We went boating last night with some fun birding results. On the Royal Ave.
side of Gibson Island we came across two Osprey nests out over the reeds.
The first was a low platform with one visible juvenile (nearly fledged) and
one adult. The other was a bit higher (and farther away) and we could
identify two birds sitting on the perch next to the nest, itself. I'm
certain one was an adult, not sure if the other was a fledged youngster or not.

While we were there, we watched a large fish jump out of the water ahead of
us and a Black tern dive for it immediately. The bird missed but followed
the fish for a bit. We had a total of 4 Black terns in that same area.

We confirmed the tern I'd seen the other day as a Common Tern (sorry Dan) as
it passed over the Gibson Island area.

We cruised around to the side of Jeans Peninsula where the Long Tom enters
the reservoir to check on the Grebe family. I'm happy to report the two
young we saw riding on a parent's back are still there with their parents
and growing like mad! They're about half the size of the adults at this
point. Mom and Dad kept them stashed at the edge of the reeds (there were
alot of water recreationalists) with one adult standing guard at all times
while the other hunted.

Farther south we had a Belted Kingfisher perched on a snag and an
unidentifiable woodpecker - it flew straight into a hole in a snag near the
Kingfisher's perch - so we only had the briefest of glimpses.

Tons of Red-winged blackbirds and swallows (mostly tree). We had lots of
young RW Blackbirds in our yard - it's great fun watching them learn to fly
and fend for themselves.

We've two fledged RS Towhees as well.

The pair of Goldfinches is holding their own in terms of guarding the
thistle feeder in our yard. Last night they were busy chasing off a VERY
determined young Siskin.

We have three female rufus hummers at the feeders as well. Some fabulous
territorial displaying going on last night.

Happy birding!

Peggi



Peggi Rodgers
Oregon Research Institute
Eugene, OR
peggir at ori.org
prodgers at efn.org
"A bird does not sing because it has an
answer, It sings because it has a song"