It was raining when we met for coffee, so at Scott’s invitation, we watched
the bird activity from the multiple decks overlooking the many feeders at
his house, including the most birdy parts of the slough and river by Island
Park in Springfield. Scott McNeeley and his wife, Mary, keep a veritable
bird sanctuary with a ‘yard’ list of 130-some species. This morning we added
2 more, with Purple Finch and an elusive BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER !
Unfortunately the gnatcatcher was seen only by Scott and myself, and at
different times.
There was too much activity to keep counts. Notably, there was one Mt.
Chickadee (a regular this season), and both nuthatches.
Canada Goose
Mallard
Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Sharp-shinned Hawk (made a pass at a feeder-bird by a window)
Glaucous-winged Gull
Rock Pigeon
Anna's Hummingbird - many of both sexes
Red-breasted Sapsucker - 1
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Northern Flicker
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee - 1
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Bushtit
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch - 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER - 1
American Robin
European Starling - 2
Cedar Waxwing (flock)
Townsend's Warbler - 1 fem, 1 gorgeous male.
Spotted Towhee
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
House Finch
Purple Finch - 1
Pine Siskin
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
Sarah Vasconcellos, Judy Franzen, Dave Brown, Scott McNeeley, Ellen Cantor,
Cindy Armstrong and husband, Jim Regali, and Larry McQueen
