To describe my lifelong fascination with flight and with creatures that fly I like to echo the words of John James Audubon who in 1839 wrote of himself as "...one who never can cease to admire and to study with zeal and the most heartfelt reverence, the wonderful productions of an Almighty Creator."
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Western Kingbird nest in Western Oregon
On May 27 I joined two birding friends to do a "Big Day" expedition within Marion County, a 17-hr. effort to see how many species we could find in one day. South of the town of Turner we found a pair of Western Kingbirds out in the open fields, and since this species is not easy to find in northwestern Oregon, it was a very satisfying find. But it became even more satisfying when one of my teammates saw one of the birds enter the narrow opening under an insulator on the top of a utility pole, suggesting the even less likely possibility that they were nesting there. The photo of the tell-tale tail confirms the fact that it does occasionally happen here. (We identified at least 110 species for the day, but a few other brief sightings or "hearings" had to be left as unidentified.)
On May 27 I joined two birding friends to do a "Big Day" expedition within Marion County, a 17-hr. effort to see how many species we could find in one day. South of the town of Turner we found a pair of Western Kingbirds out in the open fields, and since this species is not easy to find in northwestern Oregon, it was a very satisfying find. But it became even more satisfying when one of my teammates saw one of the birds enter the narrow opening under an insulator on the top of a utility pole, suggesting the even less likely possibility that they were nesting there. The photo of the tell-tale tail confirms the fact that it does occasionally happen here. (We identified at least 110 species for the day, but a few other brief sightings or "hearings" had to be left as unidentified.)
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