[birding] Osprey and Balm of Gilead

[bouchdon at peak.org]

3-26-09 Downtown Corvallis

I saw an Osprey perched on the nest platform next to the Harrison Bridge
over the Willamette River.

The cottonwood trees have very fragrant buds now. The sticky resin on the
buds has been used in a similar way as the legendary Balm of Gilead (made
from related poplar trees).

There were plenty of Lesser Goldfinches and White-crowned Sparrows
singing. Also, a dozen or so American Goldfinches, several of them
singing. Normally that's not news but the American Goldfinch's absence
this winter makes their slow return noteworthy.

Don Boucher
www.neighborhood-naturalist.com