2013 Dancing Grebe Trip - Day 1, Part 1

Seven new birds on the first day!  We arrived at Lithia Springs Inn (Ashland Oregon) Thursday evening -- this Lesser Goldfinch was on the ugly fountain as we entered the grounds, seemingly right where we left him last fall!

Lesser Goldfinch

Family dinner in Medford took up the evening, but I got up early Friday morning and walked the grounds with my camera.

Walkway to our bungalow

My favorite spot - the pond

This arched gate leads to a large lawn area complete with a gazebo.

Macgillivray's Warbler

I walked back to the farthest corner, where this MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER was singing in the brush.







BULLOCK'S ORIOLES, mostly brilliant orange males, are everywhere.  This was my first peak at one of the noisy birds.

Bullock's Oriole 

Western Kingbird

Mourning Dove

Working my way to the front, I found a pair of WESTERN KINGBIRDS building a nest - not sure about their choice of location, but it was fun to watch.  I have a fun sequence of photos of her efforts.

A MOURNING DOVE perched nearby.  Fun to see all the doves!

After breakfast, we drove to Agate Lake County Park.  Our first impression was not so great, a few swallows and not much else - and the guy fishing on the shore with the unleashed Pit Bull (he kept telling the dog to "stay, stay, stay") made us nervous.  But I had been reading about the area on the Birding Oregon Information website, so we hopped back in the car and drove to the other side.  And it was awesome (continued on next blog - stay tuned!)