Last week we took a trip to the beach for the Pacific City Birding and Blues Festival.
On the way, we visited our old Hillsboro neighborhood to look for a wayward Loggerhead Shrike. We had no problem finding the bird perched on fence post near a corporate parking lot. A few minutes later, the shrike dove to the ground and returned to the post with an eight-inch garter snake that it gulped down like a fat piece of spaghetti before we could get our camera ready.
Our loggerheaded friend spent the next ten minutes basking in the sun with a belly full of snake.
During the weekend, we helped lead two walks through the soggy forests of Nestucca Bay Wildlife Refuge. The highlight of both days' walks was the thump-thump-thumping of a Ruffed Grouse drumming somewhere in the forest.
The walks also produced some great amphibian encounters, such as this chorus frog posing alongside some tiny mushrooms. It rained pretty hard during the walk on Sunday, so we are looking forward to what should be a dry field trip this Sunday at Dawson Creek Park.
Stay tuned!
I tried to find the Shrike Sunday and had no luck! I walked/drove back and forth around 9am. I was the only one looking and finally gave up. It was so close to home I had to try. Looks like you had a fun time at the coast (as all the facebook dog photos indicate!).
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