Tagged With: Agelaius

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Cathy and I drove to Pine Nursery Park this morning and walked around it. It’s a fairly large park with softball and soccer fields, a disk golf course, pickleball and volleyball courts, as well as a small pond and the Forest Supervisor’s office for the Dwschutes National Forest. The pickleball courts were full with folks from a league playing in a round-robin tournament of some sort. We enjoyed the birds throughout the park and near the pond I was able to get a few nice photos of this adult, male red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus). He was one of a large number making a pretty good racket. The pickleball players were making a racket, as well.

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Birds at McKee-Beshers

Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)

Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)

Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius)

Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius)

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)

Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)

Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)

Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)

Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea)

Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea)

Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

After the last two weeks, Cathy and I really needed a break. The trip to the National Arboretum was wonderful but even that was a place with lots of people. Today we went to McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area, out River Road.

We didn’t really know what to expect but it turned out to be one of our most fruitful bird outings ever, with thses nine birds photographed and a half dozen more seen and heard. We are big fans of the Merlin app by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Having that listen for and identify birds by their song helped us find birds we might not have otherwise seen. I recognized the oreole songs and of course the red-winged blackbird, but I never would have found the red-headed woodpecker or the prothonotary warbler. The night heron was actually at the C&O Canal near Riley’s Lock.

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