Bird Watching - The Outdoor Directory for Birding

It has been raining all afternoon here in the Coast Range of the Pacific Northwest. These fall rains are a reminder to clean all the bird feeders. It is important to keep the feeders clean all year long because of the density of birds around feeders. Disease can spread easily. Clean feeders are especially important during the wet months when mold can grown so easily in the feeders.

Another sign of fall are the ripening apples. Our trees are laden with apples this season after last years "rest year" with few apples. The deer congregate in family groups under the apple trees especially after sunset. A wave of the flashlight from the front porch illuminates the eyes of many deer.

Happy Birding!
Bill@birdingguide.com

Posted by bill@birdingguide.com at 07:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We are travelling between Berlin and Rome this September with stops in Dresden and Prague. Lots of interesting birding with new birds to add to our list of birds seen. What I find most interesting for my self is not so much the new birds we have seen but the ones that are familiar but not quite the same as familar species at home. I find a special thrill in looking at the gray and black crows in Berlin and Rome. They behave like crows at home, have the same comfortable relationship with city dwellers as at home, yet are a new bird to observe. The chickadees are so familar yet different in immediately noticeable ways at the same time. While eating dinner outside tonight on our friends patio south of Berlin I heard a familiar but different harsh croak of a heron flying overhead but was not quick enough to identify our evening visitor. Tommorrow we head to Spreewald south of Berlin to visit this world heritage site, the home of Sorbish people for many centuries. The area is also known for its Stork populations. They finished breeding much earlier in the season but we are looking forward to seeing many stork nests.

Posted by bill@birdingguide.com at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The afternoons are still warm as summer comes to an end, but the nights are becoming quite cool. An extra blanket has gone on the bed, the hummingbirds have left along with the violet green swallows and we are preparing for the arrival of the Vaux's Swifts at Chapman Elementary School in Northwest Portland, Oregon. This gathering of swifts in the chimney of the school is an annual birding event attracting thousands of people on September evenings to watch the 15,000 to 40,000 swifts swirl in a huge cloud of birds that dives into the chimney to roost for the night. Cooper's hawks and Peregrine Falcons can also be seen in expectation of a meal

Posted by bill@birdingguide.com at 08:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)