[birding] Rufous Hummingbird nest, Orange-crowned Warbler, spring flowers

[Lisa Millbank]

While going from place to place around Corvallis on our bikes, we had some pretty good wildflower and bird sightings along the way.

At Pioneer Park, on the bike path by the ball field, there's an oak with a patch of Great Camas (Camassia leichtlinii) and the first few blossoms were open. Near the railroad trestle we were enjoying the Hooker's Fairy-bells, Fawn Lilies and Sessile Trilliums when we heard the call of Cooper's Hawk. There was a pair, courting each other and gathering nest material. One of the pair appears to have sub-adult plumage (brown streaks and yellow eyes) while the other is in full adult plumage. We were entertained as the hawk pair, excited about the courtship, were fluffing out their undertail coverts (fluffy butt!) and leg feathers.

We went to potluck at a friend's house on Peoria Road near the HWY 34 intersection. They have a gully with a lush patch of camas (not blooming yet, probably Camassia quamash). We found a Marsh Saxifrage blooming. Not sure exactly the species, it's probably Saxifraga oregana but may be Saxifraga integrifolia..

On our way back into town on Hwy. 34, we found a dead Western Screech-Owl. Almost certainly a victim of traffic. We stopped at the north end of Riverfront Park in Corvallis and watched a pair of flickers mating and excavating a tree cavity. A female Rufous Hummingbird was making a nest. She was gathering little bits of moss with such precision. She would go back and forth to the nest and carefully place the bits of moss just so. Very cute! We also saw our first Orange-crowned Warbler of the season nearby. Many White-crowned Sparrows were scampering around in the brush along the river and some were singing. No Ospreys - yet.

After grocery shopping we rode through Avery Park to look at the wildflowers. Fawn Lilies, Sessile Trilliums (mostly, some Western Trilliums), Yellow Wood-Violets. There were less showy but notable blooms of Western Meadowrue and Woods Buttercup (Ranunculus uncinatus). We heard a Townsend's Warbler singing in the tall conifers.

To see photos visit: http://groups.google.com/group/mid-valley-nature/browse_thread/thread/ebb9bd9b34b43a17

Don & Lisa
www.neighborhood-naturalist.com


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