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25 May calliope hummer-Columbia County [Bobbett Pierce ] 25 May Ankeny Purple Martin [Roy Gerig ] 25 May Sunny morning [Donald Schrouder ] 25 May Baskett Ibis [Mitch Ratzlaff ] 25 May Deschutes River State Park and Recreation Area (late) [Justin Rodecap ] 25 May Ankeny NWR Purple Martins [Jim Kopitzke ] 25 May Yellow-breasted Chat in Oakridge [Cheron Ferland ] 25 May Re: Purple Martins in Western Oregon ["Paul T. Sullivan" ] 25 May Blue Jay, and lost hummers Camas Washington [Rob Conway ] 25 May Blue Jay, and lost hummers Camas Washington [Rob Conway ] 24 May Re: X-bills 1000 Acres [Jeremy Breese ] 24 May Upper Klamath Lake Franklin's Gulls [Wayne Hoffman ] 24 May Re: X-bills 1000 Acres [Wayne Hoffman ] 24 May Sandy River Delta- X bills [Jeremy Breese ] 24 May Fwd: [birding] Black-necked Stilts near Baskett Slough ["Marcia F. Cutler" ] 24 May Re: ADV: X-bills 1000 Acres ["Pamela Johnston" ] 24 May X-bills 1000 Acres [Jeremy Breese ] 25 May Re: [birding] Golden-crowned Sparrow singing S/W of Monroe/Junction City ["5hats AT peak.org" ] 24 May Minto Park (Salem, Or) Western Kingbird. [Roy Gerig ] 24 May OBA Conference registration deadline [Stefan Schlick ] 24 May OBA Conference registration deadline [Stefan Schlick ] 24 May Re: Purple Martins in Western Oregon [Range Bayer ] 24 May Re: mystery bird [Jeff Gilligan ] 24 May mystery bird [Laura Mountainspring ] 24 May Purple Martins in Western Oregon [Roy Gerig ] 24 May [birding] Golden-crowned Sparrow singing S/W of Monroe/Junction City [Joel Geier ] 24 May Hooded Oriole continues [Mike Patterson ] 24 May a mystery [Laura Mountainspring ] 24 May Re: A day to swallow [David Irons ] 24 May Re: A day to Swallow [Jeff Gilligan ] 24 May Re: A day to Swallow [BILL ROSIE TICE ] 24 May Western Kingbird at Oaks Bottom Portland [Linda Leavens ] 24 May Re: [COBOL] RBA-Northern Mockingbird at Hampton station [tristen gholson ] 24 May Re: A day to swallow ["Wayne Weber" ] 24 May Re: Western Canada Geese Migration Over Newport [Tim Rodenkirk ] 23 May Western Canada Geese Migration Over Newport [Range Bayer ] 23 May Re: ANKENY NWR MAY 19, 2013 PHOTOS ["Madeline Rae, DVM" ] 23 May Douglas co Godwits [Daniel Farrar ] 23 May Re blackbird riding hawk [Karen Saxton ] 23 May Possible Red-necked Phalaropes, Yaquina Bay, + Coos Birds [Tim Rodenkirk ] 23 May Re: Possible Red-necked Phalaropes, Yaquina Bay, Newport, OR ["Phil Pickering" ] 23 May Possible Red-necked Phalaropes, Yaquina Bay, Newport, OR [McKenzie Reeves ] 23 May GREAT GRAY OWL GALLERY, JACKSON COUNTY [Harry Fuller ] 23 May Rummel St, McMinnville, year 2013 sightings ["Paul T. Sullivan" ] 23 May Fish Lake Surf Scoter [Mark Nikas ] 23 May Grasshopper Sparrow reported at SJCR [Mike Patterson ] 23 May Re: A day to swallow [Hendrik Herlyn ] 23 May Re: A day to swallow [Alan Contreras ] 23 May A day to swallow [BILL ROSIE TICE ] 23 May Pittock, NW Portland, week ending 05/22/13 [Wink Gross ] 23 May Malheur HQ - Tennessee Warbler [Teri Martine ] 23 May Benton County surplus Band-tailed Pigeons, and others ["Karan Fairchild" ] 23 May Re: Photo sharing sites [Hendrik Herlyn ] 23 May Re: Photo sharing sites ["Madeline Rae, DVM" ] 23 May Peoria Backyard Big Year, week 20 ["M & R Campbell" ] 22 May RBA: Portland, OR 5-23-13 [Harry Nehls ] 22 May The unambiguous yard list [Craig Miller ] 22 May Harney County Short-billed Dowitcher [Wayne Hoffman ] 22 May Malheur area Wed. morning [Wayne Hoffman ] 22 May Jackson County: Great Gray, Rosy-Finch [Harry Fuller ] 22 May Pine warb not so far [Alan Contreras ] 22 May Wed. morning Eugene [Donald Schrouder ] 22 May RBA PINE Warbler Eugene [Alan Contreras ] 21 May Re: Malheur Plumbeous Vireo [Wayne Hoffman ] 21 May [Fwd: 9 Grasshopper Sparrow morning In Willamette valley] [Joel Geier ] 22 May Re: Lane Coast Black Swift and Lesser Goldfinches (late post) ["HARVEY W SCHUBOTHE " ] 21 May Evening Grosbeak and 41 Band-tailed Pigeon in Gresham [John Gatchet ] 21 May Lane Coast Black Swift and Lesser Goldfinches (late post) [] 21 May Belated Sighting/Query re Swan [Matthew G Hunter ] 21 May Hummingbirds!!! ["Robert O'Brien" ] 21 May Black Phoebe fledglings [Matthew G Hunter ] 21 May Birdathon: Summer Lake to Yaquina Head, 17-19 May [Jay Withgott ] 21 May Re: Photo sharing sites ["David Heath" ] 21 May Malheur Plumbeous Vireo [Tim Blount ] 21 May Re: Eurasian Collared-Dove [Karen Saxton ] 21 May wind farm deaths, see link [Stephanie Hazen ] Subject: calliope hummer-Columbia County From: Bobbett Pierce <ensatina3 AT hotmail.com> Date: Sat, 25 May 2013 17:45:39 -0400 About noon today a male CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD was visiting the flowers in my backyard, just north of Scappoose. He was tamer than the rufous hummers, We happened to be standing near the blooms when he zoomed in about 3 feet away, pretty much ignoring us. He did not stick around long, zipping off after a couple of minutes. Only other time I recorded a calliope in our yard was May 9, 2009. Didn't have a camera or it would have been a nice opportunity for a photo. Lona PierceWarren Subject: Ankeny Purple Martin From: Roy Gerig <roygerig AT hotmail.com> Date: Sat, 25 May 2013 14:38:07 -0700 This morning I saw a single male PURPLE MARTIN over Pintail Marsh at Ankeny NWR. This has been about an annual event for me, to see 1-2 PUMAs in that part of Marion County. I saw 2 pairs of BLUE-WINGED TEAL on the walk around Pintail, and later 2 AMERICAN BITTERNS doing a goofy looking dance at the north edge of Eagle Marsh, then doing a slow motion chase, flying about as slow as they possibly could - reminded me of the OJ Simpson slow chase on LA freeways in his white Bronco way back when. Regarding natural cavity nesting PUMAs: I hope it was somewhat clear in my post of yesterday that, while I (mis)titled it "PUMAs in Western OR", it was really about the northern part of their range as it was understood then. Probably still is. There were many more PUMAs in the coast range and Cascades south of my area (and in NW Cali) than in the area I worked in (Linn, Marion, Polk, Benton, Yamhill, Clackamas, Tillamook), so that while I mentioned a few dozen pairs, about 1000 total pairs were found in Western Oregon, the biggest numbers were south of there while NW Cali had about that many (broad numbers) as well... Roy Gerig, Salem OR Subject: Sunny morning From: Donald Schrouder <dcsbird AT comcast.net> Date: Sat, 25 May 2013 13:39:10 -0700 With the sunshine out in force this morning I decided to wander from Clearwater Park in Springfield to the SUB station and back. Also took a side detour into the woods on the north side of the paved path where there are several horse/pedestrian options. Found many TANAGERS, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS, WARBLING VIREOS ( no Red-eyed Vireos detected yet), GREAT HORNED OWL, WESTERN WOOD PEWEES, LAZULI BUNTINGS, SWAINSON'S THRUSH, OLIVE SIDED FLYCATCHERS etc. I not sure which was the highlight of the day- having a pair of PILEATED WOODPECKERS feeding along side me and calling back and forth as I walked down the paved path and they either followed me or led me for quite some distance- or watching a family of BUSHTITS working in the Scotch Broom in a clearing along the river. They would literally surround me at times, either picking at the foliage or waiting for mom or dad to come over and feed them something. There appeared to be at least 10 juveniles in the group. Also counted 7 RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKERS and found a pair feeding young in a nest cavity. A pair of BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES were using an old nest hole as this years nest site and were feeding young. Other interesting sightings included Wilson's Warblers, MacGillivary's Warbler, both Lesser and American Goldfinch, Brown Creeper, Spotted Towhee, Cedar Waxwings, Spotted Sandpipers, among many others. Don Schrouder/ Eugene OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: Baskett Ibis From: Mitch Ratzlaff <mitch.ratzlaff AT gmail.com> Date: Sat, 25 May 2013 13:11:15 -0700 I'm watching two white faced ibis from the viewing kiosk along hwy 22. They would be easier to see from civilly narrows at this moment, however. Subject: Deschutes River State Park and Recreation Area (late) From: Justin Rodecap <rodecapj AT hotmail.com> Date: Sat, 25 May 2013 18:32:30 +0000 All, I had an opportunity Wednesday morning to bike along the old rail grade from the mouth of the Deschutes River 11 miles down to Harris Ranch. Temperature was 44 degrees and drizzly when I left, drizzled off and on the whole time, and 3.5 hours later when I got back to the car the weather was basically the same (46 degrees). . However, there were quite a few birds considering the weather. 1)A pair of Chats on territory in the willows and brush next to the Gravel Parking Lot close to the Campground entrance. 2) Lots of Swallows on fencelines and low over the river. In order of abundance: Cliff, Bank, Tree, Barn, Violet Green 3) Lots of Rock/Canyon Wrens all along the rail grade. 4) Lots of Lazuli Buntings bravely singing away. 5) Several pairs of Ash-Throated Flycatchers. 6) Lots of birds in the small patch of riparian forest at Harris Ranch. There were two bedraggled Olive-Sided Flycatchers, Several Townsend's Warblers, A couple of Wilson's Warblers, Tanagers, a Western Flycatcher, and many American Goldfinches eating something off of the Poison Hemlock growing in the underbrush. In addition, there was a nice pair of Ash-Throated Flycatchers foraging . Harris Ranch seems like a great migrant trap to me...it has some bigger riparian vegetation along with a few pines and lots of lush undergrowth. A small creek comes into the river here as well. This was only the second time I have birded it and both times there were lots of migrants/breeding birds to enjoy. 7) A male Peregrine Falcon soaring in front of the cliffs about a half mile from the campground on the Wasco Co. side heading back towards Celilo. I tried to rustle up some White-Throated Swifts, but all I was able to see when looking up high in the sky were a few cliff swallows before my binoculars were covered in rain. Happy Birding! Justin Rodecap Subject: Ankeny NWR Purple Martins From: Jim Kopitzke <james.kopitzke63 AT gmail.com> Date: Sat, 25 May 2013 10:13:43 -0700 Yesterday, I spent about 2 hours at Ankeny starting at about 5:30 pm. My first stop was at the Pintail marsh overlook. While there were many swallows, I did not detect any martins. After walking the rail trail loop, I returned to the Pintail overlook again at 7:15, and there was a male and female Purple working the marsh, miked in with 4 other species of swallows. Jim Kopitzke salem Subject: Yellow-breasted Chat in Oakridge From: Cheron Ferland <cheron.ferland AT mac.com> Date: Sat, 25 May 2013 08:44:42 -0700 Just discovered my first yellow-breasted chat a stone's throw away from my house. Been hearing it for a week and finally tracked it down today. Spectacular! ~ Cheron Ferland (Oakridge, OR) OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: Re: Purple Martins in Western Oregon From: "Paul T. Sullivan" <paultsullivan AT onlinenw.com> Date: Sat, 25 May 2013 05:58:22 -0700 Folks, I didn't remember the sighting of PURPLE MARTINS at Ankeny NWR that Roy referred to, but I did some digging. My computer spreadsheets (2000-2013) only list Martins in Marion county in 2002. My spiral notebook led me to May 19, 2002: 9 birds in Multnomah county, 12 in Marion county. My diary lists the following: " Out along Marine Drive...At the Sea Scout base I found p. martins." "I.. drove to Ankey NWR by 1:45...Over Mohoff pond I heard p. martins. I found 12 of them at a snag on the S side of Eagle pond." Good memory, Roy! Back in the 1990's there was a colony of Purple Martins east of Salem, using snags on a ridge north of Hwy 22 where Old Mehama Rd. meets the highway. Those snags are no longer there. Good birding, everyone, Paul T. Sullivan =================== Subject: Purple Martins in Western Oregon Date: Fri May 24 2013 17:29 pm From: roygerig AT hotmail.com There may be 2 quite separate populations of Purple Martins in Western Oregon - one that nests along waterways, mainly the coast and up the Columbia(?) and a few inland, and they use nest boxes or gourds. The other population nests in natural cavities (in snags) in the coast range, the Cascades, NW California, very few in Washington, some in Colorado. This may partially explain the complexity of PUMA migration in western Oregon. I spent a nesting season and summer looking for PUMAs nesting in snags or other natural cavities about 10 years ago. I am writing this from memory, not notes so I could be off some, but I found 30-45 PUMAS in very large old snags in west Polk and Benton Counties, a few more in east Lincoln, another 20 or so in east Linn County. East Marion County is a question - I found none there, but habitat exists. ... A few years ago Paul Sullivan saw a similar number of PUMAS at Ankeny NWR, a one day wonder also. My belief is that these birds are part of the nestbox populations, just passing through. Roy Gerig, Salem OR OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: Blue Jay, and lost hummers Camas Washington From: Rob Conway <robin_birder AT hotmail.com> Date: Sat, 25 May 2013 07:58:37 +0000 Tweets and Obols, This afternoon at about 4:30 I heard a loud bird outside and went out back to check it out. Once outside I recognized the call as that of a Blue Jay, and after only a minute of my best immitations I called him right to the deck rail. Pretty exciting to see. I went back into the house to get a camera and when I returned the bird had gone down the hill and wasn't going to come back across. I'll watch for him later in the week. Also Wednesday and Thursday in the late afternoon I had both Black-Chinned and Calliope Hummers at the feeders. I'm guessing the heavy rain (home weather station measured 7.97 inches between 6 AM on May 21 and 6PM on May 25) drove these birds west and down out of the mountains. Nice to see, but hope they get back up into the hills soone. Rob Rob Conway Camas, WA 45.58°N 122.44°W - elevation 310 ft. robin_birder AT hotmail.com _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: Blue Jay, and lost hummers Camas Washington From: Rob Conway <robin_birder AT hotmail.com> Date: Sat, 25 May 2013 07:58:37 +0000 Tweets and Obols, This afternoon at about 4:30 I heard a loud bird outside and went out back to check it out. Once outside I recognized the call as that of a Blue Jay, and after only a minute of my best immitations I called him right to the deck rail. Pretty exciting to see. I went back into the house to get a camera and when I returned the bird had gone down the hill and wasn't going to come back across. I'll watch for him later in the week. Also Wednesday and Thursday in the late afternoon I had both Black-Chinned and Calliope Hummers at the feeders. I'm guessing the heavy rain (home weather station measured 7.97 inches between 6 AM on May 21 and 6PM on May 25) drove these birds west and down out of the mountains. Nice to see, but hope they get back up into the hills soone. Rob Rob Conway Camas, WA 45.58°N 122.44°W - elevation 310 ft. robin_birder AT hotmail.com Subject: Re: X-bills 1000 Acres From: Jeremy Breese <jdmjeremy AT gmail.com> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 21:31:24 -0700 I couldn't quite tell what they were consuming, judging by what part of the tree they were feeding on, it had to be the large sticky slightly sweet buds of the Black Cottonwood. Jeremy Breese Sent from my iPhone On May 24, 2013, at 8:46 PM, Wayne Hoffman wrote: > Hi - > > Neat sighting. > > Could you tell what the crossbills were eating? > > Wayne > > > On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 7:11 PM, Jeremy Breese wrote: >> This morning around 8:30 with my Ornithology class I observed approximately 18 Red Crossbills feeding vigorously in a Black Cottonwood not far from the large parking lot on the left. The only other notable sighting was a single W. Kingbird in the SE area going towards the power lines. Still waiting to see the E. Kingbird pair. >> >> Does anyone know the usual date that pair has been arriving? >> >> Jeremy Breese >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol >> Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol >> Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org > Subject: Upper Klamath Lake Franklin's Gulls From: Wayne Hoffman <whoffman AT peak.org> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 21:24:17 -0700 This evening I found 14 adult Franklin's Gulls feeding with Forster's Terns and 4 imm. Bonaparte's Gulls at Howard's Bay on Upper Klamath Lake. This is the embayment just north of the Running Y resort on the west shore, off Hwy 140. They were actually over the upper part of the bay impounded by the highway. They were hawking small insects and picking them from the surface - I think Chironomid midges. Then I found another 32 Franklin's Gulls in a wet pasture at the intersection of Hwy 140 and Lakeshore Drive - just south of the Running Y. All were sporting their pink-breasted, black-headed, white-mascara-ed finery. To my knowledge, Franklin's Gulls have never been found breeding the the Klamath Basin. Last July (2012) there were a bunch on Lower Klamath refuge. I found a group of at least 300 at the south end of the Lower Klamath auto tour. They were all adults, but molting out of breeding plumage. No juveniles were seen, so I doubt they nested, or at least did not succeed. Anyway, the timing of these birds on Upper Klamath suggests a breeding attempt - something worth looking for. Franklin's Gulls build nests in densely-vegetated marshes. In that area ae some marshes on the lake, and a couple of marshy lakes to the west and southwest that might be possible sites - Aspen Lake and Round Lake?. Wayne Subject: Re: X-bills 1000 Acres From: Wayne Hoffman <whoffman AT peak.org> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 20:46:22 -0700 Hi - Neat sighting. Could you tell what the crossbills were eating? Wayne On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 7:11 PM, Jeremy Breese wrote: > This morning around 8:30 with my Ornithology class I observed > approximately 18 Red Crossbills feeding vigorously in a Black Cottonwood > not far from the large parking lot on the left. The only other notable > sighting was a single W. Kingbird in the SE area going towards the power > lines. Still waiting to see the E. Kingbird pair. > > Does anyone know the usual date that pair has been arriving? > > Jeremy Breese > Sent from my iPhone > > OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol > Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol > Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org > > > Subject: Sandy River Delta- X bills From: Jeremy Breese <jdmjeremy AT gmail.com> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 20:27:28 -0700 Repost: This morning around 8:30 with my Ornithology class I observed approximately 18 Red Crossbills feeding vigorously in a Black Cottonwood not far from the large parking lot on the left. The only other notable sighting was a single W. Kingbird in the SE area going towards the power lines. Still waiting to see the E. Kingbird pair. Does anyone know the usual date that pair has been arriving? Jeremy Breese Sent from my iPhone OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: Fwd: [birding] Black-necked Stilts near Baskett Slough From: "Marcia F. Cutler" <marciafcutler AT comcast.net> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 19:54:46 -0700 Begin forwarded message: > From: Tim Johnson > Date: May 24, 2013 3:13:59 PM PDT > To: birding AT midvalleybirding.org > Subject: [birding] Black-necked Stilts near Baskett Slough > > Hi all, > > At the north end of the field pond at the corner of Coville Rd and 99W, > this morning there were a couple Black-necked Stilts and a Wilson's > Phalarope. > > Tim Johnson > Salem, OR > _______________________________________________ > birding mailing list > birding AT midvalleybirding.org > http://midvalleybirding.org/mailman/listinfo/birding Subject: Re: ADV: X-bills 1000 Acres From: "Pamela Johnston" <pamelaj AT SpiritOne.com> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 19:42:51 -0700 Jeremy, I think more people know this location as Sandy River Delta, which may help you get your answer. Pamela Johnston -----Original Message----- From: Jeremy Breese Sent: Friday, May 24, 2013 7:11 PM To: OBOL Subject: ADV: [obol] X-bills 1000 Acres This morning around 8:30 with my Ornithology class I observed approximately 18 Red Crossbills feeding vigorously in a Black Cottonwood not far from the large parking lot on the left. The only other notable sighting was a single W. Kingbird in the SE area going towards the power lines. Still waiting to see the E. Kingbird pair. Does anyone know the usual date that pair has been arriving? Jeremy Breese Sent from my iPhone OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: X-bills 1000 Acres From: Jeremy Breese <jdmjeremy AT gmail.com> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 19:11:49 -0700 This morning around 8:30 with my Ornithology class I observed approximately 18 Red Crossbills feeding vigorously in a Black Cottonwood not far from the large parking lot on the left. The only other notable sighting was a single W. Kingbird in the SE area going towards the power lines. Still waiting to see the E. Kingbird pair. Does anyone know the usual date that pair has been arriving? Jeremy Breese Sent from my iPhone OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: Re: [birding] Golden-crowned Sparrow singing S/W of Monroe/Junction City From: "5hats AT peak.org" <5hats@peak.org> Date: Sat, 25 May 2013 01:06:47 +0000 Joel I once had a Golden-crowned Sparrow here at Thornton Creek (Lincoln) remain until May 20. Darrel Sent from Windows Mail From: Joel Geier Sent: ‎May‎ ‎24‎, ‎2013 ‎2‎:‎10‎ ‎PM To: Oregon Birders OnLine Subject: [obol] [birding] Golden-crowned Sparrow singing S/W of Monroe/Junction City Hi all, While surveying for Vesper Sparrows this morning I heard a GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW singing along High Pass Rd. The location was about 6 miles west of Junction City (about about the same distance south of Monroe), between the intersections with Smyth and Turnbow Rds (GPS N 44.21637, W 123.33595 -- this was the survey point, the bird was 90-100 m toward the NW from that point). I wasn't expecting a Golden-crowned Sparrow to be still around and singing this far into May, so it caused me some puzzlement at first when I heard a song that I associate more with winter or early spring. I didn't see the bird and didn't have time to follow up, but it sang persistently from brush/trees around a farmyard. I only detected three VESPER SPARROWS out of 20 stops in the Alpine/Monroe areas and the Cheshire area NW of Fern Ridge, which was a little disappointing since most of these stops had suitable-looking habitat (weedy young Christmas tree plantations, lightly/moderately grazed pastures, etc.). Results for WESTERN MEADOWLARKS were more encouraging with six birds detected, mainly in an area a few miles west of Cheshire.. A YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT sat up and sang in full view where Franklin Rd. crosses the Long Tom River. Two BLACK-TAILED JACKRABBITS were hopping around in a Christmas tree farm along the south side of Coon Rd., a couple of miles west of Monroe. Happy birding, Joel -- Joel Geier Camp Adair area north of Corvallis _______________________________________________ birding mailing list birding AT midvalleybirding.org http://midvalleybirding.org/mailman/listinfo/birding OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: Minto Park (Salem, Or) Western Kingbird. From: Roy Gerig <roygerig AT hotmail.com> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 17:56:28 -0700 I saw a WESTERN KINGBIRD not far from the 3rd parking lot around noon today. Subject: OBA Conference registration deadline From: Stefan Schlick <greenfant AT hotmail.com> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 20:47:41 -0400 Time has come to finalize your registration for this year's OBA Conference in The Dalles on June 7-9. Last day to register if you want to eat is May 31. Just registering for the conference may also work a day or two later, but Mary Anne (masohlstrom AT msn.com) will have the last say. We now have a breeding location for Tricolored Blackbird and Grasshopper Sparrows are singing at a really accessible location, so come out to Wasco Co for this year's event! It's going to be fun! Register at www.orbirds.org/2013conference.html. Stefan SchlickThe OBA Conference guy _______________________________________________ Tweeters mailing list Tweeters AT u.washington.edu http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters Subject: OBA Conference registration deadline From: Stefan Schlick <greenfant AT hotmail.com> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 20:47:41 -0400 Time has come to finalize your registration for this year's OBA Conference in The Dalles on June 7-9. Last day to register if you want to eat is May 31. Just registering for the conference may also work a day or two later, but Mary Anne (masohlstrom AT msn.com) will have the last say. We now have a breeding location for Tricolored Blackbird and Grasshopper Sparrows are singing at a really accessible location, so come out to Wasco Co for this year's event! It's going to be fun! Register at www.orbirds.org/2013conference.html. Stefan SchlickThe OBA Conference guy Subject: Re: Purple Martins in Western Oregon From: Range Bayer <range.bayer AT gmail.com> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 17:22:38 -0700 Hi Roy & others, FYI. Eric Horvath wrote 2 reports with the same title "Distribution, Abundance, and Nest Site Characteristics of Purple Martins in Oregon" as published in Oregon Birds. To view the following reports, go to http://erichorvathnaturetours.com/?Purple-Martins and select the report of interest. * 8 pages. Short version published in Oregon Birds in 2000. * 146 pages. Long version with details as ODFW Technical Report 99-1-01 in 1999. -- Range Bayer, Newport, Oregon On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 3:29 PM, Roy Gerig wrote: > There may be 2 quite separate populations of Purple Martins in Western > Oregon - one that nests along waterways, mainly the coast and up the > Columbia(?) and a few inland, and they use nest boxes or gourds. The other > population nests in natural cavities (in snags) in the coast range, the > Cascades, NW California, very few in Washington, some in Colorado. This may > partially explain the complexity of PUMA migration in western Oregon. > > I spent a nesting season and summer looking for PUMAs nesting in snags or > other natural cavities about 10 years ago. I am writing this from memory, > not notes so I could be off some, but I found 30-45 PUMAS in very large old > snags in west Polk and Benton Counties, a few more in east Lincoln, another > 20 or so in east Linn County. East Marion County is a question - I found > none there, but habitat exists. I found none in Clackamas Co where there is > scant habitat. There seemed to be almost no natural nesting PUMAS north of > an east-west line a few miles north of Salem, OR. I used ariel photos > courtesy of ASCS, USFS, and BLM to supplement my own experience with BLM, > USFS, and various environmental groups, to find habitat. > > Natural cavity nesting PUMAS use large to very large class 4 or 5 snags in > areas (often old clear cuts that may have not regenerated well) with scant > ground vegetation at low to mid elevations in the coast range and Cascades. > > In the last couple days someone suggested on OBOL that there might not be > enough PUMAS using this area (center near Dallas, OR) to account for the 40 > or so that Bill Tice saw in west mid-Willamette Valley. There have been > attempts to nest PUMAS near the Willamette River, but so far without much > success, while there have been many PUMAS nesting in boxes (gourds) around > Stayton and Scio. > > During the years 1992-2009, when I visited the Green Mtn. area at least four > times annually in Benton Co., several times in August, I saw 15-25 PUMAS at > the top of the ridge in to Green Mtn., looked like they were staging for > migration. Eric Horvath had or was watching some boxes on the small lake > where the gravel road goes up to Green Mtn., and in 30 or more stops there, > I never saw PUMAS. > > The PUMAS that use natural cavities may be more than a separate population, > taxonomically. A few years ago Paul Sullivan saw a similar number of PUMAS > at Ankeny NWR, a one day wonder also. My belief is that these birds are > part of the nestbox populations, just passing through. > > Roy Gerig, Salem OR OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: Re: mystery bird From: Jeff Gilligan <jeffgilligan10 AT gmail.com> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 15:52:46 -0700 The red in the head of the northern race of Red-breasted Sapsucker (ruber) often shows no apparent streaking. On May 24, 2013, at 3:49 PM, Laura Mountainspring wrote: > having gone over my husbands bird books and discussing field marking, my red headed bird was most likely a sapsucker...yet there was NO streaking at all in the red....the wings were not patterned after a red headed woodpecker however.... > > Laura > in Winston > > > re: > ok...I do not have a photo this bird was a surprise and gone after a few stops.... > I was in my house as this bird began to flutter in front of a window where I saw its brilliant red head and partial red neck area with out any streaking or blotching on the red, and a clearly white chest...it then perched on the wood beam in classic woodpecker except for the red went a bit further to the chest, sap sucker form, its bill was dark brown black with out the white at the base seen in the sap suckers... it clearly LOOKED like a red headed wood pecker, but I really doubt it considering its not found near here....any thoughts??? > Laura Mountainspring > in Winston Subject: mystery bird From: Laura Mountainspring <mntsprg AT wmni.net> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 15:49:25 -0700 having gone over my husbands bird books and discussing field marking, my red headed bird was most likely a sapsucker...yet there was NO streaking at all in the red....the wings were not patterned after a red headed woodpecker however.... Laura in Winston re: ok...I do not have a photo this bird was a surprise and gone after a few stops.... I was in my house as this bird began to flutter in front of a window where I saw its brilliant red head and partial red neck area with out any streaking or blotching on the red, and a clearly white chest...it then perched on the wood beam in classic woodpecker except for the red went a bit further to the chest, sap sucker form, its bill was dark brown black with out the white at the base seen in the sap suckers... it clearly LOOKED like a red headed wood pecker, but I really doubt it considering its not found near here....any thoughts??? Laura Mountainspring in Winston Subject: Purple Martins in Western Oregon From: Roy Gerig <roygerig AT hotmail.com> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 15:29:03 -0700 There may be 2 quite separate populations of Purple Martins in Western Oregon - one that nests along waterways, mainly the coast and up the Columbia(?) and a few inland, and they use nest boxes or gourds. The other population nests in natural cavities (in snags) in the coast range, the Cascades, NW California, very few in Washington, some in Colorado. This may partially explain the complexity of PUMA migration in western Oregon. I spent a nesting season and summer looking for PUMAs nesting in snags or other natural cavities about 10 years ago. I am writing this from memory, not notes so I could be off some, but I found 30-45 PUMAS in very large old snags in west Polk and Benton Counties, a few more in east Lincoln, another 20 or so in east Linn County. East Marion County is a question - I found none there, but habitat exists. I found none in Clackamas Co where there is scant habitat. There seemed to be almost no natural nesting PUMAS north of an east-west line a few miles north of Salem, OR. I used ariel photos courtesy of ASCS, USFS, and BLM to supplement my own experience with BLM, USFS, and various environmental groups, to find habitat. Natural cavity nesting PUMAS use large to very large class 4 or 5 snags in areas (often old clear cuts that may have not regenerated well) with scant ground vegetation at low to mid elevations in the coast range and Cascades. In the last couple days someone suggested on OBOL that there might not be enough PUMAS using this area (center near Dallas, OR) to account for the 40 or so that Bill Tice saw in west mid-Willamette Valley. There have been attempts to nest PUMAS near the Willamette River, but so far without much success, while there have been many PUMAS nesting in boxes (gourds) around Stayton and Scio. During the years 1992-2009, when I visited the Green Mtn. area at least four times annually in Benton Co., several times in August, I saw 15-25 PUMAS at the top of the ridge in to Green Mtn., looked like they were staging for migration. Eric Horvath had or was watching some boxes on the small lake where the gravel road goes up to Green Mtn., and in 30 or more stops there, I never saw PUMAS. The PUMAS that use natural cavities may be more than a separate population, taxonomically. A few years ago Paul Sullivan saw a similar number of PUMAS at Ankeny NWR, a one day wonder also. My belief is that these birds are part of the nestbox populations, just passing through. Roy Gerig, Salem OR Subject: [birding] Golden-crowned Sparrow singing S/W of Monroe/Junction City From: Joel Geier <joel.geier AT peak.org> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 14:10:01 -0700 Hi all, While surveying for Vesper Sparrows this morning I heard a GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW singing along High Pass Rd. The location was about 6 miles west of Junction City (about about the same distance south of Monroe), between the intersections with Smyth and Turnbow Rds (GPS N 44.21637, W 123.33595 -- this was the survey point, the bird was 90-100 m toward the NW from that point). I wasn't expecting a Golden-crowned Sparrow to be still around and singing this far into May, so it caused me some puzzlement at first when I heard a song that I associate more with winter or early spring. I didn't see the bird and didn't have time to follow up, but it sang persistently from brush/trees around a farmyard. I only detected three VESPER SPARROWS out of 20 stops in the Alpine/Monroe areas and the Cheshire area NW of Fern Ridge, which was a little disappointing since most of these stops had suitable-looking habitat (weedy young Christmas tree plantations, lightly/moderately grazed pastures, etc.). Results for WESTERN MEADOWLARKS were more encouraging with six birds detected, mainly in an area a few miles west of Cheshire.. A YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT sat up and sang in full view where Franklin Rd. crosses the Long Tom River. Two BLACK-TAILED JACKRABBITS were hopping around in a Christmas tree farm along the south side of Coon Rd., a couple of miles west of Monroe. Happy birding, Joel -- Joel Geier Camp Adair area north of Corvallis _______________________________________________ birding mailing list birding AT midvalleybirding.org http://midvalleybirding.org/mailman/listinfo/birding OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: Hooded Oriole continues From: Mike Patterson <celata AT pacifier.com> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 14:06:20 -0700 I managed photos of the Hooded Oriole coming to the feeder at Sunset Lake today. http://www.surfbirds.com/community-blogs/northcoastdiaries/ -- Mike Patterson Astoria, OR Chasing the non-zero probability http://www.surfbirds.com/community-blogs/northcoastdiaries/?p=1374 OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: a mystery From: Laura Mountainspring <mntsprg AT wmni.net> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 12:58:39 -0700 ok...I do not have a photo this bird was a surprise and gone after a few stops.... I was in my house as this bird began to flutter in front of a window where I saw its brilliant red head and partial red neck area with out any streaking or blotching on the red, and a clearly white chest...it then perched on the wood beam in classic woodpecker except for the red went a bit further to the chest, sap sucker form, its bill was dark brown black with out the white at the base seen in the sap suckers... it clearly LOOKED like a red headed wood pecker, but I really doubt it considering its not found near here....any thoughts??? Laura Mountainspring in Winston Subject: Re: A day to swallow From: David Irons <llsdirons AT msn.com> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 19:38:51 +0000 Greetings all, I'll start by pointing out that the arrival dates at one location don't always translate to other locales. It is actually quite common for species to migrate in multiple waves. A great example of this is Pacific-slope Flycatcher. In w. Oregon the first Pacific-slope Flycatchers start appearing about the 2nd week of April and territorial birds seem to have saturated appropriate breeding habitat by the end of April or the first week of May. Then in mid-May one can expect to see/hear another wave of birds passing through low elevation areas where they do not nest. When I lived in Eugene, I would see and hear "tinking" (very high metallic call note normally heard from migrants) Pac-slopes around urban and suburban neighborhoods every year in mid-May. These birds were in locales where they did not breed. My assumption was that these were birds that were either on their way to more northerly breeding sites (where trees were just starting to leaf out) or birds that would ultimately nest at higher elevations in Cascades. Other species that exhibit this sort of migration pattern are Orange-crowned Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, and to a lesser extent Willow Flycatcher. Presumed northbound Willow Flycatchers continue to appear at Eugene's Skinner Butte into early June. Second, Southwest British Columbia enjoys a comparatively temperate climate that is quite different from that of interior and higher elevation sites where Purple Martins breed. Like all insectivorous birds, Purple Martins have adapted and evolved so that they will not starve to death upon arriving on their breeding grounds. Most insectivorous birds do not start showing up on breeding grounds until the deciduous vegetation in those areas is at least partially leafed out and it is consistently warm enough for insects to hatch. The timing of optimal food supplies (insect hatches) in coastal B.C. is clearly different than those in say Montana, Alberta, or Saskatchewan, where Purple Martins also nest. I checked Birds of North America (BNA) online, which indicates that 10 May is the average arrival date for Purple Martins in Montana. It's reasonable to presume that arrival dates are even later at more northerly interior sites. The BNA account also points out that the subspecies of Purple Martins in the northern Rockies is not clearly known, thus we can't assume that they are necessarily arriving from southeast. Could it be that the martins moving through the valley this week will make a right turn and follow the Columbia River up into the interior of the Northern Rockies? That said, Wayne Weber's suggestion that weather was a contributing factor in the appearance of all the martins at Baskett Slough remains the most reasonable explanation. Given that it has been quite cold and wet of late (snow now blankets some of the lower foothills of the Cascades), it could be that the birds showing up in large flocks in the valley are merely refugees from higher elevations. In other years with extended late-spring periods of cold and wet, high-elevation breeders like Dusky Flycatcher, Calliope Hummingbird, and Nashville Warbler have lingered at low elevation sites long after the normal window of their modest Willamette Valley passage has come and gone. Last Saturday, Shawneen Finnegan and I had at least 30 Purple Martins hanging around the fishing pond next to the Sheridan sewage ponds. I've never seen Purple Martins at this site before and like Bill Tice, I was quite surprised by the number that we encountered. Dave IronsPortland, OR From: contopus AT telus.net To: obol AT freelists.org Subject: [obol] Re: A day to swallow Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 10:34:28 -0700 Bill and Oregon Birders, I doubt that the Purple Martins you saw at Baskett Slough were migrating. In SW British Columbia, Purple Martins begin to arrive in mid-April, and they are all here by the end of April. East of the Rockies, they are much earlier migrants than on the West Coast. What are the nearest known breeding locations for Purple Martins? It seems much more likely to me that the concentration you saw was because of unusual weather conditions than anything to do with migration. At any rate, a group of 40 Purple Martins, especially away from a known breeding site, is impressive! Wayne C. WeberDelta, BCcontopus AT telus.net From: obol-bounce AT freelists.org [mailto:obol-bounce AT freelists.org] On Behalf Of BILL ROSIE TICE Sent: May-23-13 2:25 PM To: OBOL Subject: [obol] A day to swallow Hi Folks, After running an errand in Dallas, I headed over to BSNWR to see what the wind blew in. I soon saw a Rough-winged Swallow. After about a half hour I ran into Chris Adlam, and we soon added a purple martin, as well as a black tern carrying a small fish. Tree, VG, Barn and Cliff Swallows were all there as well, and as I had 6/7 of Oregon's swallows, I thought I'd watch for a while to see if the Bank Swallow was still around from last Sunday. It began raining harder, so I headed over to Morgan Lake. At the low part of Smithfield Rd I saw what I assumed was a flock of blackbirds sitting in the road, but something did not look quite right, but I pretty much ignored that suspicion until I was right upon them, and then could see they were Purple Martins. There were some 20 or so sitting on the road, 10 or so on the power lines, and more sitting on the bee hives, and a few flying around. It was difficult to get a count, but the first atttempt yeilded 36, and the second 37. They were still there when I returned from Morgan Lake a half hour later, and I counted at least 40 two times. To me this was a really cool spectacle. In migration I have never seen more than one solitary bird. I assumed they did not migrate in flocks as well. This sighting more or less changes my knowledge of them. Has anyone ever seen similar away from nesting colonies during spring migration? Bill Tice: Birding - The best excuse for getting outdoors, and avoiding chores. Subject: Re: A day to Swallow From: Jeff Gilligan <jeffgilligan10 AT gmail.com> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 11:45:19 -0700 Purple Martins seem to have a long migration period. I read that first year birds migrate later. i put up plastic martin gourds at Willapa Bay, though three were lost to strong winds during the winter. Violet-green Swallows took up residence in the remaining plastic gourd. Four days ago a martin checked it out, but having found it occupied kept going north. Next year I will add plastic gourds and secure them better. I understand that the gourds should not be put up until approximately late April to discourage swallows from occupying them first. Jeff Gilligan On May 24, 2013, at 11:35 AM, BILL ROSIE TICE wrote: > Thanks to all for your comments: I would have assumed that Martins were pretty much done migrating by now, since usually the first ones appear in the state by mid-April, and we are now toward end of May. The location where this flock was, was at least 10 miles from the nearest breeding location, which would be near Falls City. Into the coast range beyond Falls City there are a few scattered snags where they have been known to breed, but I seriously doubt that a survey of ALL these would tally 40 birds. (Eric Horvath may need to weigh in on that figure since he did a survery some 10-12 years ago or so). It seems that normally they would be at their nest sights at the present time? At FRR, it would seem more obvious that there could be a good number congregated since they breed there. > > So my question (to Wayne and others) is, if they were not still migrating, what were they doing? I would agree that, with what appears (ed?) to be an early spring, more birds of most species may have shown earlier than usual, which would seem to complicate the info. If they were still looking for snags in the Coast Range, and got deterred by the inclement weather, why would they flock up and head into the valley where they don't nest anyway? If they were not migrants, another explanation seems difficult to come by. > > It all makes for an interesting discussion. > > > > Bill Tice: Birding - The best excuse for getting outdoors, and avoiding chores. Subject: Re: A day to Swallow From: BILL ROSIE TICE <watice AT msn.com> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 18:35:53 +0000 Thanks to all for your comments: I would have assumed that Martins were pretty much done migrating by now, since usually the first ones appear in the state by mid-April, and we are now toward end of May. The location where this flock was, was at least 10 miles from the nearest breeding location, which would be near Falls City. Into the coast range beyond Falls City there are a few scattered snags where they have been known to breed, but I seriously doubt that a survey of ALL these would tally 40 birds. (Eric Horvath may need to weigh in on that figure since he did a survery some 10-12 years ago or so). It seems that normally they would be at their nest sights at the present time? At FRR, it would seem more obvious that there could be a good number congregated since they breed there. So my question (to Wayne and others) is, if they were not still migrating, what were they doing? I would agree that, with what appears (ed?) to be an early spring, more birds of most species may have shown earlier than usual, which would seem to complicate the info. If they were still looking for snags in the Coast Range, and got deterred by the inclement weather, why would they flock up and head into the valley where they don't nest anyway? If they were not migrants, another explanation seems difficult to come by. It all makes for an interesting discussion. Bill Tice: Birding - The best excuse for getting outdoors, and avoiding chores. Subject: Western Kingbird at Oaks Bottom Portland From: Linda Leavens <leavens4209 AT comcast.net> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 11:30:57 -0700 At 11 am there was a Western Kingbird in the north end of the south meadow at Oaks Bottom, near the entrance across from Oaks Park. It was flying out from the small stand of trees that burned last summer. This is the same area I saw one a couple of years ago. It was still there when I had to leave. Linda Portland OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: Re: [COBOL] RBA-Northern Mockingbird at Hampton station From: tristen gholson <tmanindahouse AT gmail.com> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 10:38:05 -0700 Tristen hynes On May 24, 2013 9:54 AM, wrote: > Good Morning, Peter Lowe just called to report a Northern Mockingbird > behind the café at Hampton station on highway 20. > _______________________________________________ > COBOL mailing list > COBOL AT lists.oregonstate.edu > http://lists.oregonstate.edu/mailman/listinfo/cobol > > To unsubscribe, send a message to: > COBOL-request AT lists.oregonstate.edu > with the word "unsubscribe" in the body. > > Subject: Re: A day to swallow From: "Wayne Weber" <contopus AT telus.net> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 10:34:28 -0700 Bill and Oregon Birders, I doubt that the Purple Martins you saw at Baskett Slough were migrating. In SW British Columbia, Purple Martins begin to arrive in mid-April, and they are all here by the end of April. East of the Rockies, they are much earlier migrants than on the West Coast. What are the nearest known breeding locations for Purple Martins? It seems much more likely to me that the concentration you saw was because of unusual weather conditions than anything to do with migration. At any rate, a group of 40 Purple Martins, especially away from a known breeding site, is impressive! Wayne C. Weber Delta, BC contopus AT telus.net From: obol-bounce AT freelists.org [mailto:obol-bounce AT freelists.org] On Behalf Of BILL ROSIE TICE Sent: May-23-13 2:25 PM To: OBOL Subject: [obol] A day to swallow Hi Folks, After running an errand in Dallas, I headed over to BSNWR to see what the wind blew in. I soon saw a Rough-winged Swallow. After about a half hour I ran into Chris Adlam, and we soon added a purple martin, as well as a black tern carrying a small fish. Tree, VG, Barn and Cliff Swallows were all there as well, and as I had 6/7 of Oregon's swallows, I thought I'd watch for a while to see if the Bank Swallow was still around from last Sunday. It began raining harder, so I headed over to Morgan Lake. At the low part of Smithfield Rd I saw what I assumed was a flock of blackbirds sitting in the road, but something did not look quite right, but I pretty much ignored that suspicion until I was right upon them, and then could see they were Purple Martins. There were some 20 or so sitting on the road, 10 or so on the power lines, and more sitting on the bee hives, and a few flying around. It was difficult to get a count, but the first atttempt yeilded 36, and the second 37. They were still there when I returned from Morgan Lake a half hour later, and I counted at least 40 two times. To me this was a really cool spectacle. In migration I have never seen more than one solitary bird. I assumed they did not migrate in flocks as well. This sighting more or less changes my knowledge of them. Has anyone ever seen similar away from nesting colonies during spring migration? Bill Tice: Birding - The best excuse for getting outdoors, and avoiding chores. Subject: Re: Western Canada Geese Migration Over Newport From: Tim Rodenkirk <garbledmodwit AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 06:30:59 -0700 (PDT) Range, The past three days I have seen flocks of Cnada Geese headed north.  At Floras Lake where I was working the past few days as well as in Coos yesterday.  Thanks for the update on what I was probably seeing. Tim Rodenkirk Coos Bay ________________________________ From: Range Bayer To: Oregon Birders OnLine ; Lincoln Co. Birding & Nature Observing Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2013 11:22 PM Subject: [obol] Western Canada Geese Migration Over Newport Hi, This morning (May 23), I first heard and then saw a flock of about 50-60 Western Canada Goose (Branta canadensis moffitti) flying north about 500-750 feet above the ground along the coastline at about 8:30 AM. Such flights in late May and early June have occurred in past years and have been thought to be molt migrations to the Columbia River by failed breeders and nonbreeders to molt.  These flights did not occur along the Oregon Coast until after the ODFW introduced Western Canada Geese to the Florence area in the mid-1980s. Molt migrations of this subspecies have also been reported elsewhere to the west coast of Hudson Bay (http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/wilson/v097n03/p0296-p0305.pdf). The authors of that article wrote in their Summary: "The time of molt migration is regular-with peak numbers in late June-but variable in volume. Breeding success the previous year probably affects numbers markedly, as most birds on molt migration are immatures." -- Range Bayer, Newport, Oregon OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: Western Canada Geese Migration Over Newport From: Range Bayer <range.bayer AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 23:22:47 -0700 Hi, This morning (May 23), I first heard and then saw a flock of about 50-60 Western Canada Goose (Branta canadensis moffitti) flying north about 500-750 feet above the ground along the coastline at about 8:30 AM. Such flights in late May and early June have occurred in past years and have been thought to be molt migrations to the Columbia River by failed breeders and nonbreeders to molt. These flights did not occur along the Oregon Coast until after the ODFW introduced Western Canada Geese to the Florence area in the mid-1980s. Molt migrations of this subspecies have also been reported elsewhere to the west coast of Hudson Bay (http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/wilson/v097n03/p0296-p0305.pdf). The authors of that article wrote in their Summary: "The time of molt migration is regular-with peak numbers in late June-but variable in volume. Breeding success the previous year probably affects numbers markedly, as most birds on molt migration are immatures." -- Range Bayer, Newport, Oregon OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: Re: ANKENY NWR MAY 19, 2013 PHOTOS From: "Madeline Rae, DVM" <amazonvet AT comcast.net> Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 21:39:38 -0700 Photos from Ankeny NWR on Sunday, May 19, 2013 are at the link below: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14723735 AT N08/sets/72157633650424664/ Max Rae Salem, Oregon On 5/19/2013 11:33 PM, Madeline Rae, DVM wrote: > We birded Ankeny this afternoon for a couple of hours. > > At Pintail Marsh boardwalk and bird blind: > YELLOW WARBLER - 3 > BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK- 1 > BUSHTIT- 4 > AMERICAN ROBIN > > At Egret Marsh and the trail to the seasonal bird blind: very few ducks > RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD > BREWER'S BLACKBIRD > WESTERN WOOD PEWEE > NORTHERN FLICKER > AMERICAN CROW > EUROPEAN STARLING > BARN SWALLOW > TREE SWALLOW > VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW > SONG SPARROW > > At Eagle Marsh: very few ducks > CINNAMON TEAL -3 > NORTHERN SHOVELER -- 2 > PIED-BILLED GREBE - 2 > BLACK PHOEBE -- 2 > BARN SWALLOW > TREE SWALLOW > VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW > RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD > CANADA GEESE > GREAT BLUE HERON > BALD EAGLE, immature - 1 > > Along Ankeny Hill Road, just east of the woodpecker oak tree rest area: > WESTERN BLUEBIRD - 1 > > Pictures later. Maybe. > > Max and Madeline Rae > > > > > OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol > Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol > Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org > > > OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: Douglas co Godwits From: Daniel Farrar <jdanielfarrar AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 20:05:01 -0700 This afternoon there were 2 MARBLED GODWITS on the beach just south of Carter Lake trail, Douglas co. There were maybe 1200 SANDERLINGS in several loose flocks from Carter Lake to the Oregon Dunes Overlook trail. Also saw 2 DUNLIN and 1 RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. Daniel Farrar Dunes City, Oregon jdanielfarrar AT gmail.com Subject: Re blackbird riding hawk From: Karen Saxton <kcsaxton AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 18:46:39 -0700 http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/12026416 Kingbird riding owl Subject: Possible Red-necked Phalaropes, Yaquina Bay, + Coos Birds From: Tim Rodenkirk <garbledmodwit AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 17:31:07 -0700 (PDT) Yes indeed, I saw a single RED-NECKED PHALAROPE this morning (the 23rd) in Coos Bay on the north spit.  I also saw the WESTERN KINGBIRD and LAZULI BUNTING which have both been out there since the 19th, I think the bad weather has them hunkered in for a while.  I also saw a W. Wood Pewee out there, although they are back in number inland (just a migrant where I saw the bird). On the 21st Joe Metzler had 22 RED KNOTS at Bandon Marsh NWR, a high count on the south coast for this year I think. Merry migration! Tim R Coos Bay ________________________________ From: McKenzie Reeves To: OBOL Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2013 4:47 PM Subject: [obol] Possible Red-necked Phalaropes, Yaquina Bay, Newport, OR Greetings! Possible Red-necked Phalarope sighting on the South Jetty of Yaquina Bay. It's raining too hard to get a closer look or a photo, but behavior and location leaves me pretty confident (: Has anyone else seen them in Lincoln County lately? Thanks! Subject: Re: Possible Red-necked Phalaropes, Yaquina Bay, Newport, OR From: "Phil Pickering" <philliplc AT charter.net> Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 16:53:42 -0700 There were quite a few on the water off Boiler Bay yesterday morning. Phil -----Original Message----- From: McKenzie Reeves Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2013 4:47 PM To: OBOL Subject: [obol] Possible Red-necked Phalaropes, Yaquina Bay, Newport, OR Greetings! Possible Red-necked Phalarope sighting on the South Jetty of Yaquina Bay. It's raining too hard to get a closer look or a photo, but behavior and location leaves me pretty confident (: Has anyone else seen them in Lincoln County lately? Thanks! OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: Possible Red-necked Phalaropes, Yaquina Bay, Newport, OR From: McKenzie Reeves <mreeves04 AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 16:47:42 -0700 Greetings! Possible Red-necked Phalarope sighting on the South Jetty of Yaquina Bay. It's raining too hard to get a closer look or a photo, but behavior and location leaves me pretty confident (: Has anyone else seen them in Lincoln County lately? Thanks! Subject: GREAT GRAY OWL GALLERY, JACKSON COUNTY From: Harry Fuller <atowhee AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 16:37:59 -0700 BIRD WAS HUNTING IN SAME MEADOW AS YESTERDAY, NEAR HOWARD PRAIRIE LAKE. http://atowhee.wordpress.com/2013/05/23/great-gray-gallery/ -- Harry Fuller Atowhee AT gmail http://www.towhee.net my birding blog: atowhee.wordpress.com Subject: Rummel St, McMinnville, year 2013 sightings From: "Paul T. Sullivan" <paultsullivan AT onlinenw.com> Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 16:06:42 -0700 Folks, Bored with chicken soup, Kleenex, and bed-rest on this rainy afternoon I decided to take a page from Randy Campbell's Peoria Backyard Big Year playbook and tabulate the species we've seen in our McMinnville backyard this year. We're located in town a few blocks from the Linfield campus. The number after each species is the number of weeks we've seen the species this year, up to the week of May 12-18. Total weeks = 20. Total species = 58. Total feeders = 14. Great Blue Heron 3 Turkey Vulture 2 Cackling Goose 4 Sharp-shinned Hawk 8 Cooper's Hawk 4 Merlin 4 Band-tailed Pigeon 1 Mourning Dove 19 Eurasian Collared Dove 20 Western Screech-Owl 1 Great Horned Owl 2 Vaux's Swift 2 Anna's Hummingbird 17 Rufous Hummingbird 6 Acorn Woodpecker 4 Downy Woodpecker 9 Northern Flicker 13 Pileated Woodpecker 1 Steller's Jay 19 Western Scrub-Jay 20 American Crow 14 Common Raven 1 Violet-green Swallow 5 Black-capped Chickadee 19 Chestnut-backed Chickadee 10 Bushtit 18 Red-breasted Nuthatch 17 White-breasted Nuthatch 6 Brown Creeper 2 Bewick's Wren 16 Swainson's Thrush 1 Hermit Thrush 1 American Robin 15 Varied Thrush 2 European Starling 12 Orange-crowned Warbler 14 Yellow-rumped Warbler 13 Townsend's Warbler 10 Wilson's Warbler 1 Spotted Towhee 20 Fox Sparrow 15 Song Sparrow 19 White-throated Sparrow 16 White-crowned Sparrow 7 Golden-crowned Sparrow 18 Dark-eyed Junco 16 Black-headed Grosbeak 4 Red-winged Blackbird 20 Brown-headed Cowbird 4 Purple Finch 18 Cassin's Finch 1 House Finch 20 Red Crossbill 8 Pine Siskin 14 Lesser Goldfinch 16 American Goldfinch 8 Evening Grosbeak 9 House Sparrow 20 Good birding, everyone, Paul T. Sullivan (sniff) OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: Fish Lake Surf Scoter From: Mark Nikas <elepaio AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 16:02:31 -0700 I stopped by Fish Lake in western Linn County while enroute to Malheur. The Surf Scoter I reported there on the 12th is still there and still in the company of a female Barrow's Goldeneye. The numbers of Goldeneye have exploded after I commented how few were there last visit. Today I counted 57 and there were likely others hidden. The scoter was on the NE part of the lake off shore from the old guard station cabin. A Townsends Solitaire was perching on the rails of the old guard station compound. Mark Nikas Subject: Grasshopper Sparrow reported at SJCR From: Mike Patterson <celata AT pacifier.com> Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 15:22:18 -0700 I just received an eBird report that a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW was heard, but not seen at the South Jetty of the Columbia, parking lot C on May 20. I do not know the observer, though his list suggests that he is not familiar with local species (confuses Herring and GWxW Gulls). I will try to get out to listen and look tomorrow. -- Mike Patterson Astoria, OR Chasing the non-zero probability http://www.surfbirds.com/community-blogs/northcoastdiaries/?p=1374 OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: Re: A day to swallow From: Hendrik Herlyn <hhactitis AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 15:03:08 -0700 (PDT) Last Saturday, Oscar, Pam and I had well over 100 Purple Martins at Fern Ridge Reservoir, including about 80 perched in one tree. By far the most I've ever seen in the West! Hendrik __________________________ Hendrik G. Herlyn Corvallis, OR "Nature is not a place to visit. It is home."      -- Gary Snyder --- On Thu, 5/23/13, Alan Contreras wrote: From: Alan Contreras Subject: [obol] Re: A day to swallow To: "BILL ROSIE TICE" , "OBOL" Date: Thursday, May 23, 2013, 2:28 PM In the Midwest I often saw flocks of scores of martins hanging up in migration when weather was bad. -- Alan ContrerasEugene, Oregon acontrer56 AT gmail.com I blog at:  oregonreview.blogspot.com From: BILL ROSIE TICE Reply-To: BILL ROSIE TICE Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 21:24:31 +0000 To: OBOL Subject: [obol] A day to swallow Hi Folks, After running an errand in Dallas, I headed over to BSNWR to see what the wind blew in.  I soon saw a Rough-winged Swallow.  After about a half hour I ran into Chris Adlam, and we soon added a purple martin, as well as a black tern carrying a small fish.   Tree, VG, Barn and Cliff Swallows were all there as well, and as I had 6/7 of  Oregon's swallows, I thought I'd watch for a while to see if the Bank Swallow was still around from last Sunday.  It began raining harder, so I headed over to Morgan Lake.  At the low part of Smithfield Rd I saw what I assumed was a flock of blackbirds sitting in the road, but something did not look quite right, but I pretty much ignored that suspicion until I was right upon them, and then could see they were Purple Martins.   There were some 20 or so sitting on the road, 10 or so on the power lines, and more sitting on the bee hives, and a few flying around.  It was difficult to get a count, but the first atttempt yeilded 36, and the second 37.  They were still there when I returned from Morgan Lake a half hour later, and I counted at least 40 two times.   To me this was a really cool spectacle.  In migration I have never seen more than one solitary bird.  I assumed they did not migrate in flocks as well.  This sighting more or less changes my knowledge of them.   Has anyone ever seen similar away from nesting colonies during spring migration? Bill Tice: Birding - The best excuse for getting outdoors, and avoiding chores. Subject: Re: A day to swallow From: Alan Contreras <acontrer56 AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 14:28:27 -0700 In the Midwest I often saw flocks of scores of martins hanging up in migration when weather was bad. -- Alan Contreras Eugene, Oregon acontrer56 AT gmail.com I blog at: oregonreview.blogspot.com From: BILL ROSIE TICE Reply-To: BILL ROSIE TICE Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 21:24:31 +0000 To: OBOL Subject: [obol] A day to swallow Hi Folks, After running an errand in Dallas, I headed over to BSNWR to see what the wind blew in. I soon saw a Rough-winged Swallow. After about a half hour I ran into Chris Adlam, and we soon added a purple martin, as well as a black tern carrying a small fish. Tree, VG, Barn and Cliff Swallows were all there as well, and as I had 6/7 of Oregon's swallows, I thought I'd watch for a while to see if the Bank Swallow was still around from last Sunday. It began raining harder, so I headed over to Morgan Lake. At the low part of Smithfield Rd I saw what I assumed was a flock of blackbirds sitting in the road, but something did not look quite right, but I pretty much ignored that suspicion until I was right upon them, and then could see they were Purple Martins. There were some 20 or so sitting on the road, 10 or so on the power lines, and more sitting on the bee hives, and a few flying around. It was difficult to get a count, but the first atttempt yeilded 36, and the second 37. They were still there when I returned from Morgan Lake a half hour later, and I counted at least 40 two times. To me this was a really cool spectacle. In migration I have never seen more than one solitary bird. I assumed they did not migrate in flocks as well. This sighting more or less changes my knowledge of them. Has anyone ever seen similar away from nesting colonies during spring migration? Bill Tice: Birding - The best excuse for getting outdoors, and avoiding chores. Subject: A day to swallow From: BILL ROSIE TICE <watice AT msn.com> Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 21:24:31 +0000 Hi Folks, After running an errand in Dallas, I headed over to BSNWR to see what the wind blew in. I soon saw a Rough-winged Swallow. After about a half hour I ran into Chris Adlam, and we soon added a purple martin, as well as a black tern carrying a small fish. Tree, VG, Barn and Cliff Swallows were all there as well, and as I had 6/7 of Oregon's swallows, I thought I'd watch for a while to see if the Bank Swallow was still around from last Sunday. It began raining harder, so I headed over to Morgan Lake. At the low part of Smithfield Rd I saw what I assumed was a flock of blackbirds sitting in the road, but something did not look quite right, but I pretty much ignored that suspicion until I was right upon them, and then could see they were Purple Martins. There were some 20 or so sitting on the road, 10 or so on the power lines, and more sitting on the bee hives, and a few flying around. It was difficult to get a count, but the first atttempt yeilded 36, and the second 37. They were still there when I returned from Morgan Lake a half hour later, and I counted at least 40 two times. To me this was a really cool spectacle. In migration I have never seen more than one solitary bird. I assumed they did not migrate in flocks as well. This sighting more or less changes my knowledge of them. Has anyone ever seen similar away from nesting colonies during spring migration? Bill Tice: Birding - The best excuse for getting outdoors, and avoiding chores. Subject: Pittock, NW Portland, week ending 05/22/13 From: Wink Gross <winkg AT hevanet.com> Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 14:17:20 -0700 Here is the summary of my morning dogwalks from NW Seblar Terrace to the Pittock Mansion for the week 05/16/13 to 05/22/13. Species neither seen nor heard the previous week are in ALL CAPS. Additional information about my dogwalk, including an archive of weekly summaries and a checklist, may be found at http://www.hevanet.com/winkg/dogwalkpage.html The sightings are also in eBird. We did the walk 4 days this week. This Friday, Lillian (the dog) and I will be leading another Morning Bird Song Walk at the Pittock Mansion. These walks, sponsored by Portland Audubon, are free and begin at 7AM at the Pittock Mansion parking lot. The walks last about 2 hours, but you're free to leave whenever you need. For further information about this and the other Morning Bird Song Walks see http://audubonportland.org/trips-classes-camps/adult/walks Species # days found (peak #, date) Band-tailed Pigeon 4 (13, 5/20) VAUX'S SWIFT 1 (2, 5/20) Anna's Hummingbird 3 (3) Red-breasted Sapsucker 1 (1, 5/20) Northern Flicker 2 (2, 5/21) Olive-sided Flycatcher 3 (1) Pacific-slope Flycatcher 3 (1) Warbling Vireo 1 (1, 5/21) Steller's Jay 4 (2) Western Scrub-Jay 1 (1, 5/20) American Crow 4 (8) Violet-green Swallow 2 (5, 5/16 & 20) Black-capped Chickadee 4 (3) Chestnut-backed Chickadee 1 (1, 5/20) Bushtit 4 (2) Red-breasted Nuthatch 3 (2) Pacific Wren 4 (2) Bewick's Wren 1 (1, 5/20) American Robin 4 (12, 5/16) European Starling 3 (12, 5/20) CEDAR WAXWING 1 (15, 5/21) Orange-crowned Warbler 1 (1, 5/21) Black-throated Gray Warbler 1 (1, 5/20) TOWNSEND'S WARBLER 1 (1, 5/16) Wilson's Warbler 4 (6, 5/21) Spotted Towhee 4 (7) Song Sparrow 4 (7) Dark-eyed Junco 4 (12) Western Tanager 3 (2) Black-headed Grosbeak 4 (4, 5/16) Purple Finch 4 (4) House Finch 2 (12, 5/20) Pine Siskin 3 (2) Lesser Goldfinch 4 (4) American Goldfinch 1 (2, 5/20) Evening Grosbeak 2 (1+ [heard only], 5/16 & 20) In the neighborhood but not found on dogwalk: SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, RED- TAILED HAWK, Brown Creeper (all fide Shawneen Finnegan and Dave Irons), DOWNY WOODPECKER Wink Gross Portland Subject: Malheur HQ - Tennessee Warbler From: Teri Martine <terimartine AT me.com> Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 09:31:35 -0700 A female Tennessee Warbler and a Nashville were seen early this morning at Malheur HQ. Teri Martine (Refuge volunteer) OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: Benton County surplus Band-tailed Pigeons, and others From: "Karan Fairchild" <alderspr AT peak.org> Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 10:16:08 -0700 The recent cooler weather (and increased stockpiles of cracked corn) have increased our BAND-TAILED PIGEON count to over 100 birds. They feed on our several 4' high platforms, 20 or so in the bottom level, with others landing on their backs, with displaced birds and corn sloughing off the edges, more pigeons on the ground. They've gotten thick enough today that we watched a third level form, a regular pigeon pyramid. We ought to set up a remote video camera, as Roy Lowe has done. When the pig-eons clear out, others get a chance, now including our highest count (11) of feeding BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKs, and finally more than a dozen EVENING GROSBEAKs, which appear in fewer numbers here every year. We really don't mind so many Band-tails, perhaps the hordes are one reason why our first-ever EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE made only a brief appearance last week, and has not shown up again. Perhaps it's gathering its fellows for a mass invasion. Jim Fairchild 6 mi SW Philomath, OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: Re: Photo sharing sites From: Hendrik Herlyn <hhactitis AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 09:41:35 -0700 (PDT) I haven't noticed any undue slowing down of Flickr (I'm using Firefox as a browser), although I find it hard to get used to the new layout. However, I have not attempted to upload a large number of pics, so I don't know to what extent that functionality has been affected by their makeover. I'm also using Picasa, which has always worked well for me. Hendrik __________________________ Hendrik G. Herlyn Corvallis, OR "Nature is not a place to visit. It is home."      -- Gary Snyder --- On Thu, 5/23/13, Madeline Rae, DVM wrote: From: Madeline Rae, DVM Subject: [obol] Re: Photo sharing sites To: "Oregon Birds Online" Date: Thursday, May 23, 2013, 8:08 AM Flickr seems to have slowed quite noticeably this week.  I am theorizing that it is due to increased traffic associated with their recent major upgrade.  Still, I have pretty good success using Flickr with Google Chrome, and recommend trying that. Max Rae On 5/21/2013 12:10 PM, David Heath wrote: Following up on my RFO of yesterday, this morning, as an experiment, I installed Firefox to see if a different browser would give different results from my IE8. Oddly enough, it did. It’s still pretty slow, but at least my Flickr photostream and sets do load in Firefox (they didn’t at all in IE8, even leaving the browser open more than a half hour).   I probably won’t have a good notion of how usable Flickr is, even in Firefox, until the next time I try to upload a significant number of photos, so keep the feedback coming. So far I’ve heard from users of Picasa and Imgur.   David   From: Shawneen Finnegan [mailto:shawneenfinnegan AT gmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 11:40 AM To: drheath82 AT frontier.com Subject: Re: [obol] Photo sharing sites   David:   I would appreciate hearing what you learn. The only time I use Flickr anymore is so I can load photos in my eBird reports.   Shawneen   On May 20, 2013, at 5:56 PM, David Heath wrote: I’d appreciate some feedback on photo sharing sites, as alternatives to Flickr, which I already use but probably won’t for much longer.   I consider this has at least tangential relevance to OBOL’s mandate because of the extent to which I and numerous others use Flickr to share our bird photos, as I did yesterday with my Spain photos.   For those who haven’t been to Flickr lately, within the last few hours Yahoo has completely changed the look, feel, and loading speed of Flickr. About the only page of my account that I can actually access is the Stats page, from which I gather that not a single photo or set has been accessed since the changeover was made. Page loading is so slow now that I can’t even access my own photostream, making the site more or less completely useless. Hence my desire to have some input from users of other sites about where I should migrate to.   Thanks, David   * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * New Address: 6555 SW Old Scholls Ferry Rd., Apt 8 Portland, OR 97223 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * www.shawneenfinnegan.wordpress.com       Subject: Re: Photo sharing sites From: "Madeline Rae, DVM" <amazonvet AT comcast.net> Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 08:08:49 -0700 Flickr seems to have slowed quite noticeably this week. I am theorizing that it is due to increased traffic associated with their recent major upgrade. Still, I have pretty good success using Flickr with Google Chrome, and recommend trying that. Max Rae On 5/21/2013 12:10 PM, David Heath wrote: > > Following up on my RFO of yesterday, this morning, as an experiment, I > installed Firefox to see if a different browser would give different > results from my IE8. Oddly enough, it did. It's still pretty slow, but > at least my Flickr photostream and sets do load in Firefox (they > didn't at all in IE8, even leaving the browser open more than a half > hour). > > I probably won't have a good notion of how usable Flickr is, even in > Firefox, until the next time I try to upload a significant number of > photos, so keep the feedback coming. So far I've heard from users of > Picasa and Imgur. > > David > > *From:*Shawneen Finnegan [mailto:shawneenfinnegan AT gmail.com] > *Sent:* Tuesday, May 21, 2013 11:40 AM > *To:* drheath82 AT frontier.com > *Subject:* Re: [obol] Photo sharing sites > > David: > > I would appreciate hearing what you learn. The only time I use Flickr > anymore is so I can load photos in my eBird reports. > > Shawneen > > On May 20, 2013, at 5:56 PM, David Heath wrote: > > > > I'd appreciate some feedback on photo sharing sites, as alternatives > to Flickr, which I already use but probably won't for much longer. > > I consider this has at least tangential relevance to OBOL's mandate > because of the extent to which I and numerous others use Flickr to > share our bird photos, as I did yesterday with my Spain photos. > > For those who haven't been to Flickr lately, within the last few hours > Yahoo has completely changed the look, feel, and loading speed of > Flickr. About the only page of my account that I can actually access > is the Stats page, from which I gather that not a single photo or set > has been accessed since the changeover was made. Page loading is so > slow now that I can't even access my own photostream, making the site > more or less completely useless. Hence my desire to have some input > from users of other sites about where I should migrate to. > > Thanks, > > David > > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > New Address: > > 6555 SW Old Scholls Ferry Rd., Apt 8 > > Portland, OR 97223 > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > > www.shawneenfinnegan.wordpress.com > > > > > Subject: Peoria Backyard Big Year, week 20 From: "M & R Campbell" <campbell AT peak.org> Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 07:21:33 -0700 Species identified during week 20 (May 12 to May 18) of my Backyard Big Year in Peoria, beside the Willamette River, in Linn County. Numbers indicate total weeks listed. New birds in caps. Cackling Goose 14 Canada Goose 20 Wood Duck 15 Mallard 20 Hooded Merganser 14 California Quail 7 Great-blue Heron 12 Turkey Vulture 10 Osprey 8 Bald Eagle 19 Killdeer 20 Spotted Sandpiper 11 Eurasian Collared-Dove 20 Mourning Dove 20 Vaux's Swift 4 Rufous Hummingbird 10 Downy Woodpecker 20 Northern Flicker 20 American Kestrel 4 PEREGRINE FALCON 1 (5/15) WESTERN WOOD-PEEWEE 1 (5/18) Western Scrub-Jay 20 American Crow 15 Tree Swallow 12 Violet-green Swallow 10 Barn Swallow 6 Cliff Swallow 5 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 2 Black-capped Chickadee 20 White-breasted Nuthatch 18 House Wren 4 Bewick's Wren 20 Swainson's Thrush 2 American Robin 20 European Starling 20 Cedar Waxwing 2 Common Yellowthroat 7 Yellow Warbler 3 Wilson's Warbler 4 YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT 1 (5/14) Spotted Towhee 20 Song Sparrow 20 Western Tanager 2 Black-headed Grosbeak 4 Red-winged Blackbird 20 Brewer's Blackbird 14 Brown-headed Cowbird 11 Bullock's Oriole 4 House Finch 20 American Goldfinch 11 House Sparrow 20 Year to date: 116 The PEREGRINE made two turns about 20' over the beach and then disappeared behind trees. I expect to see them in the fall and winter, not now. The Chat was a first for our yard. I hadn't seen one within 15 miles of our place (as the bike rolls). Randy Campbell Subject: RBA: Portland, OR 5-23-13 From: Harry Nehls <hnehls6 AT comcast.net> Date: Wed, 22 May 2013 23:58:47 -0700 - RBA * Oregon * Portland * May 23, 2013 * ORPO0513.23 - birds mentioned Long-billed Curlew Short-billed Dowitcher Wilson¹s Phalarope Black Swift Black Phoebe PLUMBEOUS VIREO Red-eyed Vireo BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER PINE WARBLER BLUE GROSBEAK COMON GRACKLE GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE HOODED ORIOLE LAWRENCE¹S GOLDFINCH - transcript hotline: Portland Oregon Audubon RBA (weekly) number: 503-292-6855 To report: Harry Nehls 503-233-3976 compiler: Harry Nehls coverage: entire state Hello, this is the Audubon Society of Portland Rare Bird Report. This report was made Thursday May 23. If you have anything to add call Harry Nehls at 503-233-3976. On May 19 a BLUE GROSBEAK was reported from Salishan Spit at Siletz Bay. A PINE WARBLER was seen May 22 on Skinner¹s Butte in Eugene. A GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE was at the Wasco County Fairgrounds near Tygh Valley May 15. On May 17 a female LAWRENCE¹S GOLDFINCH was at the Kirkland Road Sewage Ponds near White City. A COMMON GRACKLE was photographed May 15 south of Chemult. A bright HOODED ORIOLE is now coming to a feeder in Warrenton. Interesting birds reported from Harney County during the week included a GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE at Frenchglen, a PLUMBEOUS VIREO and one or two BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLERS at Malheur Headquarters, and a Short-billed Dowitcher south of Burns. Migrations continue during the week with a movement of BLACK SWIFTS along the coast. One BLACK SWIFT was over Hatfield Lake near Bend May 18. A LONG-BILLED CURLEW was on the North Spit of Coos Bay May 17. A pair of WILSON¹S PHALAROPES may nest on the spit this year. A pair of BLACK PHOEBES are now successfully nesting in Toledo. On May 17 a RED-EYED VIREO was at Simpson Park in Albany. That¹s it for this week. - end transcript Subject: The unambiguous yard list From: Craig Miller <gismiller AT gmail.com> Date: Wed, 22 May 2013 22:05:58 -0700 Hi all, I thought it would be fun to keep a photo yard list. These are birds that I have photographed either on or from our home property located about 10 miles east of Bend in juniper forest habitat. So far my list stands at 53, although I have more species waiting to be uploaded. I'd be interested in knowing who else out there keeps a documented yard bird list. The photographs can be viewed by clicking on http://www.flickr.com/photos/crmillerbirds/sets/72157632836980511/ Craig Miller Bend, Oregon _______________________________________________ COBOL mailing list COBOL AT lists.oregonstate.edu http://lists.oregonstate.edu/mailman/listinfo/cobol To unsubscribe, send a message to: COBOL-request AT lists.oregonstate.edu with the word "unsubscribe" in the body. Subject: Harney County Short-billed Dowitcher From: Wayne Hoffman <whoffman AT peak.org> Date: Wed, 22 May 2013 20:50:07 -0700 Hi - I have downloaded my photos and they show that the Dowitcher I reported from the substation pond on Hwy 205 is in fact Short-billed. The belly is mostly white, The dark barring on the tail and lower flanks is widely spaced. neck is spotted. Wayne Subject: Malheur area Wed. morning From: Wayne Hoffman <whoffman AT peak.org> Date: Wed, 22 May 2013 16:56:54 -0700 Hi - Horned Grebe Substation pond on Hwy 205 S of Burns Dowitcher on substation pond. Severely backlit, but looked like Short-billed. lower belly looked whitish, chest light chestnut, not as dark as should be on LB. RN Phalarope: 150+ on shallow pond along 205 at mm19, N. of Narrows. HQ, 7:30 - 10 AM apparently no Black and White, no vireos at all seen Warblers: Yellow Townsend's Orange-crowned (new?) Wilson's A couple of Ruby-crowned Kinglets apparently were new. Still present: Pine Siskins, Evening Grosbeaks, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Bullock's Orioles, Western Tanagers, Cedar Waxwings, Western Wood Pewee... Good day for studying silent empids: they were tending to be approachable and staying low, out of the wind. Not a lot of individuals but remarkable diversity. They were mostly in the lilacs and other low cover along the unpaved road at the south edge, also along the hedge leading from the visitors' center to the restrooms. "Western" Hammond's Dusky Willow Gray The Gray flew in and lit next to a "Western" then both went out into sage. What a contrast! Note about "Western" flycatchers. These birds (2-3+) were silent, as were all the other empids. Birders there were tending to call them "Pacific Slope" but I prefer not for the following reasons: 1. I am not questioning the split - IMO it is valid until proven otherwise. 2. Malheur HQ is not much farther from Cordilleran breeding range than from Pacific-Slope breeding range. 3. Malheur HQ collects vagrants from the east, including Rock Mountain taxa. Therefore, I consider the probability that some are Cordilleran high enough that I do not want to assume they are all Pacific-Slope. At least until I get my field-portable DNA sequencer! I left at 10, and now am in Lakeview, on my way to Klamath Basin. Wayne Subject: Jackson County: Great Gray, Rosy-Finch From: Harry Fuller <atowhee AT gmail.com> Date: Wed, 22 May 2013 15:01:10 -0700 http://atowhee.wordpress.com/2013/05/22/the-gray-eminence/ -- Harry Fuller Atowhee AT gmail http://www.towhee.net my birding blog: atowhee.wordpress.com Subject: Pine warb not so far From: Alan Contreras <acontrer56 AT gmail.com> Date: Wed, 22 May 2013 13:22:56 -0700 Half a dozen people wandered Skinner butte mid-day in squally weather, no joy as of 1:20. Two observers still on top. A couple of dull yrumps to keep us perky. bunting nice to see on butte. Alan Contreras Eugene, Oregon acontrer56 AT gmail.com Sent from my iPhone OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: Wed. morning Eugene From: Donald Schrouder <dcsbird AT comcast.net> Date: Wed, 22 May 2013 13:22:48 -0700 The Wednesday morning group braved the cold rainy weather and headed out to check on the middle Delta Ponds between Goodpasture Island road and Delta Highway. It appeared from the large number of Yellow Warblers, Cedar Waxwings, and Western Tanagers around that an over night migration had taken place. Birds seen: Canada Goose Wood Duck Gadwall Mallard Pied-billed Grebe- on nest Turkey Vulture Red-tailed Hawk Killdeer Mourning Dove Anna's Hummingbird Red-breasted Sapsucker Northern Flicker Olive-sided Flycatcher Western Wood-Pewee Black Phoebe Western Scrub Jay American Crow Tree Swallow Violet-green Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow Black-capped Chickadee Swainson's Thrush American Robin Cedar Waxwing Yellow Warbler Western Tanager Song Sparrow Lazuli Bunting Red-winged Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird Bullock's Oriole Dennis Arendt, Bruce Campbell, Sylvia Maulding, Paul Sherrell, Fred Chancey & Don Schrouder OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: RBA PINE Warbler Eugene From: Alan Contreras <acontrer56 AT gmail.com> Date: Wed, 22 May 2013 11:08:29 -0700 Maitreya reports a female Pine Warbler feeding along the trail below the paved road at top of Skinner Butte Eugene 11:00 am Wed. He's 95.7 percent sure on i.d. Alan Contreras Eugene, Oregon acontrer56 AT gmail.com Sent from my iPhone OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: Re: Malheur Plumbeous Vireo From: Wayne Hoffman <whoffman AT peak.org> Date: Tue, 21 May 2013 22:30:14 -0700 Hi, Tim - I visited HQ briefly this morning. Did not see the vireo but talked to David Smith, who followed the bird for 20 minutes. I did get a few photos of the B&W. It is an adult male as yours was, but my photos show me enough differences in pattern to convince me it is a different bird. In particular, today's bird has more extensive black under the chin. Two other birds of seasonal interest: A Snow Goose with Canadas yesterday on the Diamond Road east of the Diamond Craters intersection. Also a Ross' Goose this evening off Hotchkiss Lane. Wayne On Tue, May 21, 2013 at 11:13 AM, Tim Blount wrote: > Hi All, > > Just wanted to add to Wayne Hoffmans well written description of what we > saw yesterday. He had mentioned that he had not seen the back of the vireo > and I at one time had a very good view and noted that it too was gray with > no hints of color. I have just had another report of the Plumbeous being > seen and identified by David Smith this morning. Also of note, a Black and > White Warbler is being seen at HQ this morning. Hard to say if this is the > same bird that I found last week but doubtful. > > Cheers, > > Tim Blount > www.harneybirder.com > Subject: [Fwd: 9 Grasshopper Sparrow morning In Willamette valley] From: Joel Geier <joel.geier AT peak.org> Date: Tue, 21 May 2013 21:52:12 -0700 -------- Forwarded Message -------- From: Bob Altman Subject: 9 Grasshopper Sparrow morning In Willamette valley Date: Tue, 21 May 2013 19:57:03 -0700 Went to two regular spots this am, Ward Butte and Belts Road. Despite nasty weather, during breaks, bird were singing well. At Ward Butte there were two birds; along Belts Road there were 4 pretty evenly spaced along the road, and then on Gap Road just across from the intersection with Belts Road there were another 3 – one directly across from the intersection and one north of that and one south. Both the Belts Road and Gap Road sites have fairly extensive habitat away from the road where it is likely that there are several more than what you can hear from the road. Most disturbing was the complete absence of singing vesper sparrows at these sites and several other sites I stopped at. I did see a pair at Belts Road so maybe the weather is much more of a factor in depressing song activity than for all the other birds than were singing somewhat normally. Bob Altman American Bird Conservancy 311 NE Mistletoe Corvallis, Oregon 97330 baltman AT abcbirds.org 541-745-5339 Subject: Re: Lane Coast Black Swift and Lesser Goldfinches (late post) From: "HARVEY W SCHUBOTHE " <ninerharv2 AT msn.com> Date: Wed, 22 May 2013 03:04:38 +0000 I am in the same awe as you, Diane with the same two birds. First Black Swifts ever for me in Bandon couple of days ago and I had lesser goldfinch for NAMC in South Lincoln County weekend before last. Harv Schubothe Bandon Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T -----Original Message----- From: surfbird AT q.com Date: Wed, 22 May 2013 01:28:16 To: Subject: [obol] Lane Coast Black Swift and Lesser Goldfinches (late post) Yesterday, I saw a single BLACK SWIFT fly over Baker Marsh and two LESSER GOLDFINCHES calling at the Baker Campground. I've never seen them before in all the years I've birded and lived on the coast. Diane Pettey Heceta Beach, OR surfbird AT q.com OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org Subject: Evening Grosbeak and 41 Band-tailed Pigeon in Gresham From: John Gatchet <jfgatchet AT gmail.com> Date: Tue, 21 May 2013 19:31:11 -0700 There were 41 BAND-TAILED PIGEON in the yard today. I am limiting how much I put in the feeder they are using, but they are finding seed in the grass from the other feeders. Also 10 EVENING GROSBEAK were in the yard most of the day. PINE SISKIN and AMERICAN GOLDFINCH are going through the seed in the feeders to the point that I have to fill them each day. There are at least 5 BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK and again they were feeding on the ground shoulder to shoulder with the EVENING GROSBEAK. John F. Gatchet Gresham, OR Subject: Lane Coast Black Swift and Lesser Goldfinches (late post) From: surfbird AT q.com Date: Tue, 21 May 2013 21:28:16 -0400 (EDT) Yesterday, I saw a single BLACK SWIFT fly over Baker Marsh and two LESSER GOLDFINCHES calling at the Baker Campground. I've never seen them before in all the years I've birded and lived on the coast. Diane Pettey Heceta Beach, OR surfbird AT q.com Subject: Belated Sighting/Query re Swan From: Matthew G Hunter <matthewghunter AT gmail.com> Date: Tue, 21 May 2013 16:05:12 -0700 Hi Folks, A couple weeks ago, May 5, we had a local field trip along the South Umpqua River in which we saw a swan flying with a couple Canada Geese. The swan was larger, longer-necked (i.e., not a barnyard goose), and had noticeable gray on the head, neck, back, and upperwing coverts, as an immature should have. My question is, could a Tundra Swan have that much noticeable gray this late, or could the amount of gray reliably identify the bird as a Trumpeter Swan? We never saw the bird on the ground and did not hear it call, so the only indication of species we have is the amount of immature/gray plumage. Sibley says Tundras should all be in 1st summer (whitish) plumage by April at the latest. Anyone have contradicting observations? Matt Hunter Melrose, OR Subject: Hummingbirds!!! From: "Robert O'Brien" <baro AT pdx.edu> Date: Tue, 21 May 2013 14:25:29 -0700 Last winter I mentioned that I had a plethora of Chickadees at my tube feeders. A typical visitation rate during a 3-minute period was more than one chickadee every three seconds. This was unusual historically for me. They have dispersed now for breeding, but.... I've lived at this location for about 40 years. It is rural with few houses. I didn't have any Anna's until about 5 years ago. Then I had a few along with more common Rufous. That was then, this is now. This year I am going through more than a quart of sugar water every day. And that's not counting another feeder about 0.1 mile away There are swarms! Sometimes 4 drinking from 4 positions at once. It's like southern arizona (aaa, except for the species diversity) About equally of the two species. But no Calliope ever. Nor did I have have a Mtn Chickadee. Are these hummer numbers present elsewhere? If not, it's probably because they're all at my feeders. It's the avian entitlement society all over again. But it's not 47% of the bird population, it appears to be 100%. Bob OBrien Carver OR Subject: Black Phoebe fledglings From: Matthew G Hunter <matthewghunter AT gmail.com> Date: Tue, 21 May 2013 13:05:52 -0700 Hi Folks, This morning (21 May 2013) at the house I noticed outside an adult Black Phoebe with 3 fledglings. I'm pretty sure they nested in an outbuilding next door, but had not seen the fledglings before. The fledglings are fairly fuzzy and somewhat grayer than the adult. Adult picked up insects from ground and brought them to the fledglings on fence wires around fruit trees and our berry patch. Photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthewghunter/8774129558/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthewghunter/8769318893/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthewghunter/8774130060/ Matt Hunter Melrose, OR Subject: Birdathon: Summer Lake to Yaquina Head, 17-19 May From: Jay Withgott <withgott AT comcast.net> Date: Tue, 21 May 2013 12:10:32 -0700 The Wild Turkeys team has returned from its annual 48-hour Gonzo Trip for the Audubon Society of Portland's Birdathon 2013. Twenty-one of us traveled from Summer Lake and Fort Rock to Crescent and Davis Lake, across the Cascades to Fern Ridge Reservoir, and then up the coast from Yachats to Newport. Our 223 species raised over $36,000 for Portland Audubon's many amazing conservation programs. The trip is chronicled here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Wild-Turkeys-Birdathon-Team-Portland/208687749171050 , and you can still make pledges to our team (or any other Birdathon team) here: http://birdathon.audubonportland.org/ . A big THANK YOU to all of you out there who are supporting Portland Audubon's efforts with your pledges this year! Highlight species included a coastal FRANKLIN'S GULL, an interesting female blackbird at Summer Lake, and a pair of NORTHERN GOSHAWKS in courtship flight. Highlights in chronological order are below, and full site-by-site lists will be available on eBird. We began at 2 pm on Friday 17 MAY at the town of Fort Rock, where LARK SPARROWS gave us nice views and raptors kettled in the distance. Heading south, we located the reliable pair of BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS at Winter Ridge, along with CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD and a GOLDEN EAGLE that circled low over our heads. Summer Lake NWR was a fabulous experience, as always, and this year the birds were most concentrated at the Windbreak Dike impoundments (on the refuge's wildlife loop), a site our scouting team (Jennifer Devlin, Dave Ward, and Ron Carley) had dubbed "The Magic Spot". Magic was indeed in the air as we took in the spectacle and sorted through many hundreds of waterfowl, shorebirds, and marsh birds, including AMERICAN BITTERNS (great views), BC NIGHT-HERONS, WHITE-FACED IBIS, REDHEADS, GREAT HORNED OWLS, FRANKLIN'S GULLS, BONAPARTE'S GULLS, BLACK TERNS, over 30 SNOWY PLOVERS, and over 100 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES in addition to the breeding WILSON'S PHALAROPES, AMERICAN AVOCETS, BLACK-NECKED STILTS, etc. etc. At the HQs and the Inn, at least 2 BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRDS were coming to the feeders, and CASSIN'S FINCHES, EVENING GROSBEAKS, and a LESSER GOLDFINCH gave us good views. Down the road at the Store, while some of us were peering at distant CLARK'S GREBES and CANVASBACKS on Dutchy Lake, and others were enjoying migrants like a WESTERN-WOOD-PEWEE, Wink Gross explored a marsh across the highway and photographed an interesting female blackbird. Analysis is ongoing, but the bird appears likely to be either a TRICOLORED BLACKBIRD or a "BICOLORED" BLACKBIRD, the race of Red-winged Blackbird endemic to California's Central Valley. After-dinner owling produced 3 heard-only FLAMMULATED OWLS, but not the Barn and Long-eared Owls that our scouters had found earlier in the week. At dawn Saturday morning 18 MAY we began with 30 SAGE GROUSE near the Fort Rock lek site, good views of PRAIRIE FALCON, FERRUGINOUS HAWK, high-desert sparrows, and SAGE THRASHER, and then a lovely early-a.m. walkabout through the bowl at spectacular Fort Rock. Fort Rock produced a pair of BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS, SAGE SPARROWS, LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE, and GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES, but we were missing the normally reliable White-throated Swift and Say's Phoebe. With the clock ticking, we were about to depart when Kendra Smith taped in a SAY'S PHOEBE for us. At the same time, team leader Ron Carley anxiously mentioned to Devon Johnstone that we were missing the swift. The amazing Devon looked up and promptly said, "There's one." We all got on it, and, after some high-fiving, were into the vans and off. The ponderosas of Cabin Lake and roads north produced both bluebird species and all three nuthatches, CLARK'S NUTCRACKERS, WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKERS, WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKERS, and more, and we breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing a singing HERMIT THRUSH, a species we'd missed last year. Then on the way back to La Pine, Susan Masta yelled "Stop the van!" She'd spied a raptor she took to be a Goshawk overhead, and we piled out to witness, indeed, a NORTHERN GOSHAWK, white flank feathers fully poofed out, doing a courtship display flight. A second goshawk joined it, and together the pair circled and sailed away as we watched. A great sighting and a key species! Charged up with a coffee stop in La Pine, we found NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH at a Little Deschutes River crossing, along with a pair of RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS and a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. Then in the midst of the Davis Lake Burn we encountered a moment of high drama. Van #2 had a dead battery. We were miles away from the nearest automotive help, and were already 45 minutes behind in our schedule. Horrifying visions of traveling across half the state for the next 24 hours crammed into just two vans flashed through everyone's minds. Alas, the thoughtful preparation by Portland Audubon staff paid off -- they had remembered to provide us a bag of equipment including jumper cables. PHEW!!! Catastrophe averted. Thank You, Audubon! We missed Black-backed Woodpecker, but Davis Lake produced a pair of BARROW'S GOLDENEYES and a single female COMMON GOLDENEYE at our lunch stop. At Crescent Creek campground we nailed RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, NASHVILLE WARBLER, and MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER. Then it was over the Cascades. We did not find Black Swifts at Salt Creek Falls, but the Salt Creek Bog produced a well-scouted territorial LINCOLN'S SPARROW. As we were watching it, team captain Mike Houck, in his 33rd Birdathon(!), somehow heard a SOOTY GROUSE over the highway traffic. We all soon could make out the low hooting of this species, which had proved so hard to find on this route in previous years. Bonus bird! As we descended the west slope and headed toward Fern Ridge, Wild Turkeys rookie recruit Noah Strycker took the reins. He guided us to a reliable spot near his home in Creswell for, fittingly enough, WILD TURKEY! After scoring on the turkeys, he treated us to scope views of a GREEN HERON sitting atop its nest. And then to see a momma HOODED MERGANSER with adorable little merglings at the Lane Comm College ponds. Noah earned his Gonzo stripes on this trip and will find it difficult to avoid our recruiting efforts in the future! ; ) Noah continued his streak at Fern Ridge Reservoir, where he called in a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW that obligingly sat on a fencewire for several minutes. We enjoyed jaw-dropping scope views of this scarce species, which was a life bird for many! Then, with the sun dropping fast and a number of target species left to get, the group split in two to cover key areas of Fern Ridge, turning up VIRGINIA RAIL, PURPLE MARTIN, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, BLACK PHOEBE, LAZULI BUNTING, and several key passerines missable elsewhere on the route. Dawn on Sunday morning 19 MAY found us in the coastal hills above Yachats in southern Lincoln County -- alas, in the cold mist and fog. Few passerines were singing in these weather conditions, and we missed several key targets, including Mountain Quail for the 3rd year in a row. The saving grace was hearing the primal cries of MARBLED MURRELETS as they hurtled overhead through the fog above us on their daily commutes from the old-growth forests to the sea. We then hit the Green Salmon, my favorite coffeeshop of all time, for breakfast, and the group split for seawatching from Yachats S.P. and a stroll through the lovely little park in town. Band-tailed Pigeons peered at us from the trees as RED-NECKED GREBES and CLARK'S GREBES (2 each) swam offshore, scoters rafted, and WHIMBRELS flew by. Hundreds of SOOTY SHEARWATERS sheared, speck-like, over the wavy horizon, but the northward flight of seabirds was very thin, and the seawatchers struggled to produce new species one by one. Best bird, however, was a breeding-plumaged FRANKLIN'S GULL that alternately flew and landed on the water amid Western Gulls. Although we'd ticked this species already at Summer Lake, it is rare on the coast and this was the first-ever coastal sighting of this species for many on the team. Heading north, we stopped at Eckman Slough, then wrapped around Alsea Bay, where a stop on the north side revived our flagging hopes for a 220-plus-species trip by netting us 4 new species, including a RED-SHOULDERED HAWK calling as it circled in the air. Thank you, Wayne Hoffman, for advising us to stop at this site -- 3 of those 4 species we would get nowhere else! Beaver Creek Marsh produced GREAT EGRET, then Seal Rock produced HARLEQUIN DUCK, and we were feeling optimistic. Might it be possible to stage a come-from-behind run and challenge last year's record total of 230? Yaquina Bay would answer that question -- in the negative, it turned out, as our rising hopes were dashed by a bay full of water and mudflats but NO NEW BIRDS. Ugh. With just over an hour left, we checked the South Jetty, then the LNG tanks, where Noah picked out a HORNED GREBE for us and Mike spotted a flock of distant GREATER SCAUP to put us past 220. At our final stop, Yaquina Head, the nesting PEREGRINE FALCONS provided the last new species of the trip before the clock ran out. Our thanks go out to everyone who supported the team, including Diane Pettey, Wayne Hoffman, and Paul Engelmeyer for coastal birding updates and info; Dave Ward for huge contributions in this year's scouting and in past years; Tim Janzen and others for past development of this amazing route; the many folks who pledged financial contributions to Portland Audubon, and our many friends and family members for support in all kinds of ways. This year's WILD TURKEYS roster included: Shannon Buono, Ron Carley, Casey Cunningham, Jennifer Devlin, Ivy Dunlap, Benna Gottfried, Jeff Gottfried, Wink Gross, Mike Houck, Devon Johnstone, Dan Kearns, Tim Kurtz, Alan Locklear, Susan Masta, Beth Parmenter, Jim Rapp, Emily Roth, Kendra Smith, Noah Strycker, Bob Wilson, and Jay Withgott. Good birding, everyone, Jay Withgott Wild Turkeys '11/'12/'13 Portland Subject: Re: Photo sharing sites From: "David Heath" <drheath82 AT frontier.com> Date: Tue, 21 May 2013 12:10:28 -0700 Following up on my RFO of yesterday, this morning, as an experiment, I installed Firefox to see if a different browser would give different results from my IE8. Oddly enough, it did. It's still pretty slow, but at least my Flickr photostream and sets do load in Firefox (they didn't at all in IE8, even leaving the browser open more than a half hour). I probably won't have a good notion of how usable Flickr is, even in Firefox, until the next time I try to upload a significant number of photos, so keep the feedback coming. So far I've heard from users of Picasa and Imgur. David From: Shawneen Finnegan [mailto:shawneenfinnegan AT gmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 11:40 AM To: drheath82 AT frontier.com Subject: Re: [obol] Photo sharing sites David: I would appreciate hearing what you learn. The only time I use Flickr anymore is so I can load photos in my eBird reports. Shawneen On May 20, 2013, at 5:56 PM, David Heath wrote: I'd appreciate some feedback on photo sharing sites, as alternatives to Flickr, which I already use but probably won't for much longer. I consider this has at least tangential relevance to OBOL's mandate because of the extent to which I and numerous others use Flickr to share our bird photos, as I did yesterday with my Spain photos. For those who haven't been to Flickr lately, within the last few hours Yahoo has completely changed the look, feel, and loading speed of Flickr. About the only page of my account that I can actually access is the Stats page, from which I gather that not a single photo or set has been accessed since the changeover was made. Page loading is so slow now that I can't even access my own photostream, making the site more or less completely useless. Hence my desire to have some input from users of other sites about where I should migrate to. Thanks, David * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * New Address: 6555 SW Old Scholls Ferry Rd., Apt 8 Portland, OR 97223 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * www.shawneenfinnegan.wordpress.com Subject: Malheur Plumbeous Vireo From: Tim Blount <harneybirder AT gmail.com> Date: Tue, 21 May 2013 11:13:01 -0700 Hi All, Just wanted to add to Wayne Hoffmans well written description of what we saw yesterday. He had mentioned that he had not seen the back of the vireo and I at one time had a very good view and noted that it too was gray with no hints of color. I have just had another report of the Plumbeous being seen and identified by David Smith this morning. Also of note, a Black and White Warbler is being seen at HQ this morning. Hard to say if this is the same bird that I found last week but doubtful. Cheers, Tim Blount www.harneybirder.com Subject: Re: Eurasian Collared-Dove From: Karen Saxton <kcsaxton AT gmail.com> Date: Tue, 21 May 2013 09:20:05 -0700 At my mom's place in N Bend(Coos Bay), we see a couple dozen at a time. Last year only 1-2. On Tue, May 21, 2013 at 7:20 AM, Pat wrote: > I have had as many as 11 at a time at my feeding table in Wilsonville this > year. Patti > > Sent from my iPad > > On May 21, 2013, at 6:40 AM, Alan Contreras wrote: > > > They have greatly increased. I would not be shocked to find one in my > kitchen, let alone my yard. > > > > Alan Contreras > > Eugene, Oregon > > > > acontrer56 AT gmail.com > > > > Sent from my iPhone > > > > > > > > On May 20, 2013, at 10:55 PM, Jenny Goodnough wrote: > > > >> Is it unusual for me to have an Eurasian Collared-Dove in my yard in > south Eugene? One visited today about 6 pm, got a drink of water, and ate > some seeds on the ground. It was clearly marked, easy to identify. > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol > >> Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol > >> Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org > >> > >> > > > > > > OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol > > Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol > > Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org > > > > > > > OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol > Manage your account or unsubscribe: http://www.freelists.org/list/obol > Contact moderators: obol-moderators AT freelists.org > > > Subject: wind farm deaths, see link From: Stephanie Hazen <stephaniehazen17 AT gmail.com> Date: Tue, 21 May 2013 08:57:39 -0700 http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.ssf/2013/05/obama_administration_gives_win.html#incart_river