While the rest of the country gets pounded with snow, we have clear blue skies in the Pacific Northwest- go figure. It is mighty cold, though. I still knew I should get some vitamin D while I could, so I went out to Catherine Creek to do a hike that I discovered there a year ago. I brought along the SX30, and I am glad I did. I came across some chickadees, and Mountain Chickadees at that, and they were being as cooperative as they could be for such busy little birds.









I know some of these are a little out of focus, but it's hard to achieve perfection when the bird is constantly flitting around looking for bugs. I also saw a new bird for my list, a brown creeper, and I snapped some un-post-worthy pics of him. They are even busier than chickadees (if such a thing is possible).

On a totally unrelated tangent, here are some pics I shot of the moon:




I labeled the second one with some of the bigger features visible- it is very satisfying to take a picture of the moon, then reference a moon atlas to pick out its features. Very cool.

Lately a few Lesser Goldfinches have been hanging around the yard, which is neat because they are a west coast bird. They were a trick to distinguish from the regular goldfinches, but the bright white wing bars, greenish backs, and yellow underparts gave them away.







Back at the Bingen pond were a bunch of the usuals, except for these three Western Grebes:


Looking forward to some sunshine coming next week.

It's been warm and raining a ton here, so here is a picture of the Hood River at 14 feet:


Despite all the rain, this little guy has found a place to stay dry in the back yard:


The sun made an appearance yesterday for the first time in weeks, so I jumped on the chance to get some full-sun shots. January 17th also marked the arrival of 50+ Evening Grosbeaks to the back yard. While the pics are nothing too amazing, I will share anyway. I am pleased with the clarity, but the birds never seemed to perch the way I wanted them to.










This female looked a little beat up...






Red Breasted Nuthatch

I made a quick stop by the Bingen pond and Columbia waterfront today and tried not to get rained on. Mostly just the regulars were there: Bufflehead, Scaup, Ring necked duck, Double crested cormorant, Common goldeneye, Gadwall, Mallards, and a whole ton of Canada geese. There were three Tundra swans, which I hadn't seen there before, which was pretty cool. The geese made Gretl a little uneasy when they all took off honking, all she could do was whine nervously.


Double-crested Cormorant, juvenile based on the amount of orange on the bill?




Mr. Bufflehead


Northern Flicker- in the yard

Snowy Day

We got some snow last night, so this created an exciting opportunity to test my camera in a new setting. I did a lot of creeping around the yard today, stalking my bird neighbors, but in the end the varied thrush was really cooperative.













and a chestnut-backed chickadee for good measure:

It is a little bit warmer today, so I took advantage of the weather to do some waterfowl birding without frozen fingers. I went down to Bingen pond and the Columbia waterfront near my work. There were lots of mallards, green winged-teal, gadwall, lesser scaup, common goldeneye and a great blue heron. The pond is starting to thaw, so I look forward to more birds there soon.


common goldeneye


lesser scaup


gadwall


the view

Cold Morning

I am improving... I don't think these are too shabby for hand-held shots at such slow shutter speeds...




Pine Siskin




American Goldfinch


Pine Siskin- I kinda chopped the top of his head off a little- but I like the detail...

Hood River Christmas Bird Count

The bird count in Mosier this morning was filled with a lot of the same ole birds, except for this guy:


A very cool Northern Pygmy Owl...



Is this his front or his back? Pretty awesome false eye spots to ward off predators- he looks like he has eyes in the back of his head!

The goldfinches love their new sock, check out these guys with thistle seed all over their faces.



I snapped a quick shot of the varied thrush, and I am looking forward to some better pics of this guy. He hangs around the back yard so there will be lots of opportunities.



Not the best song sparrow shot, but here it is:



And a junco:



A house finch in the fading light, kind of blurry:



I am excited to improve...

Christmas Birds

I got a new Canon SX30 for Christmas and I am really pleased with the performance of it, even though I am a total amateur when it comes to manual photography. But still, not too bad for my first outing. This was my first Orange Crowned Warbler.

2009 in Review

Kayaking from Deborah Castorina on Vimeo.

I am going crazy...

Seriously, I am losing it. I am trying to identify a bird based only on its voice and location. It's very hard to do something like this- I don't recommend it unless you really want to pull your hair out and develop an icky frustrated feeling. This bird has eluded me for nearly a year- I never get a chance to actually see it, just hear its lovely fluid whistling that seems to echo through the forest whenever I am blessed with its presence. The internet seems like it would be a great resource, but I have been sitting here for hours scouring the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website, to no avail. I must be getting closer....


Mitchell Ridge at Post Canyon- near Hood River- a likely hangout for this mystery bird...