Mom visit and incidental birding

April 15, 2015 0 By Audrey

Last week, my mom and her friend Carol flew in from Florida to visit me. While they were here, I had the pleasure of showing off some of Oregon’s natural wonders.

I took them to see waterfalls

Latourell Falls

And we saw a Pacific Wren!

I took them to the Tulip Festival in Woodburn

Tulip Festival

And saw owls.

Owls

To the coast!…

Cannon Beach

And saw Harlequin Duck, Common Murre, and Brandt’s Cormorant!

Harlequin Duck

Common Murre

Common Murre

Brandt's Cormorant

On a hike to Punchbowl Falls

Punchbowl Falls

We saw American Dippers! I’ve been looking forward to seeing these cool birds all year. I love the way they “bob” up and down on rocks by the river. Cornell says they are North America’s “only truly aquatic songbird.” Neat.

American Dipper

We also stopped at Camp 18 for a small bite to eat…

Camp 18

And were greeted by this hilarious cat:

"Chessy" the Cheshire Cat

As well as, Violet-green Swallows!

Violet-green Swallow

Finally, the Rhododendron Gardens…(azalea pictured). Did you know that all azaleas are Rhododendrons, but not all Rhododendrons are azaleas? I didn’t either.

Azalea

Among other birds at the garden, we saw a Double-crested Cormorant and Wood Ducks, or as my company called them, “Darth Vader Ducks.” Alrighty, then.

Double-crested Cormorant

Wood Duck (male)

Wood Duck (female)

Not bad for a week of incidental birding…four new species!

Tweets

Birding even when not birding.

Tweets and chirps,

Audrey