The dogs and I beat the rain to Grand Island this morning, and the Ring-necked Ducks put on a show for the camera. I got some of the best shots I’ve ever managed of this species. I tried to stay behind the car and not frighten them. They need their reserves for the long migration and nesting season. For a short time they flew to the other end of the slough, then slowly paddled back as they decided I was nothing more than a statue: 
I have never before noted such a pale eyering on the female Ring-neck…I can no longer pronounce the female Wood Duck be our only spectacled duck in the US.
One of our six yellow violet species found in this area…this one if Viola glabella. 
Willamette River looking full. 
A large flock of Cackling Geese. I thin k I saw them at two different locations a couple miles and a half hour apart.
Great Blue Heron uses the stare. 
A thicket of henbit in bloom. 
Female Kestrel. 
Osprey on nest platform. 
Grand Island loop. 24 species
Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii) 1500
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) X
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) 2
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) 25
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) 2
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 1
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) 8
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) 1
Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) 1 calling at Greenway Access
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 3
Red-breasted Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber) 1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 2
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) 2
Steller’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri) 4
Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica) 1
Common Raven (Corvus corax) X
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 1
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) 1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 25
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) X
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) X
Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla) X
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) X
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) 2
Lafayette-Hopewell Road, Yamhill, Oregon, US
7 species
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) X
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) X
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 6
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) X
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) 2
Common Raven (Corvus corax) 2
Brewer’s Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus) X
Fairview Road, Yamhill County, Yamhill, Oregon, US
10 species
Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii) 1500
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) 1
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) X
Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens) 1
Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) X
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) 2
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) X
Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla) X
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) X
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) X
Towheeblog 
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