Monday, April 1, 2019

It's April!

Garden Grumbles and Cross Stitch Fumbles April 2019 Blog Header

Horizontal rows
Row #1: The Primitive Hare, "Ostara"; Lizzie Kate, "A Little Gray Hare"; Lizzie Kate, "Chicks".

Row #2: Lizzie Kate, "Celebrate - Basket"; Le Chalet des Perelles, "Pasques".

Row #3: Shepherd's Bush, "Little Eggs"; Lizzie Kate, "Peep"; Primitive Betty, "Tulip Time"; SubRosa, "Welcome Spring".


Saturday turned out to be an extraordinary birding day.

In large part it was due to this guy!

A male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

His normal range is well east of the Rocky Mountains.

This bird was reported by Noah Stryker* earlier in the week. 

And for several days he obligingly hung out in the same birch tree.

Saturday morning my mom and I drove out to see if we could find him. 

I'd about given up when the Queen of Locating Rare Birds (my mom) said, "There he is!"

And sure enough, there he was!

Pretty thrilling to get to see him.

He was extremely cooperative, though we were careful to grant him space and not crowd in close.

Certainly not a bird I'd ever expected to see in western Oregon.

* Noah Stryker is a world-famous birder and author of several books including "Birding Without Borders".  When not lecturing or leading bird tours, he resides and birds in Lane County, Oregon.

8 comments:

Margaret said...

Wow! So he was in the area that Noah Striker said? And your mom spotted him? Wow! Very cool! How does a bird who normally doesn't live in an area end up in that area? So glad you saw him -- he's beautiful!

Robin in Virginia said...

Love the April blog header! Good for you on getting to see this rare bird! I wonder what he was doing in Oregon.

Christine said...

Great header - I especially love the little grey hare in the top row.
The bird is spectacular, though he does have a rather unfortunate name, it sounds like an insult from an old cowboy movie

Mary said...

How fortunate you have a well known birder in your area and how generous he was to share the location of this beautiful bird! Kudos to your Mom for spotting him.

Rhodesia said...

How lucky can you get and thanks for sharing with us all. Cheers Diane

Barb said...

What a beautiful bird. I am so glad you got to see him.

butterfly said...

Lovely Easter stitching and great photos.

Astrids dragon said...

Beautiful stitches for April, I think I like the chicks the best!
How nice that he stayed around for a few days, perfect for pictures.