Willamette/Tualatin Valley 8/2--20 Year Birds

Eurasian Collared-Dove

This was the first official day of the trip and it yielded, for me, 20 year-birds. The first three were in a small patch of oak trees on NW Salzwedel Road in Cornelius--the main target there was Acorn Woodpecker, which eventually showed itself, while the other two were birds we'd see and hear a fair amount, Eurasian Collared-Dove and Western Wood-Pewee. 

American Dipper

The balance of the birding that day was in various parts of the Tillamook Forest. Our first stop there at a little stream produced American Dippers, a weird, wonderful passerine that makes its living diving beneath the water. Our first warblers of the trip were both seen and heard: Wilson's
Warbler, MacGillivray's Warbler, Hermit Warbler. A big flock of Canada Jays (they used to be called Gray Jays) stopped us for a while. We had a lot of flycatchers, including Western Flycatcher. I'm a little ambivalent about this species. For a while it was split into Pacific-slope Flycatcher (the kind we saw) and Cordilleran Flycatcher but has been lumped back into one species. On the one hand, I've lost a species for my life-list. But I no longer have to try to pronounce "Cordilleran." 

At Round Top summit, we got a somewhat hazy view of the distant mountains--Mt Rainier, Shasta (I think), Hood (I think), etc. I wasn't paying that much attention since all mountains look the same (big hill) to me and I only took geology in college to fulfill my science requirement because there were no labs. We did see, up there, a couple of Western Bluebirds and a young Townsend's Solitaire. 

The day list:

Canada Goose   Banks
Band-tailed Pigeon   Reeher CCC Camp
Eurasian Collared-Dove   NW Salzwedel Rd, Cornelius
Mourning Dove   NW Salzwedel Rd, Cornelius
Rufous Hummingbird   Reeher CCC Camp
Turkey Vulture   NW Cochran Rd, Timber
Red-tailed Hawk   NW Salzwedel Rd, Cornelius
Belted Kingfisher   Reeher CCC Camp
Acorn Woodpecker   NW Salzwedel Rd, Cornelius
Northern Flicker   Reeher CCC Camp
American Kestrel   Banks
Olive-sided Flycatcher   Reeher CCC Camp
Western Wood-Pewee   NW Salzwedel Rd, Cornelius
Willow Flycatcher   Reeher CCC Camp
Western Flycatcher   Reeher CCC Camp
Hutton's Vireo   Reeher CCC Camp
Warbling Vireo   Reeher CCC Camp
Canada Jay   NW Cochran Rd, Timber
Steller's Jay   NW Cochran Rd, Timber
American Crow   NW Salzwedel Rd, Cornelius
Common Raven   Reeher CCC Camp
Chestnut-backed Chickadee   Reeher CCC Camp
Barn Swallow   NW Salzwedel Rd, Cornelius
Red-breasted Nuthatch   Banks
American Dipper   NW Cochran Rd, Timber
European Starling   NW Salzwedel Rd, Cornelius
Western Bluebird   Round Top summit
Townsend's Solitaire   Round Top summit
Swainson's Thrush   NW Cochran Rd, Timber
American Robin   Reeher CCC Camp
Cedar Waxwing   Reeher CCC Camp
Evening Grosbeak   NW Cochran Rd, Timber
Dark-eyed Junco   Round Top summit
White-crowned Sparrow   Reeher CCC Camp
Song Sparrow   NW Cochran Rd, Timber
Spotted Towhee   Reeher CCC Camp
MacGillivray's Warbler   Reeher CCC Camp
Hermit Warbler   Reeher CCC Camp
Wilson's Warbler   NW Cochran Rd, Timber
Western Tanager   Reeher CCC Camp
Black-headed Grosbeak   Reeher CCC Camp

Western Bluebird, Round Top summit