Shawneen and I just returned home from a day of birding in North Portland and
on Sauvie Island with Jim Danzenbaker and Ann Nightingale from Victoria B.C.
Upon arriving home, our housemate Kara Greer told us that she had seen male
Mountain Bluebird with a female bluebird (species uncertain) between the
parking area and the observation platform in the Fisher Butte Unit of Fern
Ridge WMA. Kara is not a super experienced observer, but she grew up in Idaho
and has done a far amount of birding in eastern Oregon, thus she is familiar
with the difference between male Mountain and Western Bluebirds. The bird she
saw today was entirely blue with no rusty coloration. This is the season for
Mountain Bluebirds west of the Cascades.
Kara said the bird was about half way between the parking area along Hwy 126
and the observation tower (south of Fisher Butte) and mentioned that the two
bluebirds were flying back and forth across the north-south running trail.
Sounds like these two birds were together and she did not see any other
bluebirds, so it seems likely that the female was also a Mountain, but she was
not sure about that.
Dave Irons
Beaverton, OR
