Nature's bird feeders

A golden-crowned sparrow feeds on early blooming forsythia blossoms near a home in rural western Oregon near Elkton on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. Forsythia flowers are produced in the early spring before the leaves. 

A red-breasted nuthatch forages for Douglas fir seeds on a hillside near Elkton in rural western Oregon on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. Douglas-firs, along with many other conifers, produce a heavy crop of cones only once every several years. A cycle for Douglas-fir cone production is typically 5 to 7 years long.

 

Birds of a feather

A sub-adult bald eagle and a jaunty starling share the branch of a dead tree along the Umpqua River near Elkton in rural western Oregon on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. 

 

A new beginning

A cow licks the afterbirth from her minutes old calf in a pasture on a farm near Elkton in rural western Oregon on Sunday, Feb. 20, 2021. A healthy calf can normally stand within a half hour of being born. Experts believe cows consume the afterbirth and placenta because the smell of fresh blood and fluid may attract predators to the cow and her calf.

Puddle luscious

It rained all day on Thursday, except for a few minutes just before sunset.

A golden-crowned sparrow slicks water as it stands in a sidewalk puddle during a rain shower outside a home near Oakland in southwestern Oregon on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. According to AllAboutBirds.com, miners in the Yukon at the turn of the twentieth century woefully referred to the golden-crowned sparrow as the “no gold here” bird, because its song resembled that depressing phrase. 

A large raindrop splashes down in the puddle

 

Hunting heron on land

On a damp cool afternoon, a great blue heron hunts for rodents in a hazelnut orchard along a country road near Elkton in rural western Oregon on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. The trees are laden with yellow pollen bearing catkins.

 

Tony hawk (as in fancy, not skateboarding)

A red-shouldered hawk shows off its talons while grooming on a fencepost along a country road near Elkton in rural western Oregon on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021.

 

Good 'till the last drop

 

A pair of young goat kids get the last drops of milk from their mother before she steps away in a pasture along a country road near Elkton in rural western Oregon on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021.

Muddy playtime for the kids.