Listing Through Life

chaetura (from chaeto, spine or hair, and oura, tail) vauxi (after William Vaux, American mineralogist and archeologist)

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 — 4:01 pm

Mount Hood National Forest, Oregon — Eagle Creek — Wauna Viewpoint Trail

I was on a streak — I had taken identifiable photos of four lifers in a row. The streak ended here, but of the 18 lifers I saw on this trip, I managed to get identifiable photos (notice I didn’t say GOOD photos) of 13 of them and long-distance, unidentifiable photos of one other.

As we walked along the trail above Eagle Creek, a swarm of Violet-green Swallows cruised just above the tree tops. When I reached a gap in the forest, I noticed that at least one of them was an imposter — a Vaux’s Swift. They are a bit smaller and paler than Chimney Swifts, but otherwise look very similar. My primary identification point was location — Chimney Swifts don’t occur on the West Coast.

When we got down to the road, I found the swift again, just to make sure. Later in the week, I saw some by our hotel on Hayden Island and then got great looks at several as they flew past at eye level when I was at the Portland Women’s Forum State Scenic Viewpoint. (More on this oddly-named place in a future post.)

sphyrapicus (from sphyra, hammer, and picus, woodpecker) ruber (red)

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 — 3:57 pm

Mount Hood National Forest, Oregon — Eagle Creek — Wauna Viewpoint Trail

Thanks to my sister for my first sighting of this one. We were heading down the trail after watching the Hermit Warblers. Linda spotted the Red-breasted Sapsucker on a tree a little ways back up the trail. I got a good but very brief look at it before it headed off downhill.

A few minutes later I spotted what was probably the same bird in a tree further down the trail, and this time it stuck around long enough for me to get some photos. It didn’t do much except sit there and look at us. Maybe we were lifers for it? After a few minutes, it hiked up the branch a bit, then took off again.

dendroica (from dendron, tree, and oikein, to dwell) occidentalis (western)

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 — 3:47 pm

Mount Hood National Forest, Oregon — Eagle Creek — Wauna Viewpoint Trail

The Western Tanager wandered off out of sight and two other birds wandered in. They were Hermit Warblers, and they flitted around in a large evergreen right in front of us. One hopped about on the moss-covered branches for around for five minutes or so, and that one was a male. I’m not sure about the other one. I took a bunch of photos, and you can definitely see and identify the bird, although none of the shots came out very clear. I zoomed in for a better look at the bird, but it still isn’t a great shot.

piranga (South American name for a bird, perhaps from a city in Brazil) ludoviciana (of Louisiana)

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 — 3:40 pm

Mount Hood National Forest, Oregon — Eagle Creek — Wauna Viewpoint Trail

Moments after I saw the Rufous Hummingbird, I spotted another bird high in the trees along Eagle Creek. High in the trees meant just above eye-level because the slope was steep. It stumped me at first. It was yellowish on the head and tail with pale wing bars and belly. After a bit of study, I figured it was a tanager, and a quick look in my field guide convinced me it was a pale female Western Tanager. The male is one of the more outrageously-colored North American birds, so seeing a pale female was a bit of an anticlimax. Here’s where I saw it:

My identification was proven correct when I spotted it, or another one just like it, in the trees along the creek in company with a male. They were high up across the creek, but I managed to get this photo of the male:

Three days later, I got a better view at Lewis & Clark State Park just outside Portland.

selasphorus (from selas, light, and phoros, bearing) rufus (reddish)

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 — 3:36 pm

Mount Hood National Forest, Oregon — Eagle Creek — Wauna Viewpoint Trail

I was in Oregon for a convention. My sister and I flew out a day early to do some sightseeing. We arrived in Portland around 1:30, rented a car, and headed east immediately. After a brief stop at Multhomah Falls, we headed to Eagle Creek. We walked about a mile west along the trail on the hillside above the creek until we reached a spot overlooking the Columbia River. We hadn’t seen many birds on the walk out, but when we turned around and headed back, we began seeing many.

A constant high-pitch buzzing drew my attention, and I spotted a hummingbird doing its courtship flight, up and down the hillside in a series of swoops. It was difficult to spot against the dark foliage on a cloudy day, but I finally located it hovering in mid-air about 30 feet away.

As we walked along, we heard the buzzing often but only occasionally got a very brief glimpse. An hour and a half later and 15 or so miles further east, I got a great look at a male perched in a bush in the parking lot at Viento State Park.