Portland Birdwatching Experiences

It appears that all the ducks in summer, after the ducklings have grown up, look brown and drab. Where are the brightly colored Wood Duck males or the glossy green heads of the male Mallards? Several observant bird watchers have asked me if the males migrate earlier than the females. Others have theories that the males are hiding somewhere.

They are in fact “hiding” to some degree in that they molt (lose feathers) and look more like females after the breeding season. The exact timing of this change varies on the specific duck species. In some ducks such as Mallards the change over is later in the summer compared to earlier breeding ducks such as the Wood Duck.

Many other bird species also change into more dull winter plumage—for some of them the sexual dimorphism (i.e. how males and females appear) is less dramatic even in non-breeding plumage than the ducks. The change over into female like appearance of feathers in ducks is called the “eclipse” plumage.

There is a brief period when some of the flight feathers are molting where the birds cannot fly. One notices a very drab appearance, which mostly fits in with the gradual change in grasses from green to brown and tan as the summer rains decrease and grasses go to seed. The ducks also are quieter. If you think back to a spring pond and its sounds, the fall pond sounds are very muted just like the coloration of the duck inhabitants.

However for those interested in puzzles and minutia, one can still recognize that there are male ducks mixed in with the females and the juveniles. For Mallards the key feature is the bill. In females all year long the bill is somewhat orange with a black “saddle” like splash over the top. In male Mallards the bill is uniformly yellow or straw colored. This feature is certainly less of a marker when the males have their spectacular green glossy heads in their breeding plumage—who would even look at bills?? But in the winter when both males and females are a dull mottled brown the bill difference is obvious and does not require a lot of inspection to see the difference. But one does have to be interested in that degree of detail and for some non-birders this is just the type of trivia that gets to be the brunt of jokes.

So if this helps you enjoy your wildlife viewing, take a look. If this seems over the top in terms of detail just rest assured that, yes, the males are still there…

As I was preparing dinner I paused to see which of my bird friends might be out and about.  I saw a bird with a brilliant RED head, bright yellow body and contrasting black and white wings and knew— WOW—amazing—look what just flew into my yard in Cedar Mill! A flock of migrating Western Tanagers—I had not seen them for the entire 12 years I had lived here— I had seen them other places but not in my back yard!

Awe is a state of wonder and pleasant surprise that transports us into a different psychological realm. Most researchers in the field of positivity believe that if we notice “awe” moments we improve our mental health. When we appreciate or decide to have a pleasant day a calming effect occurs.  Some of this is the tendency to want to share with others. At other times it takes us out of our typical ways of thinking about our surroundings to remind us of the grandeur of nature and the natural world.

Awe reminds us we are part of something larger than our own concerns. It elevates our spirit.  Many times awe is due to noticing amazing things in our natural environment- or traveling to natural wonders such as the Grand Canyon or to see the Northern Lights. But we can have awe experiences in our own back yards if open ourselves to this possibility.

Migratory season is certainly one arena for awe as we see birds we have not seen for many months. Spring brings us new growth in plants. Inspiration is a different emotion—feeling amazed by the capacity of human for achievements. Both are forms of positivity, which have been studied extensively by psychologists in the past 20 years.

I have been awed many times—in my own back yard as I have seen Western Tanagers in their colorful plumage eat all the suet I put out – knowing they have many miles to travel to their breeding grounds and feeling amazed by their determination. At other times I have been awed by how adorable the baby hatchings are, which encourage the parents to hunt for worms or seeds to feed them. The parents’ diligence is awe-inspiring. And I have been inspired to respect the transience of life as a Sharp Shinned Hawk grabs a Goldfinch out of the air to feed it’s babies in the nearby nest. Being awed means wondering why the Cedar Waxwing is named “waxwing” until one sees the “blot” of red on the wing which must have reminded a long ago observer of the red wax that used to seal envelopes! Look for this bright red spot on the Cedar Waxwings in your yard! (See accompanying Pet Barn ad in this month’s news for a photo of the Western Tanager)

Another source of awe is to realize that I CAN recognize the multitude of bird songs in my backyard.  On a recent day to pick up my newspaper I heard a song I didn’t recognize. Being aware of the “usual” background noises, in this case my neighbor’s tree was “dripping” with migratory yellow warblers eating bugs. On another day I heard what I thought was a “robin who had taken opera lessons” and then realized—that is a Black Headed Grosbeak. His song is full of trills and “fancy” notes but sounds like his “cousin” the American Robin. One can be awed in one’s own back yard IF you are mindful. How many people went out that day to retrieve newspapers or put mail in boxes or just walk and never heard the magical warblers or saw the “operatic robin” which really was a Grosbeak.

Have you been awed lately? If not consider the possibilities outside.

Most species of animals breed in defined times— unlike humans. Humans do have some periods of greater fertility but as we know from statistics on family planning done by the body temperature method to assess peak fertility in females, many things such as stress “mess up” the predictability of such measures. For birds and many other animals there is truly a period of the year that is called “breeding season” and most of the science reflects that this period of breeding behaviors are induced by hormonal changes. These hormones tend to get released due to daylight length changes and possibly other cues such as body weight, which is a marker for how much food is present in the local environment.

Hormones also cause the changes in bird feather coloration we see in the bright spring plumages of many perching birds.  Some of these birds have spent the winters in southern climates eating and preparing their bodies to go through the arduous energy expense of laying eggs and feeding the chicks.  After they fly back to the nesting sites many of them go through a molt where they lose their old tattered dingy feathers for a new set of “Easter best” breeding attire.

These same hormones cause the male birds to sing loudly to advertise not only their fitness as an attractive mate but to signal where their prime nesting territory is. During this time of year some particular songbirds also get very very aggressive especially to birds of the same species or birds who pose a threat (such as the bird eating Cooper’s or Sharp Shinned Hawks—who are also feeding nestlings!).

Robins in particular in our area – and Northern Cardinals in the eastern part of the US—tend to get particularly feisty if they believe they see another male robin. And since they are urban birds that nest close to houses and other buildings they “see” other robins in windows in which their own reflection becomes the “enemy”. Many of my neighbors call every year since I am the “bird lady” to ask – “Why does that robin start flinging itself at my window—usually at 5 AM?” And then of course  they want to know what to do about it.Many people are concerned about the birds and whether they might get hurt but also concerned about how noisy this behavior is to the inside house occupants.

Most of the research from ornithologists on this topic indicates that most birds don’t hurt themselves. Nevertheless we all know of robins that have gotten concussions and either died or a roaming outdoor cat does them in while they are stunned. In certain years when the concentration of robins is high, more have to nest near houses so this behavior varies from year to year depending on how densely packed the robins are to each other and competing for nesting sites.

The research is all over the map about what to do. One can read web sites, which recommend draping plastic snakes over outside windows (isn’t that attractive?) and other sites indicate that this is not effective at all.  Most authorities recommend not doing much since if one covers one window the robin as it flies around will find another one or a shiny car surface. So if this bird is waking you up—certainly drape something over the OUTSIDE of the window. Simply pulling the inside blinds or drapes down does not appear to change the reflection in the window—which is what Mr. Robin’s hormones perceive as a threat. So drape whatever seems useful and least ugly to you—maybe even a windsock that flutters in the wind breaking up the reflection but also of course some kind of opaque material that you have around works too.

Robins in our area tend to have two breeding seasons and most produce two batches of chicks—so you may have to repeat this window covering later on. It also might be a great excuse to not clean your windows but most of us are so hungry for the sunlight to come in that this may not be an attractive option. But then again it might be…..

When I take people out on a “bird watching tour”—if they are new to the hobby I usually give them a version of the following:

Bird watching is really a poor moniker for the experience one can have outside if one is aware of birds (and other natural environmental items such as plants and bees and snakes!). To me going outside to “watch” birds is short hand for getting into an absorbing new way of looking at the world. I find that it is enough of a challenge that I get into the state of flow.

This state has been described in the psychological literature as a pleasant mindset where the experience of time “flows” and the mind is absorbed on the present task so that all worries about the past and thoughts for the future melt away in favor of the present moment. This is one definition of the meditative state.

There are many described types of meditation—some sitting and breathing quietly but another equally valid type, which is “walking meditation” which simply has one notice what is around. Both types have incredibly long pedigrees for being useful for health (lowers blood pressure and helps immunity as two examples) but also for improving creativity and problem solving. Sometimes the mind needs to shut off the major sections to have issues resolved in more “underground” ways.

I just took some very nice women from Cedar Mill on a bird tour. And we listened. And we saw many things. And they said they didn’t realize how fast the time flew and how pleasant it was. Getting into that mental flow state while adding a few birds to the life list and learning some ecology is a great way to spend a couple of hours.

So what do you hear outside in your yard or on your trip to the grocery store or gym? I hear the White Crowned Sparrows who have just migrated back from their southern winter haunts. Their complex song reminds me that spring is here. So many people don’t seem to even notice these birds singing away in the tops of trees or on poles—they literally are everywhere in Cedar Mill. If you don’t know what a particular bird sounds like go to the Cornell Ornithology web site www.birds.cornell.edu/Page.aspx?pid=1478 and type in a bird name in the “all about birds” search box. You will be rewarded with a recording of this bird. The best way to learn bird songs of course is to watch them sing—that way one accumulates a particular bird one at a time. Trying to learn all of them on a CD or a tape is incredibly hard to remember. But if you see one in your yard and watch it sing, you will have many clues to help your memory.

This week in my back yard I welcome back our swallows. They appeared really late this year compared to the 12 years of records I have kept about my back yard wetlands. They are about one month late in fact. Now they are swooping over the pond eating the latest insect hatch and chattering away. No nest building yet but I imagine that will occur after they fatten up from their long journey to this location.

I also am hearing the return of the Virginia Rails who do a very odd “ kidick, kidick “ song. These elusive birds are rarely seen, in fact in all the years I have spent looking at my wetlands area I have only seen them dart out once from the grasses and cat tails. The Marsh wrens are doing their rattling breeding song going from cattail to cat tail. The warblers are just starting to appear and so are the amazing small Common Yellowthroats- they call “ witchedy witchedy” and they appear in my yard mostly yellow but with their “Lone Ranger” black eye mask. Soon possibly a Green heron will arrive in my wetlands but they tend to be the latest spring migrant who appears. The house finches are singing away lustily from the tops of the trees and it sound like spring…

I even heard that some folks have seen hatched Anna’s hummingbird nestlings… now the flowers need to bloom to provide the nectar for these rapidly growing babies…

Bird Watching is really “bird hearing, bird seeing and bird knowing”. Have fun.

The willows are showing us their buds with the emerging color that tempts us to think that spring really is coming even though the March downpours seem to say otherwise. The daffodils blooming brightly in the muddy flowerbeds make us remember our other dormant plants’ blooms—soon we’ll see our roses and fruit trees and rhododendrons in their spring “plumage”.

In my backyard pond I see the Mallard male heads have molted into their brilliant green breeding plumage. And breeding they appear to be— heads nod up and down before the “act”. Soon the hens will disappear into the reeds to sit on nests of eggs and in about 21 days or so we’ll be lucky to see the tiny yellow fluff balls skitter across the water. They are so tiny it’s hard to see them except for the brilliant color.

Anticipation as a coping skill has been written about as a way that people cope with stress. It appears that focusing on a better future may neutralize the current distress. Certainly thinking about my blooming roses, or the appearance of brightly colored spring migrants and baby ducks makes me smile on a day with gray skies and a persistent downpour.

Our overwintering birds will molt again into their lovely breeding plumage. Our American Goldfinches show us the most dramatic color change of any of our Cedar Mill birds but almost all birds do go through a spring molt. You may notice many other birds looking “more brilliant”. Many people think the existing feathers change colors but they don’t—birds have to grow an entire new set whose color is different due to hormonal and dietary factors.

We also will see some of our winter friends leave and fly to their own breeding grounds more north. After visiting Alaska last June I now understand why that is—and total abundance of mosquitos and other insects from the muskeg! They can gorge on protein for their babies in amounts that amaze the tourists (so take your bug repellant if you go there). Birds who leave soon are the Golden- crowned Sparrows, some juncos and even some of our Robins.

But they will be replaced with our summer birds such as Western Bluebirds, Rufous Hummingbirds, Evening Grosbeaks and Cedar Waxwings to name a few. Some of these eat bugs and others eat my cherries!!! (And blueberries and other yummy fruits). We will also see some species briefly as they fly through on their way up north. Some may stay for a few days or others several weeks to feed and rest on their way north. This type of spring migrant is fascinating to the avid birders and is one reason this area is written about in birding magazines. So we may see many varieties of warblers in our trees in our backyards in Cedar Mill or at local bird locations or we may notice migratory shorebirds along the edges of ponds. Be sure to look for these – examples are Long billed Dowitchers with their impossible seeming long beaks to poke in the mud for food as the waters recede around our ponds.

Anticipating warmer weather to go outdoors to hear the bird songs and enjoy the bright plumage makes me smile. Remember to go to the Audubon website to see their every week day free bird walks at various sites around town during April, May and June from 7-9AM. And of course going out with one of the local park rangers (Tualatin Nature park or Jackson Bottom) is a great way to meet other birders and learn some identification skills. This year seems to be a great year for people to want to go birding—I have tourists coming here from Canada and Virginia as well as local folks wanting to learn. We are a well-known destination so get outside when the sun shines! Have fun anticipating!

Our winter Yellow-rumped warblers have been amusing us with their antics at the suet feeder. Many of them act like hummingbirds as they hover in the air to get their bit of suet and then drop to the ground to eat it. Hummingbirds don’t eat suet but the rapid wing beats of the warblers as they hover for a second to get their food does remind me of the hummingbirds hovering to get flower nectar. 

So while I (and my cats who watch intently from their inside perches near the windows) are amused by the yard visitors, my children are amused by the bird names. They make up innumerable hilarious spin offs of the Yellow-rumped warblers such as “Say Mom, have you seen any Green bifork-tailed-orange-beaked-large-breasted-boobies?” 

But my children really have nothing on the list of bird names that are odd but legitimate. We don’t have any of these in Cedar Mill but they are amusing nonetheless—how about Hoary Redpoll, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted nuthatch, Rainbow bee eater, Squatter pigeon, Black-bellied whistling duck or Fluffy bearded tit babbler? 

Birds certainly can be a source of amusement as well as awe and wonder. One of the emerging areas of neuroscience is the positivity studies which show that cultivating certain psychological traits makes us more effective in our lives and may help us live longer. The works of leading researchers such as Dr. Barbara Frederickson and our own local PSU professor Dr. Edward Diener leads us to think of such practices not just as fun things to do but possibly health practices. 

The primary positivity theory is the “broaden and build” concept which says that positivity experiences and practices make us see more creative and functional ways to solve problems and to be more effective in our lives in general. There is a great deal of solid research to back this up. Positivity practices such as gratitude, the experience of awe, amusement, and joy are certainly applicable to the wonderful hobby of bird watching even without the added boost which comes from our amusement with our children or coworkers who like to make jokes about our hobby! 

Warblers tend to have mixed flocks just like sparrows. So watch our warblers for fun and look at each bird in the group to check whether any other warblers of a different species are hanging out with the main group. We will soon be having many flocks of warblers migrating through from the south to their northern nesting grounds in Alaska and Canada and further north. The hatching insects of the bogs and tundra feed many young birds in the summer months. We will have Orange-crowned warblers, Black-throated gray warblers, Yellow warblers and others in our back yards in Cedar Mill soon. 

One suggestion for where to look for Warblers other than your yard or neighborhood is related to their tendency to prefer higher elevation areas as they migrate.   Two favorite spots of ours, which attract literally thousands of warblers, are the Pittock Mansion area and Mt Tabor.   If you are interested in group birding walks, check out the Portland Audubon web site to see the schedule. www.audubonportland.org These walks are held every weekday in the spring from 7-9 AM and are led by an experienced birder. The walks are free; you meet interesting people and you may hear a good bird joke while getting outdoors for awe and exercise. All good health practices if you need an excuse to go! (Or join me on a guided bird walk in one of our local areas). 

Lauretta Young is a retired physician who now teaches stress management and human sexuality at Portland State University in the community health program as well as various courses in the Division of Management at OHSU. She also guides local bird tours—see her web site at www.portlandbirdwatching.com and her husband’s photos at www.flickr.com/photos/youngbirders

The Portland Audubon Society sponsors annual bird counts at different points during the year, the most famous possibly being the Christmas bird count. While the weather can be truly horrid as it was around here for this past Dec and early Jan with lots of rain and freezing temperatures, the bird life is very diverse in the winter in this area. One of the methods of counting birds is to go to “known” sites to find certain difficult species. Last month I wrote about the Acorn Woodpeckers at Dawson Creek Park (see the January 2011 Cedar Mill News for specifics). Certainly for a Washington County bird count the “counters” will go there to tick that one off their list of species. 

Generally in the valleys of Oregon the counts of observed species are around 100 plus or so. Some years have more and some have less. Clearly the counts of species in the summer reveal that some birds are in this area all year long and some are winter or summer only visitors. 

Over the break from teaching at PSU this past month after entering grades and doing the planning for next term I spent one blissful day SITTING in my comfy padded chair with an ottoman and cat on lap and knit a scarf for one of my sons AND looked at my birdfeeder. I have a suet feeder, a Niger thistle feeder, a hummingbird feeder and a generic multiseed feeder. Also we don’t tidy up too much of the leaf litter to encourage those species who love to hunt for insects to visit our yard. 

All this planning to attract birds paid off big time when I sat most of the day drinking tea, petting the cats, watching the clouds and sun breaks and knitting, all while enjoying the delightful array of visitors to my feeders. We are also fortunate to have a wetland pond in view of my window area so I was able to see the many ducks/geese/herons and other water birds as they visited the pond. 

So for my day sitting and knitting and being peaceful instead of running around doing chores and work—I counted a total of 34 different species of birds. Certainly not the Washington county record of around 120 in a day but for sitting in a chair I found that a good number. Also I had a couple of rare treats including an Evening Grosbeak that my neighbor saw as she brought me a holiday present. That bird has such a gorgeous deep yellow eye stripe it looks almost clownish and made up! I had not seen Grosbeaks since the summer when they generally come by in large flocks to eat my wild cherries. This was a lone bird, which I imagined came down from some snowy mountain to the valley to hunt for food. Who knows and I have not seen him since his one day showing.

My other favorite and rare bird was the Varied Thrush (see the December 2010 Cedar Mill news for a picture). He and his two buddies have stayed around the yard now for a couple of months. They love to toss leaves in the air as they scratch for insects. They are incredibly “wild”, if they see movement inside the house they scatter off to the next yard and I don’t see them for an hour or so.

Most of the other birds I saw were the “expected” visitors to a Cedar Mill backyard this time of year. The plentiful Juncos with their flash of white as they fly to and for, the huge flocks of Bushtits that cover the suet feeder as if they are one swarming body yet composed of about 40 small birds, the adorable Red-breasted Nuthatches who flit in and out of the suet feeder and the other “typical” birds of our area.  Very soon these winter birds will be supplemented by migratory shorebirds, water birds and warblers. Until spring comes I will enjoy being able to see the birds in the bare trees. When there is sunlight to see the flashes of yellow on the Yellow-rumped warblers – that is my winter treat of color before the yellow daffodils emerge.

Lauretta Young MD is a retired physician who now teaches at PSU community health and OHSU Division of Management and takes out new birders as well as expert birders on personal guided trips in Cedar Mill and beyond. See her web site at:www.portlandbirdwatching.com and see more of her husband’s photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/youngbirders

Winter brings many gifts. With the inclement weather and the hibernation of the growing season we spend more time indoors. This allows us to reflect on our past summer—what we plan to plant for next year to learn from the things that didn’t go as planned – and to rest like the dormant trees.

Part of my rest is not having so much yard work to do. The long to do lists of weeding the vegetable garden, lopping off spent blooms from roses and flowers, picking ripening fruit and berries and produce has been replaced with some “fireplace and knitting” time. Of course there are still leaves to be raked when the wind has settled and dead dahlias to compost and trees to be pruned. But not being overly tidy also means that the wintering bird species have leaf litter in which to scout for insects, brush piles in which to hide and rose hips and spent seed heads on which to feast.

With the holidays many of us have guests. Some guests are local for dinner parties and holiday parties of various sorts. Other guests come from long distances and are not often seen. Sometimes these guests are hardly recognizable—the college student nephew who appears to have grown taller as well as more mature, the elderly grandmother who certainly appears more frail than one recalls or the still obnoxious uncle who is as gruff as ever even with one’s best intentions to not have him be irritating this year.  Similarly if we look into our own back yards we see our bird winter guests.

One of these last week was a delight for me. As I was reading the morning paper I scanned a bird that almost look like a robin but was more intricately colored. It almost blended in with the orange tones of the fallen leaves in which it was scratching busily.

I hadn’t seen this bird for an entire year. I had certainly heard this bird when I would go out on trails in the local forests—even at Tryon Creek Park, but in the summer they are incredibly elusive by sight. The call is described as a long eerie quavering whistled note, followed after a pause by one on a lower or higher pitch. Describing bird song in words is a very unsatisfactory exercise so I prefer to direct my clients to the excellent web site of Cornell university ornithology where these researchers have recorded bird song for many years to have high quality songs and calls anyone can access. Listen to this bird.  It is a Varied Thrush, you may just have one in your yard or you may have heard it in a forest in the summer in Oregon or further north.

It was very quiet when I saw it since most calls and songs are for territorial or breeding purposes. This wild bird certainly didn’t want to attract any attention from the bird eating local Cooper’s and Sharp Shinned hawks who also have to eat all year long but have a particularly easy time in the winter with minimal tree leaves to obscure the prey. I remember hearing this species over and over this past summer when my husband and I hiked in Sitka Alaska—these birds breed in the northern areas but return “south” for the winter. So he is one of my most beloved winter guests. He reminds me of my summer outings but he is lovely to see in the winter with the spectacular coloring. Really I don’t know if that particular bird is a male or a female. Unlike some birds with sexual dimorphism (the males typically are larger and more brightly colored) for many thrushes the males and females look alike.

We have other winter birds which will have to wait for a future column to give them justice since many of them are similarly interesting in their behavior as well as form. But for now we can reflect about how the seasons bring us different gifts if we notice them. Some visitors are more evocative and welcome than others.

Happy holidays and go look in your yard to see what you find.

Lauretta Young is a retired physician who now teaches at Portland State University in community health and at OHSU in the Division of Management and for fun takes local birders and guests from around the world out on bird tours in Cedar Mill and beyond. Check out her web site for trips: www.portlandbirdwatching.com and visit her husband Jeff’s flickr page for more photos: www.flickr.com/photos/youngbirders/

I can certainly see the birds a whole lot better!  As I was out in my back yard at dusk, preparing to barbeque dinner on a dry October evening, I was rewarded with seeing a Great Horned owl fly into my cherry tree. He was so quiet that if I had not been looking out at that moment I wouldn’t have spotted him at all. And there were just enough leaves that I wouldn’t have necessarily seen his shape after he landed either.

As winter approaches some of our common winter backyard birds make another appearance. I always marvel at the “oh dear me” call of the yellow crowned sparrows who arrive here in the fall after breeding further north. They call from all around the yard as they scamper in the underbrush feeding. They do seem to like to scavenge under the bird feeders where I can get a glimpse of them with their striking yellow striped heads. Some of the juvenile birds are not as brightly colored in their head stripe. I used to find all these sparrows to be very similar but with repeated practice I find they are more recognizable now. Sparrows tend to be a very inclusive group so often there are many kinds all mixed together getting along apparently just fine.

As the trees lose their leaves we gain access to sightings of more of our woodpeckers as they climb up and down the trees eating insects. One of my favorite woodpeckers is the  Acorn woodpecker. I like them since they are such “show offs” and love to pose for whoever wants to admire their magnificent coloring. They are not found in Cedar Mill but they are a short distance away. Dawson Creek Corporate center behind the Hillsboro library has several ponds with a good variety of migratory ducks and even generally some wood ducks. The star of that area is the Acorn woodpecker!

To the south of the Dawson ponds is a wetlands area with several dead oak trees. There are live oak trees to the south of the library also full of woodpeckers gathering acorns. The birds then fly to the dead trees, where they deposit these treasures in previously drilled out holes. The trees are riddled with holes and last week when I was there the noisy flock was busily filling the holes for their winter stash. Back and forth, calling to each other loudly—you can’t miss them. If the sun shines on their heads the yellow and red almost glow. They are attention grabbers for sure.  Our area is usually the northern most spot in the US where you can see these gorgeous woodpeckers. Of course in my yard and all around Cedar Mill we have many woodpeckers including the Hairy and the smaller Downy and Flickers and occasionally Sapsuckers and Pileateds. The Downys are the most common at suet feeders and in trees but it’s worth the short trip to Hillsboro to see the Acorn woodpeckers and take a stroll on the very nice paved paths so see the ducks and then maybe stop into the library and read the magazines while looking out onto the ponds from the large picture windows—very nice winter day!

Lauretta Young is a retired physician who now leads birding tours in Cedar Mill and beyond, check out her web site at www.portlandbirdwatching.com or her husband’s photos at www.flickr.com/photos/youngbirders/

It appears that despite our very brief and wet spring that some of our crops in Cedar Mill are maturing. The non-native blackberries which encroach on most open areas are now ripening. I, like most of my neighbors, go to our many open spaces along the roads or under power lines to pick the bounty of the ripe black berries. The aroma of the black jewels is truly the essence of summer.

On one of my blackberry jaunts I flushed a large flock of California quail from under a thicket. I really am amazed at how they can navigate that thorny underbrush without getting tangled. Quail do like berries and they also like the ripening grains along the edges of the streams in our area. The quail appear to have done well, the youngsters are almost as big as the two parents and there are about 15 of them left. The average clutch size in this area is about 20 or so. Given that they have many predators including Cooper’s and Sharp Shinned hawks, to have 15 left is a miracle.

My backyard apple tree is starting to drop fruit. The apples don’t seem as large this year as I remember but they are plentiful and very tasty. Every year I resist the urge to be too neat and clean up all the ones which have fallen—many of our local bird species love to eat apples too. So save a few for the robins, the other thrushes and even the occasional visiting migrant on the way south. One year a group of brightly colored Western Tanagers was having an apple feast for a few hours before heading south so don’t be overly tidy!

In this area in some of our “hedgerow” areas around natural ponds or in untended areas we have many native fruits such as various types of wild cherries and plums and fruiting vines and bushes. These attract and feed not only birds but other wildlife such as deer. Personally most gardeners abhor deer and some vineyard owners called them “rats with hooves”, nevertheless my hope is that they might find the choke cherry out in the wetlands more attractive rather than my strawberries!

Cedar waxwings and Chickadees and Bushtits are all flocking together now in the larger flocks in which they travel south. I have seen my wild rose bush with large red and orange hips full of Cedar Waxwings eating those vitamin C infused fruits in flocks so large the bush seems alive with feathers.

Now is the time to enjoy the harvest and save some for our feathered friends who need some extra fuel to put on fat stores for their long journey to their winter homes.