Christmas Bird Count ~ 2016

I participated in the Lyle Christmas Bird Count on Sunday, a snowy gray cold day.  It was near 20º when we started at 7:25 and the same when we ended at 16:45 with 6 – 12″ of snow on the ground where we hiked.

In addition to birds, we found a gorgeous BOBCAT and a Western Gray Squirrel!  I wasn’t fast enough with my camera for either.

The only raptors we saw were 9 Bald Eagles and 9 Red-tailed Hawks.

We saw lots of waterfowl: 100 Lesser Scaup, 1 Common Goldeneye, 2 Barrow’s Goldeneye…

…6 Green-winged Teal, 12 Northern Shovelers, 16 Ring-necked Ducks,

19 Bufflehead, 6 Northern Pintails, 6 Double-crested Cormorants,

2 Hooded Mergansers, 2 Pied-billed Grebes, 4 Horned Grebes, 59 Western Grebes,

90 Gadwall, 170 American Wigeon, 38 Mallards, 133 Canada Geese and 958 American Coots!

We saw 4 Killdeer, 6 American Pipits,

1 Glaucous-winged Gull, 2 Belted Kingfishers,

5 Collared Doves, 6 Rock Pigeons, 3 Mourning Doves, 2 Anna’s Hummingbirds,

278 Dark-eyed Juncos, 9 Black-capped Chickadees, 3 White Breasted Nuthatches,

14 California Quail, 8 Lewis’s Woodpeckers, 4 Downy Woodpeckers, 21 Northern Flickers,

3 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 15 Golden-crowned Kinglets,  1 Hermit Thrush, 16 Varied Thrush,

21 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 78 European Starlings, 43 American Robins, 12 Song Sparrows,

13 Spotted Towhees, 7 Steller’s Jay, 47 Scrub Jays, 2 Crows, 14 Ravens,

2 White-crowned Sparrows, 44 Golden-crowned Sparrows, 19 House Finches, 133 House Sparrows,

62 Red-winged Blackbirds, 4 Brewer’s Blackbirds, and 18 Bohemian Waxwings!

The last and best of the day were the Bohemian waxwings we found…

…dining on crabapples.

The rest of the flock was perched in a neighboring birch tree, high in the branches.

I am thrilled that I captured better photos of these beautiful birds after seeing them in Trout Lake a couple of weeks ago!  A long but fun day with great people!!

Ch Ch Ch Changes…

Since my last art show I’ve been out in the field enjoying wild critters and places with no looming deadlines or responsibilities.

Bald Eagles are back….

…Tundra Swans are back….

I gave a talk on Wildlife Photography to the Sherman County Camera Club, and played at the John Day Dam prior to their meeting.

…and I’m back at work in a new & different way!

Invited to join and show my photography at co-op gallery, Made in the Gorge… I said YES!  108 Oak Street, downtown Hood River ~ you’ll find me there on Saturdays.  Come in & say hi!!

I know I keep promising to tell you of recent adventures….it’s just so hard to sit at my computer & tell you about the last one when I want to be out experiencing the next one!

My first sighting of a Red-necked Grebe in the Gorge!

Our first snowfall of the season on the White Salmon River at Husum.

A rare sighting of Bohemian Waxwings in Trout Lake! …

…and my photo used in Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Macaulay Library!! I so wish it had been a blue sky day instead of winter gray!  Thrilled just the same!!

I tend to share more often on my Facebook page and would love you to give me a ‘like’ over there!!

For now, I’m on my way to shovel off our decks…again!  Eight fresh inches on top of two earlier feet of snow this week!  Fa La La La La and Happy Holidays to you & yours!!