various stages of breeding plumage. Pelagic cormorants are sporting white rump sides and the feeling throughout the estuary was a strong imperative, day length fueled, hormone supercharged, gearing up for breeding.

 

H

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