Oregon birds..Columbia Gorge

I am linking up with Our World Tuesday
and Wild Bird Wednesday

Last week I had a fun vacation in Oregon visiting the Columbia River Gorge area, Mt Hood and the beautiful Oregon coastline. We spent the first three nights near the Columbia River Gorge Area, we used the town of Troutdale as our base for our visit. There were many hikes to waterfalls and beautiful scenic views of the Columbia River. This river splits the state of Oregon from the state of Washington. I am starting my post off with some of the Columbia River Gorge birds I saw and a few waterfall shots.

Click on the photo if you would like to see a larger image

This is the Multnomah Falls, the trail leads up to the middle of the falls and to the top.

Multnomah Falls drops in two major steps. The upper falls is 542 ft and the lower falls is just 69 feet. A trail leads to the footbridge which allows visitors to cross over the lower falls. There is a lodge, restaurant and visitor center on site.

This American Dipper was near the stream near the Oneonta Falls. We stopped here the first day to check out the hike to the Oneonta Falls. One must climb over a large log jam and then walk upstream to get to see the Oneonta Falls. Hubby did do this hike and I will show more of the waterfalls on another post.

The American Dipper is found near streams, it is a chunky slate-colored bird. I noticed and captured the flashing eyelid on the shot above. At the Oneonta Gorge area I saw a few of these birds. I was thinking I came across a family.

 The bird above looks like a juvie thrush to me but I am not sure. If any one can help with the id, I would appreciate the help. Edited, thanks to Jen id help the bird above is a Swainson's Thrush.

The Oregon Junco is another bird I heard and saw often.  The Oregon Junco has a dark black head with rusty sides.This Junco was seen hanging around the visitor center at the Multnomah Falls.The Oregon Junco is a lifer for me since I only see the Dark-eyed Slate Junco in Maryland.

The scenic overlooks of the Columbia River were all gorgeous stops along the Columbia River Gorge highway.



To see more photos from around the world visit: Our World Tuesday and to see birds from around the world check out Wild Bird Wednesday.  Thanks to the hosting group of Our World: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia and Sandy. And Stewart our host of Wild Bird Wednesday. Thanks, also for stopping by to see my post.

Leavenworth

I have another post and more photos from my vacation in the North Cascades, Washington state. This time we are in the Bavarian city of Leavenworth. After riding back to the town of Lake Chelan on the Lady Express boat from Stehekin we hopped back into our rental car and took off for Leavenworth. Leavenworth has been modeled after a Bavarian village and I really love the look. It is located on the eastern slope of the Cascade mountains and is on the Cascade loop and scenic drive. The beautiful Wenatchee River flows next to the city. I was attracted to the city after reading and looking at the Washington State Birding trail map I bought from Audubon of Washington. Leavenworth has many great hotspots for birding. The Leavenworth Nat'l Fish hatchery and the Waterfront Park were two places I decided I had to visit.

In this mosaic, I pictured the American Dipper a lifer for me. The dipper seen on the Icicle Creek likes to hang out in streams and feeds on aquatic insects. Icicle Creek was also were we saw the black bear. The Nat'l Fish hatchery has beautiful grounds, the gazebo and flowers and the beautiful mountains in the background. There had to be hundreds of Cedar Waxwings. Other birds seen were the Evening Grosbeak and the Steller Jay. The goats had a little habitiat and were seen in the city while we were walking back to our hotel from the Waterfront Park.

Lots of stores and restaurants on and around the main street.

The birds I saw at the Leavenworth fish hatchery were mostly yellow in color which is great for my Mellow Yellow Monday entry.

The birds pictured  below are the Western Tanager, Evening Grosbeak, Yellow Warbler all great birds for me.

Female Western Tanager, I really would like to see the colorful male someday.

 Another life bird was the Red Shafted Flicker, I see the Yellow Shafted Flicker on the east coast.

I am linking up with Mary's Mosaic Monday and
Drowsey Monkeys Mellow Yellow Monday  Click on the links to visit these fun memes.

Thanks to both Mary and Drowsey Monkey for hosting and thanks for stopping by to visit my post.