Common Merganser In Flight

I cannot believe that it is already April! Today started with some breaks in the rain, so I got outside early and found a new spot to walk. I have to admit that the Tualatin Park and Recreation District have done an amazing job of interconnecting miles of wonderful walks with nature parks interspersed! It is such a joy to have all of this within a walk from my house. Today though, I drove to a new spot about 2 miles from here called Moshofsky Woods. It connects up with the Willow Creek Nature Area I usually walk through. It is a deeper woodsy setting with bigger fir trees. With the approaching storm and lots of wind, it was actually a sound feast!! There is nothing like the sound of the fir trees in the wind :)

I found some new birds in this area today, my first Bewick's Wren which was hard to catch....they are fast and they hide!! I also saw some Bushtits (this is not the place I saw them before), and the regular Song Sparrows and American Robins. I also found a Scrub Jay, which was such a beautiful blue!

But my photo I'm posting today is the Common Merganser as it was taking off this morning from the pond in back of our home. He was beautiful, and it's always fun to see them in flight!!

To see all my photos from today, visit my Flickr Page!