Eagles and a Rainbow

It's been a week for eagles here on the farm. For three mornings an adult Bald Eagle sat atop our big snag for several hours. On one of those mornings, between rain showers, he was sunlit... and accompanied by a rainbow. I grabbed my camera and tried to get them in the same photo but they were too far apart. Even when I only got a part of the rainbow with the eagle, the bird was too far away to be visible. Here is the eagle atop our snag.

A closer look...

And here is the rainbow.

The snag is behind the machine shop in this photo of eagle (invisible) and part of the rainbow.

The eagle was not impressed by the rainbow. Something on the ground caught its attention.

The majestic bird eventually flew off without finding any prey here. It has not returned for the last two days.

This morning, another eagle fly in... a juvenile, just one year old I would guess. Now look at the thin top of the snag that is next to the thick top where the adult eagle is sitting.

The young eagle tried to land on that skinny stick. Not once, but half a dozen times. Each time, a pair of mallards that had been frightened off our pond by my husband's sudden arrival at the barn, where I was milking goats, circled the eagle, flying as low, apparently, as they dared. The eagle failing to land on the skinny tip, flew out and circled back to try again. The mallards again flew over the eagle. I could only guess they were trying to scare it off. (Or maybe they were, like Johnny and me, laughing at the silly bird.) The eagle paid them no attention as it was apparently determined to land on that skinny stick. Each time the eagle tried to set down on the stick, the mallards circled around over its head. Finally the young bird gave up and flew to a nearby fir tree, where it landed on the very top, bending the tip of the tree. The mallards flew upstream and disappeared.  The young eagle soon left that unsteady perch and flew I know not where.

I have seen just-fledged Barn Owls have issues landing, but I have never seen an eagle, that surely must be nearly a year old, with so little awareness of how big a perch it needs. I wish I'd had my camera with me this morning.

Green-winged Teal

 On my first day home after five days away, I naturally headed to the creek that runs through our farm... and happily found seven Green-winged Teal hanging out.

This one was showing off his green wing.

And this one the white under his wing.

I like to think of it as a wildlife welcome home.

Accipiter? But which one?

This is another photo sent to me by my friends from Willamina area who sent the scrunched down Northern Harrier photo in my "Mystery Bird" blog. I am losing my reputation with them as someone who can identify their birds. Well, I was able to tell them the other photo they sent was a Rough-legged Hawk so I'm not completely incompetent.

I'm guessing this is a Sharpie by the rounded head. What's with all the white spots on what appears to be an adult bird (by the red eye)?

As always, the OBOLers have come through: it's a Sharp-shinned Hawk

On the adults, Coops have a paler nape than crown.  Sharpie's nape is same color as crown.  In photo looks to be same color.  Would need text to be sure but white spots are the bases of gray feathers, so maybe other feathers are growing in and will cover up white..

Bob Archer

Mystery Bird

Friends who live on 500 acres near Willamina, OR, sent me this photo and asked what this bird is. I can't tell. Help!

She added:

It wasn't very big, about a foot tall and the posts are just regular fence posts.  It was early this morning.  The other pictures are about the same.  It has a yellow beak if that helps.

Wow! Oregon Birders On Line were fast with their responses. All respondents said it's a male Northern Harrier. Hannah Fritz sent this link to a Northern Harrier in a similar pose: http://esask.uregina.ca/management/app/assets/img/enc2/selectedbig/51BF7705-1560-95DA-43A437B440D46746.jpg

Thanks all!

Ruffed Grouse

Today I hiked through our arboretum and woods to Agency Creek. I did not find the hoped-for American Dipper. But on the walk back, I flushed a Ruffed Grouse. This is not an unusual happening, but what was unusual was that it landed in a tree and stayed there long enough for me to get a photo.

Bald Eagle

A  Bald Eagle landed on our big snag while I was doing chores this morning. I ran for the house to get the camera. (Someday I'll remember to keep it with me.) The eagle stayed for quite some time. I went ahead and milked goats. Johnny continued to watch and said that, at one point, a Red-tailed Hawk flew toward the snag (one sits there most mornings) but made a U-turn when it saw the eagle and left. Johnny watched the eagle take off and fly downstream along the creek, likely hunting for fish. Such beautiful birds. I lightened the last photo to show off that white head better.

Yellow-shafted Flicker

Abby Jaworski in Oregon City has this female Yellow-shafted variety of Northern Flicker coming to her feeder. The first three photos were taken by Abby's husband. The last one I cropped and lightened.


Pretty cool since we normally get Red-shafted here or occasionally a hybrid. I've not seen a yellow-shafted since I left the midwest, although I'm told they are sometimes seen east of the Cascades.

Since these photos were posted, the experts on OBOL (Oregon Birders On LIne) told us that maybe 1% of the wintering Northern Flickers west of the Cascades are pure Yellow-shafted. They are pretty site specific, like most wintering birds... that is, they return each year to the same sites, which may be why I've never seen one. None has picked my farm yet. Thanks to Abby for sharing!