I spent Saturday wandering around Wasco County. It was a nice mix of late
winter and early spring birding. Around milepost 8 off of 216, there were a
couple of WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKERS actively drumming and calling. I was glad
to still find a NORTHERN SHRIKE and a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, and still quite a
few TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRES at lower elevations. The feeders in Pine Grove
were covered with EVENING GROSBEAKS. I also found TRICOLORED BLACKBIRDS in
three locations - Victor Road, Walter's Road and the entrance road to Oak
Spring. In each case, there were about 10-15 birds hanging around animal
pens (2 cattle, 1 goat). They were mixed in with Brewer's Blackbirds, but
relatively few Red-wings - I'm assuming that the most of the Red-wings were
already starting to stake out breeding territories and had dispersed from
their winter flocks. Also a good variety of waterfowl scattered around
various ponds and flooded fields.
David Mandell
Portland, OR
