January Bird Surveys

 With December's snow and wild weather mostly gone, we have been doing our monthly bird surveys whenever we can. Saturday, Jan. 8, we did the Grand Ronde raptor route. The white-tailed kites apparently left when the snow fell. They have done that in the past. I guess they don't like snow. Red-shouldered Hawks were still around, though. Such lovely birds.

Monday, January 10, had reasonably good weather, too, so we did our North Santiam raptor route. I took a photo of a light phase Rough-legged Hawk but it was a long way away and I did not get a good photo.

 

Today, Jan. 12, tide and weather cooperated to let me do my January beached bird survey. On the way, I stopped, as always when the streams are running high, to take a photo of Gunaldo Falls. In the summer, it is a trickle, at most.

 
I'm glad I waited to get to the beach until two hours after high tide. Any earlier and I would not have been able to walk the beach to my starting point. I think it must have been higher than the 7.7 feet predicted.  The white foam is where waves were reaching when I was there. They had been lapping at the foot of the dune. 

This bumpy log, looking into the sun, was bumpy with resting shorebirds: Dunlin.

 

 

I walked past and took more photos. These Dunlin looked annoyed at my intrusion.

 But maybe that's just how Dunlin always look.

There was only one "beached (aka dead) bird" to tally. The high tide was pretty efficient in washing away most small items. But it sure deposited a lot of driftwood.

Now it's time to stay home and get some work done here. Although I would rather be birding...