CHIPPING IN

The Chipping Sparrows are in. Saw my first one of the season today at Emigrant Lake. No photo achieved. The lone Savannah Sparrow I saw had a freshly painted yellow eyebrow, brilliant.
There were plenty of more co-operative birds. It’s that rich birding time of year when some winter species are still around and the spring migrants are arriving daily. Vireos and flycatchers are generally a little later, along with a few mountain birds like Green-tailed Towhee.
Most abundant bird of the day: Yellow-rumped Warblers. Dozens in the oaks. I managed to find a single Orange-crowned. Yesterday there was one Common Yellowthroat at Ashland Pond.

The Yellow-rumps were feeding busily in the oaks, making no noise whatsoever, typical of birds on migration, not on nesting territory.
Acorn Woodpeckers that never have to migrate were among the most vocal species today. Although the smaller Oak Titmouse and White-breasted Nuthatches were making noise as well.

These four female Common Mergansers were diving in a shallow arm of the lake. I saw no males.

Calochortus tolmiei. This precious lily is named for Dr. William Tolmie. That’s the same Tolmie who is commemorated in the Latin name of the MacGillivray’s Warbler (you can look it up) and in the name of Tolmie State Park near Olympia, Washington. The good doctor was working for Hudson’s Bay Company along the lower Columbia River when Nuttall and Townsend arrived from Boston in the 1830s. He provided those two explorers with many natural history specimens including some species new to science. Thus Tolmie got some Latin binomials with his name in them.

This Red-tail was drying his feathers after a rain squall passed over.

Snowing in the mountains.

Turkey Vulture circling above

White-breasted Nuthatch on his beloved oak.

Ground squirrel atop his throne.

Not at the lake, but it’s a lovely cherry tree in somebody’s front yard.

Osprey female peeks over edge of her nest, while the male is on alert in nearby dead tree.

Pair of Wood Ducks in the shallows.

An Osprey pair are once again nesting on the platform at the southeast extremity of the lake. Today the male was in a nearby dead tree, on sentinel duty. Two Ravens happened by and he went on the attack. The three birds traded sorties and counted coup. I doubt that any damage wad done as I saw no feathers fall. All three are great fliers so the grace and speed of the attacks and counter-attacks were exciting to behold. None of the many swallows fluttering about seemed to notice.

Emigrant Lake, Jackson, US-OR
Apr 25, 2014 10:00 AM. 33 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 15
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) 2
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 40
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 4
California Quail (Callipepla californica) 1
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) 12
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) 3
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 5
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 2
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 5
Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) 1
Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) 14
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) 2
Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica) 7
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 12
Common Raven (Corvus corax) 2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis) 2
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) 6
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 2
Oak Titmouse (Baeolophus inornatus) 2
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) 5
Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) 4
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 11
Orange-crowned Warbler (Oreothlypis celata) 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) 50
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) 1
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) 1
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 6
Brewer’s Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus) 4
Bullock’s Oriole (Icterus bullockii) 1
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 12
Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus) 5
Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) 1