RED GRAPES, BLUE BIRDS

I was showing a visiting in-law couple around some of our local wineries today…and Saffron Field northeast of Yamhill town had more than the juice and the artworks.  A flock of Western Bluebirds in their elegant Japanese garden:  Here’s a bit of fall color. This Song Sparrow as hopping around the edge of the pond in the garden, being coy around the koi, large enough to swallow him in a single gulp.

Saffron Fields Winery, Yamhill, Oregon, US
Oct 6, 2015 12:30 PM.  9 species

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)  1
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  1
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)  1
Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana)  30–this is Yamhill County lifer #102 for me, a resident here of less than 90 days.  When I moved here I had exactly zero birds in the county.  Now that we’ve been feeding for several weeks we get a nice garden variety.  See below.
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  15
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)  2
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)  6
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  1
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  2

820 NW 19th Street, McMinnville, Yamhill, Oregon, US
Oct 6, 2015 7:30 AM.  15 species

Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)  X
Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna)  1
Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica)  X
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  X
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  X
Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens)  X
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)  1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  1
Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius)  1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  X
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)  X
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  1
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)  1
Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus)  X
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)  X