By Lena De Tar

Dear Eliot Newsletter,

There’s a strange cat in my yard. What do I do with it?

Sincerely,
Animal Samaritan

Dear Animal Samaritan,

Thank you for looking out for our feline friends! What to do with this cat depends a on its disposition, its identification, and your intentions.

Continue reading What Should You Do With a Stray Cat?

The spotted owl has been a flash point for forest management in Oregon for decades, but how many of us have actually seen one, or its nemesis, the barred owl? I haven’t, and I grew up in a logging community.

Continue reading Bird is the Word

Although I don’t intend to write about birds in the News, this spring gave me a chance to see and photograph some of my favorite birds. The first is the Anna’s hummingbird. These are the green hummingbirds we see in our gardens this time of year. Although there is nothing unusual about the Anna’s, I was able to observe a nest with young this year. The phone pictures from one of our tenants had to be taken at a distance, but if you look closely you can see a hummingbird perched on the edge of the nest. The entire nest is about the size of half a small chicken egg.

Continue reading Spring HAS Sprung

Eliot’s proximity to the river, the Fremont Bridge, and the established trees in our yards and nearby parks makes it one of the better eastside habitats for birds and bird watching. This includes Cooper’s Hawks that periodically visit (and nest) in Irving Park, Peregrine Falcons that nest in the Fremont Bridge, and Red Tailed Hawks that try to take backyard chickens. I have been visited by Great Blue Herons eating fish out of my, now empty, pond.

Continue reading What Kind of Bird is That?

By Alexis  Warwick

Some of you may be aware of the population of predatory wildlife, including Coyotes. They commute through our parks and greenways on a daily basis. This may seem like a somewhat new and exciting phenomena but they have been politely traveling our streets and parks for many years now.  In fact, they were here long before we were!

Continue reading Eliot, the Coyote

The owl turned up on Tillamook Street right before Thanksgiving.

My wife, Shara, noticed some crows having a fit about something in an old birch tree in our yard on a Monday morning. To her surprise, there appeared to be a Great Horned Owl sitting on a branch 30 feet up. She told my cousin, Liz, an avid birder who lives behind us on Thompson Street. We pulled out the binoculars. We gawked. We pointed it out to passersby, including a troupe of children from a nearby pre-school. It wasn’t just the crows who were upset. A pair of hummingbirds that live in our yard buzzed the owl repeatedly. But the owl — he? she? — barely flinched. At one point, it moved its neck suddenly and — I swear — a crow that was squawking at it jumped. We saw the owl’s talons through the binoculars. They looked sharp and powerful. We figured a predator like that isn’t easily perturbed. I called the Portland Audubon Society. They were impressed. They said Great Horned Owls are rarely seen in the city. Shara and I continued to tell everyone we could find. The owl was still in the birch tree at dusk when our daughters got home from school, so they got a chance to see it. Liz had the great fortune of seeing the great bird fly off before the sun completely set.

Continue reading The Story of the Neighborhood Owl