JANUARY AT EMIGRANT LAKE

A series of Western Bluebird images in an oak tree. The bluebirds are busily gobbling up what mistletoe berries still remain.

The above image shows two male Common Mergansers on the still waters of Emigrant Lake.

A lone Green-winged Teal loafing while the rest of the small flock is off feeding in the mudflats.

These two Lewis’s Woodpecker pictures were taken near the waterslide in the Recreation Area. There are at least four birds there.

This Merlin was hunting at the south end of Emigrant Lake. When he departed he simply dropped from the treetop perch, flapped twice and was speeding directly away from me across the lake. This small, powerful falcon is one of my favorites. The Merlin is found in open habitat across the Northern Hemisphere, like its larger cousin, the Peregrine and its far northern relative, the Gyrfalcon.

Emigrant Lake, Jackson, US-OR
Jan 6, 2013 11:00 AM. 33 species. Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 160
American Wigeon (Anas americana) 4
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 8
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 2
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) 1
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 3
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 13
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) 4
California Quail (Callipepla californica) 1
Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis) 5
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 1
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 1
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) 1 (This is the mark of the Kingfisher, at his perch on a rock overlooking the small quarry pond at the sounth end of Em. Lake)
Lewis’s Woodpecker (Melanerpes lewis) 3
Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) 1
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) 1
Merlin (Falco columbarius) 1
Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica) 14
Common Raven (Corvus corax) 6
Oak Titmouse (Baeolophus inornatus) 1
Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) 18
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) 2
Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) 25
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 6
Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius) 1
(this very blukrred image is proof that Varied Thrush are around the lake this winter. I’ve seen up to three on one brief visit. They can be found in the rose bush thicket of Rosebud Lane.)
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 1
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) 9
Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca) 1
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) 25
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 1
Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus) 17
Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus) 1
Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) 1

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