Building a Bird

I am working away stitching a Golden-crowned Kinglet.

And while I do not have a Kinglet to share, I do have some other little flitty birds.

Case in point - a female Bushtit.

Male Lesser Goldfinch.

I don't think I saw a White-crowned Sparrow all winter.

Welcome bird!

And speaking of welcome....

I hope that this male Evening Grosbeak is a precursor of many more to follow.  

He made a brief stop at the feeder on Tuesday morning.  

Look at that big beak!

It's a seed crusher for sure.

Tell all your friends and family about the easy and abundant food available here!

An Early April Walk

There is SO much going on right now.

Elderberry leafing out...

Daffodils in bloom. 

Long, dangling Hazel catkins.

Big Leaf Maple budding.

Iris tenax clumping up.

Tiny flowers.

A patch of naturalized Grape Hyacinths. 

Flowering current about to flower.

Hawthorn awash in buds. 

California corn lilies bursting out of the ground.

Trilliums in bloom.

Mottled leaves.

Pristine green leaves.

Osoberry leafs out and blooms all in one go.

Wilding plum.

Willow in bloom.

Look at all of that pollen!

Chocolate Rabbit and Prairie Birds

Design - "The Chocolate Hare"

Designer - Ewe & Eye & Friends

Fiber - Anchor Floss

Fabric - 32 count Olive Green Belfast linen

Started - 26 March 2010

Completed - 13 April 2010

With Easter approaching, who is not dreaming about chocolate rabbits?

After seeing the male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Saturday, my mom and I headed off to...

Meadowlark Prairie - a 404 acre wetlands in west Eugene.

Right off the bat we saw female Red-winged Blackbirds...

..and males.

We could hear Meadowlark singing...

...and finally located one atop a small pine tree.

Almost immediately, another bird flew in closer... 

...to a birch tree.

It too sang up a storm.  The Western Meadowlark is Oregon's state bird, but I don't think I've seen one since I was in grade school.  They sadly are uncommon in most of the state - so thank goodness for this prairie wetlands.

We also came across a couple of Northern Pintails.

And a Northern Shoveler.

Here's a handsome Green-winged Teal.

There was a decent group of them as well as lots of Mallards and Canada Geese.

I'm not that great with IDing shore birds.

I think this is a Lesser Yellowlegs.

Here's a Killdeer, one of several.

And there were serious skeins of Canada Geese winging their way to who knows where. 

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.