At D River Open Space what caught my eye was a small group of COMMON MERGANSERS hanging out with the local MALLARDS and a GREAT BLUE HERON.
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| Mallard (female) |
A couple of the female MALLARDS came up to greet me as they usually do (someone must be giving them hand-outs - they have no fear!)
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| Mallard (male) |
A male chose to hand back on the far side of the narrow channel.
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| American Coot |
An AMERICAN COOT surprised me, floating out among the Mergansers - first one that I've seen in this location. They are funny looking birds!
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| Fox Sparrow |
The YELLOW RUMPED WARBLERS were busy catching insects mid-air, while a FOX SPARROW chose to do his bug-hunting below. By this time, the mist had turned into a drizzle and I headed on down to Siletz Bay.
By the time I got to Salishan, the drizzle was a little more serious, but I figured the ducks would at least be out and about, so I tucked the camera in my jacket, donned my purple visor that keeps the drizzle off my glasses, and braved the damp. And what fun!
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| Yellow-Rumped Warbler |
On the path, YELLOW RUMPED WARBLERS and CHESTNUT BACKED CHICKADEES whizzed by my head, back and forth (guess what, the visor doesn't keep the rain off my glasses when I'm staring straight up)!
While I was enjoying the show, a lone MERLIN popped out of a hiding place and jetted away - WOW, those guys can move! Rounding the corner, the GREAT BLUE HERON was at his usual spot, ready for dinner to come floating by - I must have a thousand pictures of him in this spot.
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| Greater White-Fronted Geese |
Seven GREATER WHITE FRONTED GEESE were a bit of a surprise on the fairway.
On the bay, high tide was a couple of hours past, but still high enough to get some looks at the thousands of ducks - MALLARDS, NORTHERN PINTAIL, AMERICAN WIGEON, one solitary EURASIAN WIGEON and one GREEN WINGED TEAL (probably more of them a ways across but didn't have my scope and gee, it was RAINING!)
Sounds like a nice outing! Love that Fox Sparrow!!
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