Hooded Mergansers on the Siuslaw River Estuary in Oregon

I've had a couple of new birds show up on the blog in the last couple of posts, including the White-tailed Kite that surprised me last week a few blocks from home. On the other hand, I did some heavy-duty traveling and found myself in Oregon for Thanksgiving. I was visiting family in their home on a bluff above the Siuslaw River estuary.

The Siuslaw River marks the northern boundary of the Oregon Dunes National Recreational Area, which extends south for forty miles along the coast. The north bank of the river is preserved as Harbor Vista County Park, which was a short walk away through the neighborhood. I walk there whenever I visit, and something interesting is usually happening on the tidal flats. When the tide is out, there are several acres of mud, and various shorebirds will be hanging out. When the tide is up, the water birds show up. When I got there the tide was in, and I saw some Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus) for the first time (it's been three years of bird-watching, but I'm still getting started).

The pair of them were hunting for prey in the flooded tidal flat. While I watched, one of them caught some kind of crustacean and gobbled it up.

I think they were a couple of females, but as always, I accept corrections. They are ducks that nest in cavities in trees, and when the ducklings are only 24 hours old, they jump out of the nest onto the ground, falling 50 feet or more. They follow mom to the nearest water source.

I'll be back in Oregon in a few weeks for the holidays. I hope to see a few more interesting birds then!

Western Meadowlark on the Oregon Coast

I'm sure it's not unusual, but walking along the Siuslaw River estuary on the central Oregon coastline, I was expecting to see all manner of shorebirds, and the odd crow or maybe even a Bald Eagle that has been said to be lurking nearby. I wasn't really expecting to see a Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta), but that was what I got pictures of this morning. Thinking back, it wasn't that strange, as the vegetated dunes that characterize this section of the Oregon coast are covered with grasses that make for excellent habitat for the Meadowlarks. In any case, it's always a delight to see one.

Bird of the Day: Surf Scoter on the Siuslaw River in Oregon

I spent some of the holidays at the mouth of the Siuslaw River along the central Oregon coast at Florence. The Siuslaw is a modest river by Oregon standards, especially in the upper reaches, but at the mouth it is a tidal channel several hundred feet across. I take walks along the shoreline whenever I can, and there are usually some interesting birds about (see the last post, for instance). Today's birds are Surf Scoters (Melanitta perspicillata), large ducks who inhabit coastal environments on both the east and west coasts of North America.

The males have some bold coloring on their heads that has earned them the informal name of "Skunk-headed Coot". The females, as can be seen in the photos above and below, are a bit more drab. They breed in the arctic, and migrate along the coast during the winter, as far south as Baja.

Hey dude, what are you staring at?

Bird of the...day? Week? Great Blue Heron on the Siuslaw River in Oregon

I've spent most of the last week on the road and mostly out of internet access, but I have been seeing a few nice birds along the way. This morning I was walking on the tidal flats at the mouth of the Siuslaw River in Florence, Oregon, and spied a beautiful Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) in the mud. It seemed supremely unconcerned with my presence, and never changed position or moved.

In this stretch the river mouth is wide and is influenced more by tidal changes than river flow. The mudflats are exposed twice a day, providing lots of food for the resident birds.