A lifer for me! Have you seen this beauiful bird?
whatbird.wildbird.com/obj/196...get.aspx
There has been a whole group at them on a certain spot on PSU campus for more than a week. I have counted as many as four males at one time and about an equal number of females.They may be nesting, or maybe there are so many because there are young adults emerging from a nest, I don't know, but if you are in Portland and need to add this beautiful bird to your life list, catch them soon!
Go to PSU campus. Montgomery Court (student housing) SW 10th and Montgomery. In the inside courtyard, where there is ivy all over the walls, look at the SW corner of the inside of the courtyard. (If you are facing the inside of the courtyard, it will be on your left, above the sidewalk that leads to the back.) Someone come see these beautiful birds before it is too late!
whatbird.wildbird.com/obj/196...get.aspx
There has been a whole group at them on a certain spot on PSU campus for more than a week. I have counted as many as four males at one time and about an equal number of females.They may be nesting, or maybe there are so many because there are young adults emerging from a nest, I don't know, but if you are in Portland and need to add this beautiful bird to your life list, catch them soon!
Go to PSU campus. Montgomery Court (student housing) SW 10th and Montgomery. In the inside courtyard, where there is ivy all over the walls, look at the SW corner of the inside of the courtyard. (If you are facing the inside of the courtyard, it will be on your left, above the sidewalk that leads to the back.) Someone come see these beautiful birds before it is too late!
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Portland
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Re: Western tanagers -- see in Portland!
Fri, May 11, 2007 - 9:02 PMWhat a lovely treat!
I always find it special to have a chance to watch tanagers or orioles - so very beautiful! -
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Re: Western tanagers -- see in Portland!
Sun, May 13, 2007 - 12:29 PMWow, as of today they have been joined by four or five cedar waxwings! It has been many years since I have seen a cedar waxwing, and never more than one at a time!
They are all going crazy eating berries off the ivy on the building. The ivy resembles English ivy but I think it must be something else related -- there is plenty of English ivy infesting Portland, and while I know birds do eat English ivy berries, I have never seen them go nuts for it like they are with these ivy berries. I have to find out what this magic bird-ivy is! -
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Cedar Waxwings!
Sun, May 13, 2007 - 12:35 PMThe bunch of cedar waxwings deserve their own heading!
I counted five at once!!!
Never have seen more than one cedar waxwing at a time, and always briefly. I love their beautiful mask and their dignified coloration.
Quite a colorful bird party, between the western tanagers, the cedar waxwings, and the scrub jays and starlings who are always around. -
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Re: Cedar Waxwings!
Sat, May 26, 2007 - 2:13 PMHi Gayle,
just had to say it's good to hear someone appreciating the ivy for a change. I know
it's not meant to be growing there and no doubt causes some problems, but i have to say that over here where it's native in the UK it's absolute Queen. I've got a huge spread of it at the back of my garden and have grown to really love it for it's a wildlife haven. So many birds come to feed off it.... perch on it... nest in it...........and butterfies too! I wonder if the one you see is a different variety, or just a has a magical spirit at home in it. Enjoy! -
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Re: Cedar Waxwings!
Sat, May 26, 2007 - 6:03 PMWOW!
I wonder if you have waxwings nesting in your area?
Here they pass through in fall and spring en route to ... ? ... always in happily twittering flocks, and never predictably at a particular place or time so that they always strike me as a special gift. -
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Re: Cedar Waxwings!
Sun, May 27, 2007 - 5:47 PMWell, the birdies have left. I think it took them almost two weeks to strip the berries from this ivy -- the whole gang of about ten tanagers, six cedar waxwings, four scrub jays and a bunch of starlings.
I've never in my life seen birds so crazy for ivy berries like this and I don't find any mention of Helix hibernica (the species I think it is) being especially attractive to birds. And as a matter of fact, even though the entire face of the building facing me is covered with this type of ivy, the birds concentrated on one corner. I have a suspicion that this one particular plant on the far left of the building may be a mutation with special bird-deliciousness. I am going to take a cutting of it with me when I leave here (grow it in a pot so it doesn't get invasive).
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Ivy
Sun, May 27, 2007 - 5:41 PMWell, English ivy is a serious tree-killing problem in the US Pacific Northwest and I have never seen birds go for it much. This has a slightly different leaf shape and after looking up photos of all 15 members of the Hedera genus I have tentatively identified it as Hedera hibernica, but I don't see any mention of birds going crazy for this or any other ivy. The Wikipedia article Ivy has a photo H.hibernica at the top, whose leaves look exactly like this bird-ivy here, but there is another photo below showing purple berries and these are black.
Talking about plants that behave in their home territory and are serious invaders elsewhere -- Himalayan blackberries are a serious problem in this region, but I have a professor from Nepal where it is native and he says it is a very well-behaved plant back there. Of course, when it takes over huge areas with its monstrous thorny brambles, it is also providing a lot of wildlife habitat, as well as food for the birds (and for humans). -
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Re: Ivy
Sun, May 27, 2007 - 10:57 PMGayle, is it possible the berries have gone from purple to black as overripening, hence a tad fermented, hence being superattractive to the birds?
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