Just breathe

The breath of a Red-winged blackbird is highlighted by the morning sun as he sings his territorial song on a cold morning near Sutherlin in southwestern Oregon on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022.

Winter's waltz

Frost crystals cling to small wildflowers in a pasture along the Umpqua River near Elkton in rural southwestern Oregon on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. The National Weather Service is predicting chilly temperatures over the next several days for the area. 

 

Feeling patriotic: red, white and blue birds

A red-breasted sapsucker drills holes in the trunk of a tree on a hillside near Elkton in rural western Oregon on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. Sapsuckers drill rows of shallow wells in shrubs and trees, and then lick up the sap with their brush-tipped tongues. 

An adult bald eagle perches in a tree high on a ridge overlooking the Umpqua River in southwestern Oregon. Bald eagles are considered the largest birds of prey in North America with the average female bald eagle being a few ounces heaver than the next largest raptor.

A western bluebird perches in a blackberry thicket while hunting insects on a cool morning near Elkton in Southwestern Oregon on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022.

Spring training for honeybees

February 10, 2022, Elkton, Oregon, USA: Honey bees venture out of their hive box on a warm sunny afternoon on a farm near Elkton in rural western Oregon. Honey bees become active and start foraging at approximately 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Full foraging activity is not achieved until the temperature rises to 66 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

Raptor Rendezvous

A bald eagle and a red-tailed hawk peacefully share a dead cottonwood tree as they perch along the Umpqua River near Elkton in rural southwestern Oregon. Bald eagles and red-tailed hawks are not typically friends. In fact, they have been known to fight each other to the death.

 

The early bird gets 14 feet of worms

An American robin pulls an earth worm out of the ground on a hillside near Elkton in rural western Oregon. According to wildbirdsunlimited.com, an American robin can eat up to 14 feet of earthworms in a day. 

 

Bird bath

A western bluebird splashes while taking a bath in an overflowing cattle watering tank on a ranch near Elkton in rural western Oregon.

 

Bald Eagle Launch

A bald eagles takes flight from its perch on the limb of a dead tree high on a ridge overlooking the Umpqua river in southwestern Oregon. As with most birds of prey, the female bald eagle is usually larger than the male.

 

Peekaboo

A California ground squirrel feeds on new growth on a sunny hillside near Elkton in rural western Oregon. Known locally as digger squirrels, California ground squirrels generally hibernate during the winter. Depending on weather conditions, hungry squirrels can emerge from their burrows as early as the end of January.

 

Takeout lunch

A western bluebird feeds on a grub it captured in a pasture while hunting insects on a hillside near Elkton in southwestern Oregon. In general, bluebirds are insectivorous, and eat primarily insects throughout the spring, summer, and early fall.