Birdingonthe.Net Recent Postings from The Oregon Birding List > Home > Mail > Alerts Updated on Thursday, July 2 at 06:08 PM ET The most recently received Mail is at the top.	White-tailed Ptarmigan,©Mimi Hoppe Wolf

02 Jul 1 July Dunlin Coos Cty [DJ Lauten and KACastelein ] 2 Jul Lincoln Lazuli ["Darrel Faxon" ] 2 Jul Douglas Coast PARASITIC JAEGER, SEMI-PALM SANDPIPER, other shorebirds [Daniel Farrar ] 2 Jul Re: Odd Western Kingbird plumage [Daniel Farrar ] 2 Jul Smith-Bybee Heron Triple Header [Ellen Cantor ] 2 Jul Wildcat Mt Hermit Warblers [Ellen Cantor ] 2 Jul Upper Nestucca area, 7/1 ["pamela johnston" ] 2 Jul Re: Motorless birding update ["pamela johnston" ] 2 Jul Idaho birding tip [Bobbett Pierce ] 01 Jul RBA: Portland, OR 7-2-09 [Harry Nehls ] 01 Jul Pittock, NW Portland, week ending 07/01/09 [Wink Gross ] 02 Jul Lincoln Co. Coast Range this morning [] 01 Jul Motorless birding update [Joel Geier ] 01 Jul Motorless birding update [Joel Geier ] 1 Jul Re: Odd Western Kingbird plumage ["Wayne Hoffman" ] 01 Jul Regional field notes updated on OFO website [Joel Geier ] 1 Jul Western Kingbird - Clackamas Co. [Forrest Rowland ] 1 Jul N. Spit Coos Bay Shorebirds -- 1 July 2009 [Justin Bosler ] 1 Jul Bird sounds website [Lee Cain ] 1 Jul Eurasian Collared Dove, near Astoria [Lee Cain ] 1 Jul Odd Western Kingbird plumage [Greg Gillson ] 1 Jul Fw: 10,000 Brown Pelicans [Seth Reams ] 1 Jul Sandy River Delta 6/28 [jeff hayes ] 01 Jul Fern Ridge Night-Herons [] 30 Jun Mountain Quail [Connie or Bruce Ryan ] 30 Jun NORTHERN PARULA ["Jim & Vikki Hein" ] 30 Jun Upcoming pelagic trip: August 8 [Greg Gillson ] 30 Jun Mountain Quail [Diane Bagues ] 30 Jun Re: RFI Streaked Horned Lark ["Mark Nikas" ] 30 Jun Re: RFI violet-crowned hummingbird in Oregon - NOT AN RBA [Shawneen Finnegan ] 30 Jun RFI violet-crowned hummingbird in Oregon - NOT AN RBA ["Craig Tumer" ] 30 Jun RFI Streaked Horned Lark [] 30 Jun no Least Tern ["rich armstrong" ] 29 Jun Least Tern at Ankeny ["John Gatchet" ] 29 Jun Fern Ridge 6/29 [Noah Strycker ] 29 Jun Re: Nighthawk feeding on the ground ["Paul T. Sullivan" ] 29 Jun More on Ankeny Least Tern and other birds [Roy Gerig ] 29 Jun RBA Marion County LEAST TERN 6/29 [Roy Gerig ] 29 Jun Re: Odell Lake eagle [roger morris ] 29 Jun Klamath Falls, 6-29-09 [Julie Van Moorhem ] 29 Jun Curry GT Grackles 6/29/2009 [] 29 Jun Odell Lake eagle ["Tom Escue" ] 29 Jun Odell lake Eagle [roger morris ] 29 Jun multiple bullbats in western Washington County [Norgren Family ] 29 Jun Re: On the non-warblerness of Chats [Rich Hoyer ] 28 Jun Common Nighthawk Clatsop Co. - 6/28/2009 [Mike Patterson ] 28 Jun Nighthawk feeding on the ground [Leith McKenzie ] 28 Jun Sisters Least Flycatcher photos [Stephen Shunk ] 28 Jun Sisters Least Flycatcher photos [Stephen Shunk ] 28 Jun Re: Chat taxonomy [Mike Patterson ] 28 Jun On the non-warblerness of Chats [Joel Geier ] 28 Jun Forwarded - re: RFI Red Crossbills ["Judy Meredith" ] 28 Jun Re: 10,000 Pelicans ["Phil Pickering" ] 28 Jun Re: 10,000 Pelicans - the final feather... [Vern DiPietro ] 28 Jun Re: 10,000 Pelicans - the final feather... [Will Clemons ] 28 Jun An Observation [Kevin Smith ] 28 Jun LEAST FLYCATCHER Calliope Crossing [Stephen Shunk ] 28 Jun LEAST FLYCATCHER Calliope Crossing [Stephen Shunk ] 29 Jun Washington Ornithological Society Convention ["Wilson Cady" ] 28 Jun Santiam Breeding Bird Survey, Linn county [Joel Geier ] 28 Jun Re: 10,000 Pelicans ["HARVEY W SCHUBOTHE" ] 28 Jun Singing Swainson's Thrush, SW Portland, Terwilliger Trail [Marcia Marvin ] 28 Jun West Side Rd/Crater Lake, Klamath Co. 6-27-09 [Julie Van Moorhem ] 28 Jun Sandy River Delta [Doug Robberson ] 28 Jun LEAST FLYCATCHER Calliope Crossing ["Judy Meredith" ] 28 Jun 10,000 Pelicans [Seth Reams ] 28 Jun Re: Common Nighthawk more over NE Portland [Erik Knight ] 27 Jun Ridgefield NWR: Quiet day, W PELICANS in the early AM only [Will Clemons ] 27 Jun scrub-jay fledgling ["Tom Escue" ] 27 Jun Fisher Butte [] 27 Jun Least Flycatcher at Ft. Klamath [Arch McCallum ] 27 Jun Crook County White Pelicapalooza ["Charles Gates" ] 27 Jun Caspian Tern, Peoria, Linn Co. ["M & R Campbell" ] 26 Jun Re: More Coos Shorebirds -- 26 June 2009 [Justin Bosler ] 26 Jun FW: [SHOREBIRDS] Arctic Breeding Conditions in 2009 [Doug Robberson ] 26 Jun Re: Warblers in SW Oregon? ["Dennis P. Vroman" ] Subject: 1 July Dunlin Coos Cty From: DJ Lauten and KACastelein <deweysage AT verizon.net> Date: Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:08:00 -0700 1 July, Bandon State Natural Area, Bandon Coos Cty We saw a basic plumage (!) DUNLIN yesterday at Bandon Beach. Interesting find. Cheers Dave Lauten and Kathy Castelein Bandon OR deweysage AT verizon.net _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Lincoln Lazuli From: "Darrel Faxon" <5hats AT peak.org> Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 12:38:48 -0700 Obolites, Just saw a male Lazuli Bunting at my feeder. First time in about ten years at this location, probably the first ever in July. Darrel _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Douglas Coast PARASITIC JAEGER, SEMI-PALM SANDPIPER, other shorebirds From: Daniel Farrar <jdanielfarrar AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 12:09:40 -0700 Obol, The last two days have produced some good movement along the coast. Yesterday (1 July) Hendrik Herlyn and I observed roughly 100 WESTERN SANDPIPERS in the mud south of Tenmile Creek, Coos Co. Today north of the creek we observed 5 LEAST SANDPIPERS, 11 WESTERN SANDPIPERS, 1 SPOTTED SP, and 3 SEMI-PALMATED PLOVERS. Today around 7AM at Dunes Overlook, Douglas Co we observed a flock of ~115 WESTERN SANDPIPERS on the beach. Standing out of the crowd was an adult SEMI-PALMATED SANDPIPER, a nice treat as I usually only see juveniles during the fall. The flock flew south and out of sight. About twenty minutes later we heard the raucous call of a CASPIAN TERN. As we looked up we noticed it was being harassed by an adult dark phased PARASITIC JAEGER. A very nice July surprise. Both were headed north the last we saw. -- Daniel Farrar Dunes City, Oregon jdanielfarrar AT gmail.com_______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Re: Odd Western Kingbird plumage From: Daniel Farrar <jdanielfarrar AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 11:49:08 -0700 Obol, I think Wayne is right on the money with this bird. It looks like a second year Western Kingbird. The brown is simply a result of wear, as Wayne implies. Since white feathers are much weaker than black (and juvenile are weaker than adult), it makes sense that the white edging has simply worn off. The tertials were obtained last fall when the bird underwent its formative or 1st basic molt giving them a darker, newer look than the rest of the flight feathers. Daniel On Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 7:46 PM, Wayne Hoffman wrote: > Greg > > Thanks for hosting these. > > The photos are cropped from the originals and resized. Two are otherwise > unchanged. The one you posted on the left is the same as the middle one, > but brightened in photoshop. > > Since sending these to you I found one photo online of a fall immature > Western Kingbird with a dark brown rather than black tail. If the same > rectrices were kept through the winter and spring, they might well wear to > the color this bird shows. > > If this is at all regular, it would be a good thing to include in the field > guide that Alan Contreras wants written. > > Wayne > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Greg Gillson" > To: "OBOL" > Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 12:32 PM > Subject: [obol] Odd Western Kingbird plumage > > > > > > I have posted 3 kingbird photos from Wayne Hoffman. The bird seems to > > have very worn wings and tail, except for the tertials. Wayne's note > > is below. > > > > See: http://www.pbase.com/gregbirder/gallery/_from_others > > > > Greg > > > > > > Quoting Wayne Hoffman : > > > > Hi - > > > > On May 25, on my way back from NE Oregon I stopped at Hat Rock State > > Park, which is on the Columbia above McNary Dam. There were several > > Western Kingbirds in the "oasis" of irrigated lawns and shade trees. > > I took photographs of at least 3 Westerns, but tonight I was going > > back through my photos found 2 of a bird with a very odd tail for a > > Western. The tail is not black, and seems to lack white webs on the > > outer rectrices. Instead it is a dark rusty color that appears more > > suited to a Myiarchus or something. The photos are from behind, so do > > not show the breast. The bill may be a bit heavy for western, but does > > not appear particularly long. > > > > I am wondering if SY Westerns would have such a tail? or whether I > > should consider other possibilities? > > > > Would you be willing to post photos? I have cropped and resized to > > reasonably emailable size. > > > > thanks > > > > Wayne > > > > _______________________________________________ > > obol mailing list > > obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org > > http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > obol mailing list > obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org > http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol > -- Daniel Farrar Dunes City, Oregon jdanielfarrar AT gmail.com_______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Smith-Bybee Heron Triple Header From: Ellen Cantor <ellencantor AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 10:48:24 -0700 I kayaked Smith-Bybee Lakes in N. Portland yesterday and had a great day escaping the heat and hanging in the marshes with the birds. Highlights: 1 BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON, 2 GREEN HERONS in a backwater off of the passage between Smith and Bybee Lakes. The whole area was loaded with GREAT BLUE HERONS, TREE and VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS, and the vocalizing of PIED-BILLLED GREBES. Ellen Cantor_______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Wildcat Mt Hermit Warblers From: Ellen Cantor <ellencantor AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 10:42:18 -0700 I hiked Wildcat Mt, east of Estacada on Tuesday and was surrounded by the songs of HERMIT WARBLERS and SWAINSON'S THRUSHES. I had close looks at both species, including an adult bird of each species with a similar fat green caterpillar grasped in each of their beaks. I saw a fledging Swainson's Thrush at one point by the trail and about 1/4 mile or less further on, an adult, with caterpillar in beak, calling loudly and persistently (for at least the 20 minutes I was in the area) for its errant fledgling. The adult Hermit Warblers I saw were all males, though at one point, I saw movement down in a bush where a male had been closely hanging around....maybe the female? a nest? I saw 4 different Hermit Warblers and heard at least 6 more for a total of at least 10. Great wildflowers and views on this hike as well. Ellen Cantor_______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Upper Nestucca area, 7/1 From: "pamela johnston" <pamelaj AT spiritone.com> Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 10:13:10 -0700 Wednesday morning Dave Kennamer took me for a walk above McGuire Reservoir in Yamhill Co, an area new to me. Our birdlist included Hermit, Wilson's, and Townsend's Warblers, Swainson's Thrush, Winter Wren, and Warbling Vireo. Pamela Johnston _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Re: Motorless birding update From: "pamela johnston" <pamelaj AT spiritone.com> Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 10:08:21 -0700 Joe Evanich won the transit-assisted challenge years before its creation by setting a long-standing Multnomah Co big year record without owning a car. I can't say how often someone might have given him a ride, but he did plenty on his own. Pamela Johnston ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joel Geier" To: "Oregon Birders OnLine" ; "Central Oregon Birders" ; "MidValley Birds" Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 7:54 PM Subject: [obol] Motorless birding update Hi folks, There have been a few postings mentioning motorless birding but if you want to follow this more closely, check out: http://www.oregonbirds.org/Listing/motorless.html We're now up to 15 participants, from the Portland Metro area, mid-Willamette Valley, and upper Willamette Valley, plus Bend. Randy Campbell continues to amaze all of us, with 173 species found either on bicycle or on foot. Even if you take away that Pyrrhuloxia in his back yard as just too ridiculously fortuitous to count, that's still mighty impressive. But the kid from Creswell seems to be making a move in the outside lane ... just casually biking 65 miles down to Fern Ridge & back, come on now! Vjera & Eddie Thompson so far have dibs on the "toughest motorless luck" story of the year. After biking 23 miles to Elijah Bristow and successfully finding the Red-eyed Vireo that they were looking for, they started home only to find that they had ... an irreparably flat tire, and no spare inner tube. So they ended up going home by motorized means -- what a heartbreaker! We're still waiting for the first Oregon birder to take up the "transit-assisted" challenge. Wish I could say that we had bus service here, but we don't. But I do know that a bus runs from Portland out to Sauvie Island. And, out in Lincoln County last weekend, I noticed that there's a bus running up and down the coast from Lincoln City to Waldport. So there are some good opportunities out there, just waiting for someone to give it a try. Happy low-impact birding, Joel -- Joel Geier Camp Adair area north of Corvallis _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Idaho birding tip From: Bobbett Pierce <ensatina3 AT hotmail.com> Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 13:04:34 -0400 Mark your "good places to bird" journal with this entry for future reference if you find yourself in northern Idaho. There's a section of the Trail of the Coeur d' Alenes, a paved rail to trail, that goes right thru miles of marshes and alongside lakes. EASTERN KINGBIRDS, CATBIRDS, BLACK TERNS, YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS and other inland birds are common. At migration periods it's probably fantastic. Keep on the lookout for moose, too -- also common there. If you want more info about the best trailheads for prime birding, just email me off of obol. A bike is well worth the effort, but you can also see a portion of the marshes from Highway 3. And altho local experts probably already know about this hotspot in Washington state, there's this tiny town, Washtucna, that is well-known as a migratory fallout area for rare warblers, etc. If you're in eastern Washington in spring or fall, check out Bassett Park there. They claim it's an oasis for birds in a sea of wheat fields. There's one cafe in town, too. Lona Pierce, Warren _________________________________________________________________ Insert movie times and more without leaving Hotmail®. http://windowslive.com/Tutorial/Hotmail/QuickAdd?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Tutorial_QuickAdd_062009 _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: RBA: Portland, OR 7-2-09 From: Harry Nehls <hnehls6 AT comcast.net> Date: Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:38:08 -0700 - RBA * Oregon * Portland * July 2, 2009 * ORPO0907.02 - birds mentioned Clark¹s Grebe Sooty Shearwater Am. White Pelican Am. Avocet Semipalmated Sandpiper Western Sandpiper LEAST TERN Least Flycatcher ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE - 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 July 2. If you have anything to add call Harry Nehls at 503-233-3976. On June 29 an adult LEAST TERN was at Ankeny NWR. It could not be relocated the next day. The GREAT-TAILED GRACKLES near Langlois and at Fern Ridge Reservoir continue to be seen. On June 24 a male ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK was in Bend. The fall adult shorebird migration is now moving through the state. On July 1 a SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER was among WESTERN SANDPIPERS on the North Spit of Coos Bay. SOOTY SHEARWATERS are also arriving just offshore. Two AVOCETS and a CLARK¹S GREBE are still being seen at Baskett Slough NWR. Up to 44 WHITE PELICANS continue at Ankeny NWR. Up to 130 WHITE PELICANS are now at Ochoco Reservoir near Prineville. On June 26 a LEAST FLYCATCHER was calling at the Fort Klamath Cemetary. That¹s it for this week. - end transcript _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Pittock, NW Portland, week ending 07/01/09 From: Wink Gross <winkg AT hevanet.com> Date: Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:59:25 -0700 Here is the summary of my morning dogwalks from NW Seblar Terrace to the Pittock Mansion for the week 06/25 to 07/01/09. Species in ALL CAPS were neither seen nor heard the previous week. This week Lillian and I completed our 9th year of dogwalks (over 2500 walks). Good dog! Additional information about my dogwalk, including an archive of weekly summaries and an UPDATED checklist, may be found at http://www.hevanet.com/winkg/dogwalkpage.html We did the walk 6 days this week. Species # days found (peak #, date) Turkey Vulture 1 (1, 6/29) Cooper's Hawk 1 (1, 6/28) RED-TAILED HAWK 1 (1, 6/27) Band-tailed Pigeon 6 (6, 6/28) Mourning Dove 5 (2) GREAT HORNED OWL 1 (1, 6/26) Vaux's Swift 6 (5) Anna's Hummingbird 5 (2) Rufous Hummingbird 4 (2) RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER 3 (1) Downy Woodpecker 3 (2, 6/28 & 29) Northern Flicker 4 (2) PILEATED WOODPECKER 2 (2, 6/26 & 27) Olive-sided Flycatcher 4 (1) Pacific-slope Flycatcher 5 (2) Hutton's Vireo 4 (1) Steller's Jay 6 (4) Western Scrub-Jay 6 (2) American Crow 6 (10, 6/26) Violet-green Swallow 6 (10) BARN SWALLOW 2 (2, 6/29) Black-capped Chickadee 6 (20) Chestnut-backed Chickadee 5 (15) Bushtit 5 (28, 7/1) Red-breasted Nuthatch 6 (10, 6/27) Brown Creeper 2 (1, 6/26 & 29) Bewick's Wren 3 (3, 6/25) Winter Wren 5 (2) Swainson's Thrush 1 (1, 6/26) American Robin 6 (20) European Starling 5 (4, 6/25) Orange-crowned Warbler 2 (2, 6/25) YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER 1 (1, 6/27) BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER 5 (2) Wilson's Warbler 6 (4, 6/28) Western Tanager 5 (2) Spotted Towhee 6 (7) Song Sparrow 6 (10) Dark-eyed Junco 6 (10) Black-headed Grosbeak 4 (4, 6/28) Brown-headed Cowbird 2 (1, 6/26 & 28) Purple Finch 6 (3) House Finch 6 (10) Red Crossbill 2 (1, 6/28 & 7/1) Pine Siskin 2 (1, 6/25 & 7/1) American Goldfinch 6 (10, 6/27) EVENING GROSBEAK 1 (1, 6/27) Fledglings: Downy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bushtit, Bewick's Wren, Orange-crowned Warbler, Wilson's Warbler Wink Gross Portland _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Lincoln Co. Coast Range this morning From: baileydc AT pdx.edu Date: Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:24:55 GMT This report was mailed for David C. Bailey by http://birdnotes.net Date: July 1, 2009 Location: Lincoln County, Oregon I counted birds incidental to a survey for Marbled Murrlets I conducted this morning very near Euchre Mountain about 10 miles east of Boiler Bay. No murrelets, but a good variety of other birds starting off with displaying COMMON NIGHTHAWKS before sunrise. Notable was a HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER that was singing only the first phrase of its three-phrase song. It sounded similar to a Least Flycatcher's che-Bek, but the individual phrase was repeated with longer intervals than the rapidly repeated pattern of Least. The sound was more of a Sa-lick or cha-bik than a che-bek. I checked some references and apparently HAMMOND'S are known to sing only this first phrase of their song late in the season, so those hearing possible LEAST FLYCATCHER songs--be aware! I also saw the bird and noted its long primary-projection among other marks, that eliminates Least from the list of contenders. The flycatcher readily came into my imitation of Northern Pygmy-Owl hoots. Then a real NORTHERN PYGMY OWL started calling in response and it too came in. As it did, a pair of CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES, HUTTON'S VIREOS, WILSON'S WARBLERS, and single RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD began mobbing the owl and scold-calling incessantly. I also heard my first of season WILLOW FLYCATCHER, a new species for my Lincoln County list (finally). Birds seen (in taxonomic order): Turkey Vulture 2 Northern Pygmy-Owl 1 Common Nighthawk 2 Rufous Hummingbird 2 Hairy Woodpecker 2 Pileated Woodpecker 1 Olive-sided Flycatcher 1 Willow Flycatcher 1 Hammond's Flycatcher 1 [1] Pacific-slope Flycatcher 3 Warbling Vireo 2 Gray Jay 1 Steller's Jay 2 Violet-green Swallow 2 Chestnut-backed Chickadee 2 Winter Wren 1 Swainson's Thrush 4 American Robin 1 Wrentit 1 Cedar Waxwing 2 Orange-crowned Warbler 1 Hermit Warbler 2 Wilson's Warbler 6 Western Tanager 2 Spotted Towhee 1 Song Sparrow 1 White-crowned Sparrow 2 Black-headed Grosbeak 1 Red Crossbill 3 [2] Footnotes: [1] Hammond's Flycatcher: singing only the first two-syllable phrase of its three phrase song, spaced a second or two apart. Long primary-projection noted. [2] Red Crossbill: singing birds. Total number of species seen: 29 _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Motorless birding update From: Joel Geier <joel.geier AT peak.org> Date: Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:54:57 -0700 Hi folks, There have been a few postings mentioning motorless birding but if you want to follow this more closely, check out: http://www.oregonbirds.org/Listing/motorless.html We're now up to 15 participants, from the Portland Metro area, mid-Willamette Valley, and upper Willamette Valley, plus Bend. Randy Campbell continues to amaze all of us, with 173 species found either on bicycle or on foot. Even if you take away that Pyrrhuloxia in his back yard as just too ridiculously fortuitous to count, that's still mighty impressive. But the kid from Creswell seems to be making a move in the outside lane ... just casually biking 65 miles down to Fern Ridge & back, come on now! Vjera & Eddie Thompson so far have dibs on the "toughest motorless luck" story of the year. After biking 23 miles to Elijah Bristow and successfully finding the Red-eyed Vireo that they were looking for, they started home only to find that they had ... an irreparably flat tire, and no spare inner tube. So they ended up going home by motorized means -- what a heartbreaker! We're still waiting for the first Oregon birder to take up the "transit-assisted" challenge. Wish I could say that we had bus service here, but we don't. But I do know that a bus runs from Portland out to Sauvie Island. And, out in Lincoln County last weekend, I noticed that there's a bus running up and down the coast from Lincoln City to Waldport. So there are some good opportunities out there, just waiting for someone to give it a try. Happy low-impact birding, Joel -- Joel Geier Camp Adair area north of Corvallis _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Motorless birding update From: Joel Geier <joel.geier AT peak.org> Date: Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:54:57 -0700 Hi folks, There have been a few postings mentioning motorless birding but if you want to follow this more closely, check out: http://www.oregonbirds.org/Listing/motorless.html We're now up to 15 participants, from the Portland Metro area, mid-Willamette Valley, and upper Willamette Valley, plus Bend. Randy Campbell continues to amaze all of us, with 173 species found either on bicycle or on foot. Even if you take away that Pyrrhuloxia in his back yard as just too ridiculously fortuitous to count, that's still mighty impressive. But the kid from Creswell seems to be making a move in the outside lane ... just casually biking 65 miles down to Fern Ridge & back, come on now! Vjera & Eddie Thompson so far have dibs on the "toughest motorless luck" story of the year. After biking 23 miles to Elijah Bristow and successfully finding the Red-eyed Vireo that they were looking for, they started home only to find that they had ... an irreparably flat tire, and no spare inner tube. So they ended up going home by motorized means -- what a heartbreaker! We're still waiting for the first Oregon birder to take up the "transit-assisted" challenge. Wish I could say that we had bus service here, but we don't. But I do know that a bus runs from Portland out to Sauvie Island. And, out in Lincoln County last weekend, I noticed that there's a bus running up and down the coast from Lincoln City to Waldport. So there are some good opportunities out there, just waiting for someone to give it a try. Happy low-impact birding, Joel -- Joel Geier Camp Adair area north of Corvallis _______________________________________________ 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: Odd Western Kingbird plumage From: "Wayne Hoffman" <whoffman AT peak.org> Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 19:46:52 -0700 Greg Thanks for hosting these. The photos are cropped from the originals and resized. Two are otherwise unchanged. The one you posted on the left is the same as the middle one, but brightened in photoshop. Since sending these to you I found one photo online of a fall immature Western Kingbird with a dark brown rather than black tail. If the same rectrices were kept through the winter and spring, they might well wear to the color this bird shows. If this is at all regular, it would be a good thing to include in the field guide that Alan Contreras wants written. Wayne ----- Original Message ----- From: "Greg Gillson" To: "OBOL" Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 12:32 PM Subject: [obol] Odd Western Kingbird plumage > > I have posted 3 kingbird photos from Wayne Hoffman. The bird seems to > have very worn wings and tail, except for the tertials. Wayne's note > is below. > > See: http://www.pbase.com/gregbirder/gallery/_from_others > > Greg > > > Quoting Wayne Hoffman : > > Hi - > > On May 25, on my way back from NE Oregon I stopped at Hat Rock State > Park, which is on the Columbia above McNary Dam. There were several > Western Kingbirds in the "oasis" of irrigated lawns and shade trees. > I took photographs of at least 3 Westerns, but tonight I was going > back through my photos found 2 of a bird with a very odd tail for a > Western. The tail is not black, and seems to lack white webs on the > outer rectrices. Instead it is a dark rusty color that appears more > suited to a Myiarchus or something. The photos are from behind, so do > not show the breast. The bill may be a bit heavy for western, but does > not appear particularly long. > > I am wondering if SY Westerns would have such a tail? or whether I > should consider other possibilities? > > Would you be willing to post photos? I have cropped and resized to > reasonably emailable size. > > thanks > > Wayne > > _______________________________________________ > obol mailing list > obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org > http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol > _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Regional field notes updated on OFO website From: Joel Geier <joel.geier AT peak.org> Date: Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:50:17 -0700 Hello folks, As of 2006, /Oregon Birds/ no longer prints detailed regional compilations of field notes for each of the nine reporting regions. Instead, a single column gives a statewide overview of the season. For those who are interested in more detailed records for each region, the detailed regional compilations are provided as supplementary materials in electronic form, on the OFO web site at: http://www.oregonbirds.org/FieldNotes/FieldNotesStatewide.html The tabular format of these compilations allows easy searching and sorting by species, county, rarity codes, etc. The ultimate goal is to have all of these data in an on-line, searchable database. I've just now updated the OFO web site with compilations through the Winter 2008-09 field season, for all of the regions for which these are available. I apologize for having sat on a number of these compilations for many months. The regional compiler positions are open for two of Oregon's nine regions (Rogue-Umpqua region and Northeast Oregon). If you'd like to volunteer for this task, please contact me. Also, over the longer term we'd like to convert reports from seasons prior to 2006 into this tabular format. Several of you helped on this a few years back when we wound up with more volunteers than we had files to work with at the time, so Ron, Phil, Bob & Diana, you know what this involves! Now that we know what we're doing, there's a much bigger batch of files to work with -- and no time constraints! -- so I'll be happy to hear from anyone who's interested to help. Thanks & happy birding, Joel -- Joel Geier Camp Adair area north of Corvallis _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Western Kingbird - Clackamas Co. From: Forrest Rowland <rowbird2005 AT yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 18:35:41 -0700 (PDT) Hello all, Today I had my first Western Kingbird for the Molalla area and Clackamas Co. The bird was located on the wireline along Dickie Prairie Rd. just East of town after the OR211/Dickie Prairie Rd split. After the road curves sharply left and heads you towards Feyrer Park from town, there are farms and pastureland on either side of a long straightaway. This is where the bird was at 6:10pm. Good Birding, Forrest Rowland ____________________________________________________________________________________ ¡Obtén la mejor experiencia en la web! Descarga gratis el nuevo Internet Explorer 8. http://downloads.yahoo.com/ieak8/?l=e1_______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: N. Spit Coos Bay Shorebirds -- 1 July 2009 From: Justin Bosler <justin.bosler AT gmail.com> Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 16:57:09 -0700 Hello OBOL, After work this morning, 1 July, I headed out to the N. Spit of Coos Bay (Coos Co.) to see what shorebirds the high tide (at ~10 AM) had brought in. With a total of 8 species, highlighted by a single adult (FOF) SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, I wasn't disappointed. I tried for photos of the Semipalm, but was unsuccessful. I stuck around for roughly 2 and a half hours, and may have stayed longer had I remembered my parka! Shorebirds included: (*note- all non-resident shorebirds were adults.) Killdeer, 15 Greater Yellowlegs, 4 (dropped in around 1145, but didn't stick long) Spotted Sandpiper, 9 (incl. 1 local juv.) Semipalmated Sandpiper, 1 ad. (in WESA flock) Western Sandpiper, 52 (2 flocks) Least Sandpiper, 2 Wilson's Phalarope, 4 (breeding males) Red-necked Phalarope, 1 breeding ad. female Poor digiscoped photos of both phalarope species at this link: http://snipurl.com/lex1d [www_flickr_com] Aside from the shorebirds, the only other sighting of interest was that of a nesting female NORTHERN SHOVELER, which had apparently gone unnoticed all of June. Good Birding, Justin -- Justin Bosler Reedsport, OR justin.bosler AT gmail.com 717-475-9998 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29219448 AT N08/ _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Bird sounds website From: Lee Cain <LCain AT astoria.k12.or.us> Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 14:31:09 -0700 Some of you may not yet have discovered http://www.xeno-canto.org/ -- I hadn't until today. Warning: you can spend a LOT of time here if you are a bird sound geek... Lee Cain >//////> >//////> >//////> >//////> Astoria Oregon _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Eurasian Collared Dove, near Astoria From: Lee Cain <LCain AT astoria.k12.or.us> Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 14:28:50 -0700 "The sightings will continue until morale improves!!" A couple of weeks ago, Josh Saranpaa mentioned seeing a EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE near Lewis and Clark Elementary, about 2 miles south of Astoria. Yesterday I found one perched on a power pole near the base of the school driveway. Don't know if these are the same bird(s) reported in the spring in south Astoria. Lee Cain >//////> >//////> >//////> >//////> Aquatic Biology/Integrated Science https://www.edline.net/pages/Astoria_SHS (go to Contents, then Classes, then by teacher) Astoria High School 1001 West Marine Drive Astoria OR 97103 503-325-3911 vm 301 Astoria OR 97103_______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Odd Western Kingbird plumage From: Greg Gillson <greg AT thebirdguide.com> Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 12:32:47 -0700 I have posted 3 kingbird photos from Wayne Hoffman. The bird seems to have very worn wings and tail, except for the tertials. Wayne's note is below. See: http://www.pbase.com/gregbirder/gallery/_from_others Greg Quoting Wayne Hoffman : Hi - On May 25, on my way back from NE Oregon I stopped at Hat Rock State Park, which is on the Columbia above McNary Dam. There were several Western Kingbirds in the "oasis" of irrigated lawns and shade trees. I took photographs of at least 3 Westerns, but tonight I was going back through my photos found 2 of a bird with a very odd tail for a Western. The tail is not black, and seems to lack white webs on the outer rectrices. Instead it is a dark rusty color that appears more suited to a Myiarchus or something. The photos are from behind, so do not show the breast. The bill may be a bit heavy for western, but does not appear particularly long. I am wondering if SY Westerns would have such a tail? or whether I should consider other possibilities? Would you be willing to post photos? I have cropped and resized to reasonably emailable size. thanks Wayne _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Fw: 10,000 Brown Pelicans From: Seth Reams <nepobirds AT yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 12:25:06 -0700 (PDT) We just received this email. I wanted to share it with all of you. Thank you so much to all of the folks that have sent us great emails! We truly appreciate it! Thank you! --- On Wed, 7/1/09, Deborah Jaques wrote: > From: Deborah Jaques > Subject: Brown Pelicans > To: nepobirds AT yahoo.com > Date: Wednesday, July 1, 2009, > > Greetings > Seth and Michelle, >   > I am a biologist with a > specialty in brown > pelicans.  I have just returned from a trip to > Missouri and read with > interest your report on huge numbers of pelicans off Fort > Stevens. Sorry I > missed that action last week.   I am > guessing that there were > anchovy schools close to shore and that they were possibly > trapped by all the > foraging birds.  That situation may repeat itself > again, so I will go > out and see what I can see this > week.   >   > I am doing monthly counts > by boat at East Sand > Island this year.  My last roost census was around the > second week of > June.  I counted over 7,000 > pelicans then.  I do not doubt > that there are more than 10,000 in the area by now.  >   >   > I would love to see your > photos of the pelicans > that day.  If you can direct me to them or forward, > I'd appreciate > it. >   > Also, a question:  > Did you see any sooty > shearwaters mixed in, or offshore of the pelicans at Ft. > Stevens?   >   > Thanks very much.  > >   > Deborah >   > Deborah Jaques > Pacific Eco Logic > 375 3rd > Street > Astoria, Oregon  97103 _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Sandy River Delta 6/28 From: jeff hayes <bigburd_jh AT yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 10:24:36 -0700 (PDT) Hello birders. Forgive me for the lateness of this report. On Sunday 6/28 I had a few hours to kill in the afternoon, so despite the hour I went birding at Sandy River Delta from 1:30 - 4:00 PM. Surprisingly, quite a few birds were active and singing. I managed to see one of each species of kingbird and heard several REVIs and Chats. Pretty much all the usual suspects were about, except one real oddity: I found NO starlings, no cowbirds, no Red-winged or Brewer's Blackbirds. Strange. Two singing HOUSE WRENs were found along the east-west section of trail north of the slough, among the snags which have hosted Purple Martins in past years. Mallard 1 Turkey Vulture 1 Osprey 1 Red-tailed Hawk 2 Spotted Sandpiper 1 Mourning Dove 3 Hummingbird, sp? 1 Hairy Woodpecker 1 N. Flicker 2 Pileated Woodpecker 1 W. Wood-Pewee 8 Willow Flycatcher 7 Western Kingbird 1 Eastern Kingbird 1 Warbling Vireo 5 Red-eyed Vireo 4 W. Scrub-Jay 5 Am. Crow 4 Tree Swallow 30+ (many juveniles) Violet-green " 4 N. Rough-winged " 5 Cliff Swallow 4 Barn Swallow 6 (low number) Black-c. Chickadee 9 Bushtit 6 White-br Nuthatch 1 Bewick's Wren 4 House Wren 2 Swainson's Thrush 10 Am. Robin 30+ Cedar Waxwing 4 Yellow Warbler 4 Com. Yellowthroat 8 Yellow-br. Chat 3 Spotted Towhee 6 Song Sparrow 15 White-cr. Sparrow 2 Black-h. Grosbeak 8 Lazuli Bunting 7 Bullock's Oriole 4 House Finch 2 Lesser Goldfinch 1 Am. Goldfinch 25+ _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Fern Ridge Night-Herons From: oropendolas AT aol.com Date: Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:11:34 -0400 Hello All, Last night, June 30, I biked?to Fern Ridge?at sunset.?I arrived at the Royal Avenue viewing platform just in time to see 3 adult BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS?fly?in. Also, had a very vocal BARN OWL at the corner of Grennhill and Royal on my ride home ~ 10:00 PM. John Sullivan Springfield, OR_______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Mountain Quail From: Connie or Bruce Ryan <connierbruce AT oregoncoast.com> Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:00:44 -0700 Are any Mountain Quail being seen anywhere in western Oregon currently? Diane Bagues San Leandro, California/Milwaukie, Oregon _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: NORTHERN PARULA From: "Jim & Vikki Hein" <heinjv AT charter.net> Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:58:41 -0700 Obol, A friend, Keith Phifer, is birding in eastern Oregon this week called me this morning to report he had seen a NORTHERN PARULA in the campground at Goose Lake south of Lakeview. He did not have cell coverage and could not get a call out. He saw it several days ago but when he went back later could not refind the bird. He will be back in town in a few days with more information. Good Birding, Jim _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Upcoming pelagic trip: August 8 From: Greg Gillson <greg AT thebirdguide.com> Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:18:27 -0700 Friends, Oregon's fantastic fall pelagic season begins with a trip on August 8, 2009. The "Perpetua Bank: Albatross Hotspot" trip is 11 hours to 40 miles offshore at an underwater feature that is a seabird magnet. We chum twice, for an hour each, about 10 miles apart, bringing ALBATROSSES, FULMARS, JAEGERS and other seabirds right up to the boat for photo opportunities. Many other species are detected during the run out to deeper water and back. Plus, we usually spend a half hour or so near shore on either end of the trip for nearshore specialists including MARBLED MURRELETS and GRAY WHALES. This early fall trip features the best chance during the year for FORK-TAILED STORM-PETRELS, LONG-TAILED JAEGERS, RED and RED-NECKED PHALAROPES, and ARCTIC and COMMON TERNS, and SABINE'S GULLS. If seas are calm this trip often encounters many sharks and marine mammals; HUMPBACK WHALES are frequently seen. Rarities in August have included XANTUS'S MURRELETS, but last year's bird of note was Oregon's first state record of GREATER SHEARWATER! Photo trip report from last year: http://thebirdguide.com/pelagics/archive/08092008.htm Our two other Perpetua Bank trips are September 12 and October 3. Check out the full details on our web site. It will include full trip descriptions, preparation including what to eat, wear, and bring, map to charter, registration form, checklists, and trip report archives. http://thebirdguide.com/pelagics/ Less than 6 weeks to go! Only 15 spaces remain! Greg Gillson Forest Grove, Oregon greg AT thebirdguide.com _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Mountain Quail From: Diane Bagues <dbagues AT earthlink.net> Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:04:26 -0400 (EDT) Are any Mountain Quail currently being seen in western Oregon? Diane Bagues San Leandro, California/Milwaukie, Oregon _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Re: RFI Streaked Horned Lark From: "Mark Nikas" <marknikas AT comcast.net> Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:44:24 -0700 David, The south side of Bruce Rd., about 1/2 mile west of Mcfadden Marsh in WL Finley NWR is a breeding area. Another is further north in Linn County along Diamond Hill Rd. Take the Harrisburg exit off I5 which is Diamond Hill Rd and go south 1 mile. Check the fields on the north side of the road for the next 3/4 mile. There are many other sites for this species in the valley but both of these have sizable populations. Mark Nikas From: scre AT aol.com Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 9:15 AM To: obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org Subject: [obol] RFI Streaked Horned Lark Can anyone tell me good publically accesible places to see Streaked Horned Larks (E. a. strigata). Please respond off list. Thanks in advance. David Vander Pluym Netarts Or -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- An Excellent Credit Score is 750. See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol_______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Re: RFI violet-crowned hummingbird in Oregon - NOT AN RBA From: Shawneen Finnegan <shawneenfinnegan AT gmail.com> Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:30:05 -0700 I do not think it was photographed but I do believe the fellow had a Violet-crowned at his feeders. They are pretty hard to mistake. Jeff Gilligan and I spoke to the observer's daughter (in front of the house) once we learned about it, which was a week after the sighting. Her parents were away by the time we heard about it and we went to the house the following day just i case it was still around. From her description there wasn't much else it could be. Shawneen Finnegan NW Portland On Jun 30, 2009, at 9:39 AM, Craig Tumer wrote: > Last week, a violet-crowned hummingbird was photographed at a feeder > in > southwestern Virginia, and there has been some discussion of vagrancy > patterns in the species. Violet-crowned hummingbird has been > documented > in northern California, and I seem to recall a report of a > violet-crowned hummingbird in Portland within the last year or so. > Does > anyone know if the violet-crowned hummingbird reported in Portland was > ever documented by photographs? > > Thanks. > Craig Tumer > SW Portland > > _______________________________________________ > obol mailing list > obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org > http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: RFI violet-crowned hummingbird in Oregon - NOT AN RBA From: "Craig Tumer" <craig AT greatskua.com> Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:39:38 -0700 Last week, a violet-crowned hummingbird was photographed at a feeder in southwestern Virginia, and there has been some discussion of vagrancy patterns in the species. Violet-crowned hummingbird has been documented in northern California, and I seem to recall a report of a violet-crowned hummingbird in Portland within the last year or so. Does anyone know if the violet-crowned hummingbird reported in Portland was ever documented by photographs? Thanks. Craig Tumer SW Portland _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: RFI Streaked Horned Lark From: scre AT aol.com Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:15:21 -0400 Can anyone tell me good publically accesible places to see Streaked Horned Larks (E. a. strigata).? Please respond off list.? Thanks in advance. David Vander Pluym Netarts Or_______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: no Least Tern From: "rich armstrong" <richarmstrong AT comcast.net> Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:36:12 -0700 nanette & i got to ankeny about 645 this morning and there was NO least tern and NO pelicans. we checked to other overlook where there is not very much water. then went back to wintel overlook and even walked the boardwalk. Rich Armstrong 541-753-1978 ----- Original Message ----- From: Roy Gerig To: obol Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 8:56 PM Subject: [obol] More on Ankeny Least Tern and other birds I went to Ankeny NWR this afternoon hoping to find a Tern, but was not thinking of a Least Tern. I was thinking more of Caspian, Black or Forster's, which do nest in the state, or occasionally locally. When I looked across the large pond from the Wintel Road overlook, just east of the railroad tracks, I saw a small pale bird in the distance over the far end of that wetland. Without bins I could see that it was small and flew in a distinctive buoyant way and I first thought Forster's Tern, or Bonaparte's Gull. But when I got on it with binoculars I could see that the back was too uniform light gray for that, and it wasn't a juvenile Black Tern either so I thought it was a Least Tern, but I guess I didn't really expect it to prove out that way once I got a better look. I walked up the dike to get closer looks and soon saw the bird on an island, clearly a LEAST TERN. I could easily see a somewhat large and very yellow bill, a white forehead, black cap, and small size not much bigger than a Killdeer. Then it flew and while the flight pattern is reminiscent of Forster's Tern and it does have narrow wings, it is also a little like Killdeer on the wing downstroke at least. It seemed to be flycatching up high with some swallows (do Least Terns flycatch?) some of the time and diving for fish (successfully) at other times. I put a call out for some local birders, and got Wes Craven. He came out and was able to see the bird quite well with me. We noted all field marks, just as shown in Sibley, with one exception: this bird's back looked to us a little darker than shown in Sibley. You can easily see the dark leading edge of distal half of the wings, as the first 2 primaries are dark, otherwise the back is uniform light gray. As noted in Sibley, the tail is shorter than some terns. Just before Wes got there, around 4:30, I saw 10,000 (just kidding, really 44) AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS flying in from the hills over South Salem and finally landing on the same pond. When Wes got there he told me that he didn't think it was 10,000 White Pelicans, so I counted. It was 44. The highest number of White Pelicans I've ever seen before at Ankeny is 14. The LEAST TERN continued during next the hour and a half, sometimes disappearing for 4,5 or once about 10 minutes, and was still there when we both had to leave, around 6:30. Other birds at Ankeny today: I saw a probable Bank Swallow several times, pretty sure not a young Tree Swallow (too small, white chin and breastband too distinct; but I never got diagnostic looks or a call) where I have seen the species once before. We saw 5 GREATER YELLOWLEGS and a half dozen LEAST SANDPIPERS plus a few KILLDEER and SPOTTED SANDPIPER, of shorebirds. A COOPER'S HAWK flew overhead. We could see an AMERICAN BITTERN frozen in the marsh vegetation, and I saw another one on the other side of the refuge from the kiosk on my way home. There are still 2 huge fat and ugly white geese that can be seen from the kiosk as well. They've been there for awhile... I hope some other birders get to see this beautiful little Least Tern. Mostly Terns don't stick around when they appear locally but this one seemed to be finding food and maybe will stay for awhile? Roy Gerig, Salem OR ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Windows Live™ SkyDrive™: Get 25 GB of free online storage. Get it on your BlackBerry or iPhone. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol_______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Least Tern at Ankeny From: "John Gatchet" <john.gatchet AT oc.npuc.org> Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:54:35 -0700 I read Roy's first post on the LEAST TERN at 7:35 while working in my office. I left my office in Gladstone at 7:45 and arrived at the Wintel Road overlook at 8:40 pm. I found the LEAST TERN right away and watched it through my scope and binoculars until 9:05 pm. The bird was flying like a Forster's Tern on steroids. In the windy conditions the flight behavior was sometimes quite swallow like. I watched it dive at least 20 times as it was actively feeding. In the last 8 minutes of observation the bird flew high above the pond area and may have been catching insects. Roy's physical description of the bird in his second post was quite accurate as far as what I observed. I agree that the top side of the wings looked darker than I would have expected, but all else indicated an adult bird. A gentlemen by the first name of Victor who lives in the area and I have seen at this spot before got his binoculars out and enjoyed looking at the bird as well. He arrived at 8:45 pm. The AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS were there and I heard an AMERICAN BITTERN. Roy, thank you for posting so quickly. This allowed me to see my favorite tern. John F. Gatchet Gresham, OR _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Fern Ridge 6/29 From: Noah Strycker <birdboy AT bkpix.com> Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:27:26 -0700 Hi birders, In the spirit of motorless birding, I biked to Fern Ridge this morning (round trip 65 miles) to beef up my list and legs. Highlights: 3 - BLACK PHOEBE (1 at south Fisher Unit pond, 2 at Cantrell Rd bridge) 2 - HORNED LARK (probably breeding in East Coyote Unit) 1 - BONAPARTE'S GULL 2 - CASPIAN TERN 1 - RED-SHOULDERED HAWK (vocal and territorial at Cantrell Rd bridge) 1 - GRASSHOPPER SPARROW (north of Royal) 2 - BLACK-NECKED STILT (adult with young fledgling) 1 - WESTERN SANDPIPER 8 - LEAST SANDPIPER 11 - GREATER YELLOWLEGS 1 - BLUE-WINGED TEAL (male in south Fisher Unit pond) 1 - BUFFLEHEAD 2 - HOODED MERGANSER (pair) 1 - NORTHERN SHOVELER 2 - AMERICAN WIGEON Quite a few shorebirds were picking around Pelican Island, but it was difficult to sort through them without a scope. Didn't see the grackle out there - it was probably hiding behind the shorebirds and pelicans. Good birding, Noah Strycker_______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Re: Nighthawk feeding on the ground From: "Paul T. Sullivan" <ptsulliv AT spiritone.com> Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:24:57 -0700 Maitreya, Years ago I climbed S. Coyote Butte at the Malheur Field Station at dusk, looking for Poorwills. Instead, I saw a female Common Nighthawk walking on the path in front of me, picking at the ground like a chicken in a barnyard. The interesting thing was that a male nighthawk was diving overhead, displaying for her. She paid no discernable attention. When I wasn't looking, the male moved his diving position. When I looked on the ground again I saw that the female had moved. Paul T. Sullivan ------------------------------------- Subject: Nighthawk feeding on the ground From: Leith McKenzie Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:05:59 -0700 (PDT) I am currently at Carpenter Mountain Lookout. I just watched a Nighthawk land outside my door, harvest and eat 2 insects while walking about 2 feet on the ground. Maitreya _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: More on Ankeny Least Tern and other birds From: Roy Gerig <roygerig AT hotmail.com> Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:56:18 -0700 I went to Ankeny NWR this afternoon hoping to find a Tern, but was not thinking of a Least Tern. I was thinking more of Caspian, Black or Forster's, which do nest in the state, or occasionally locally. When I looked across the large pond from the Wintel Road overlook, just east of the railroad tracks, I saw a small pale bird in the distance over the far end of that wetland. Without bins I could see that it was small and flew in a distinctive buoyant way and I first thought Forster's Tern, or Bonaparte's Gull. But when I got on it with binoculars I could see that the back was too uniform light gray for that, and it wasn't a juvenile Black Tern either so I thought it was a Least Tern, but I guess I didn't really expect it to prove out that way once I got a better look. I walked up the dike to get closer looks and soon saw the bird on an island, clearly a LEAST TERN. I could easily see a somewhat large and very yellow bill, a white forehead, black cap, and small size not much bigger than a Killdeer. Then it flew and while the flight pattern is reminiscent of Forster's Tern and it does have narrow wings, it is also a little like Killdeer on the wing downstroke at least. It seemed to be flycatching up high with some swallows (do Least Terns flycatch?) some of the time and diving for fish (successfully) at other times. I put a call out for some local birders, and got Wes Craven. He came out and was able to see the bird quite well with me. We noted all field marks, just as shown in Sibley, with one exception: this bird's back looked to us a little darker than shown in Sibley. You can easily see the dark leading edge of distal half of the wings, as the first 2 primaries are dark, otherwise the back is uniform light gray. As noted in Sibley, the tail is shorter than some terns. Just before Wes got there, around 4:30, I saw 10,000 (just kidding, really 44) AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS flying in from the hills over South Salem and finally landing on the same pond. When Wes got there he told me that he didn't think it was 10,000 White Pelicans, so I counted. It was 44. The highest number of White Pelicans I've ever seen before at Ankeny is 14. The LEAST TERN continued during next the hour and a half, sometimes disappearing for 4,5 or once about 10 minutes, and was still there when we both had to leave, around 6:30. Other birds at Ankeny today: I saw a probable Bank Swallow several times, pretty sure not a young Tree Swallow (too small, white chin and breastband too distinct; but I never got diagnostic looks or a call) where I have seen the species once before. We saw 5 GREATER YELLOWLEGS and a half dozen LEAST SANDPIPERS plus a few KILLDEER and SPOTTED SANDPIPER, of shorebirds. A COOPER'S HAWK flew overhead. We could see an AMERICAN BITTERN frozen in the marsh vegetation, and I saw another one on the other side of the refuge from the kiosk on my way home. There are still 2 huge fat and ugly white geese that can be seen from the kiosk as well. They've been there for awhile... I hope some other birders get to see this beautiful little Least Tern. Mostly Terns don't stick around when they appear locally but this one seemed to be finding food and maybe will stay for awhile? Roy Gerig, Salem OR _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live™ SkyDrive™: Get 25 GB of free online storage. http://windowslive.com/online/skydrive?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_SD_25GB_062009_______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: RBA Marion County LEAST TERN 6/29 From: Roy Gerig <roygerig AT hotmail.com> Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:12:09 -0700 Real quick in case anyone still wants to go for it before dark: I found an adult LEAST TERN at Ankeny NWR south of Salem about 4 PM, still there at 6:30 when I left. Seen from Wintel Rd. overlook, across the pond there. More later, Roy Gerig, Salem OR _________________________________________________________________ Lauren found her dream laptop. Find the PC that’s right for you. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/choosepc/?ocid=ftp_val_wl_290_______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Re: Odell Lake eagle From: roger morris <rie AT pcfubar.net> Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:06:12 -0700 I would think the conditions during the mating process would determine the number of eggs. I would imagine the ready supply of fish would determine survivability of the eaglet(s). I thought I read the young are probably as large or larger than the adults by the time they leave the nest? Roger On Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 2:33 PM, Tom Escue wrote: > I too have watched the nest on the webcam often. Last year the nest failed. > The egg did not hatch. This year's effort was successful. I am amazed that > the nest survived the wind and snow of spring-time at that location. > > It would seem that there would should be more than one egg considering the > nice fish supply available in Odell lake. Any ideas on that? > > I am amazed at how fast the eaglet bulked up after hatching. _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Klamath Falls, 6-29-09 From: Julie Van Moorhem <jvanmoo AT sisna.com> Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:52:48 -0700 Marilyn Christian and I tried to find the Least Flycatcher reported at Ft. Klamath but didn't have any luck. We did find about 6 BLACK- BACKED WOODPECKERS at the Cave Mtn burn area north of Chiloquin and a singing CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER. At Wood River Wetland, around 2 PM, we found an AMERICAN BITTERN--got great looks as it flew up close to us and then flew first away from us, dropped down into reeds, and then flew up and circled towards us for a fly-by. Good birding y'all, Julie Van Moorhem Klamath Falls _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Curry GT Grackles 6/29/2009 From: garbledmodwit AT yahoo.com Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:35:19 -0700 (PDT) Knute Andersson just sent this to me.  He lives just south and west of Langlois. This is the 4th sighting in that generally area since 29 May, the first with two birds though (not sure on the sex this last report).  Anyhow, somewhere between Port Orford and Floras Lake there are probably one or two birds hanging out?  They seem to be moving though, none of the sightings so far have involved seeing the bird more than one day at a site. Wind gusts to 45mph again on the coast today (current blowing at 37mph with gusts to 43), with winds already blowing 15mph+ on the beaches at sunrise- bring your parka if your headed over for the 4th! The only news bird-wise from Coos Co. lately was the first juvie WILSON'S PHALAROPE out on the N. Spit of Coos Bay back on 21 June. Have a good one! Tim R Coos Bay --- On Mon, 6/29/09, knute andersson wrote: > From: knute andersson > Subject: > To: "Tim Rodenkirk" > Date: Monday, June 29, 2009, 11:52 AM > two Great-tailed Grackles here on the farm for a few minutes at > 10 am- headed north without a picture _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Odell Lake eagle From: "Tom Escue" <tom-escue AT comcast.net> Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:33:58 -0700 I too have watched the nest on the webcam often. Last year the nest failed. The egg did not hatch. This year's effort was successful. I am amazed that the nest survived the wind and snow of spring-time at that location. It would seem that there would should be more than one egg considering the nice fish supply available in Odell lake. Any ideas on that? I am amazed at how fast the eaglet bulked up after hatching. Tom Escue Springfield_______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Odell lake Eagle From: roger morris <rie AT pcfubar.net> Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:19:30 -0700 I occasionally go watch the eagle nest at Odell Lake. (via the web) Today, the adult was feeding on something. The young was just watching. When the adult had enough, it took a few flaps and moved up to a branch above the nest. The young watched the adult go up there. As if trying to figure out how to get up there, the young started flapping his wings. He didn't go anywhere, but still didn't keep him from trying. I'm not sure how soon they start their flapping before they actually fly. I figured with May 15th hatch, the eaglet isn't due to fledge for a few more weeks yet. _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: multiple bullbats in western Washington County From: Norgren Family <gnorgren AT earthlink.net> Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:36:25 -0700 Last night I saw and heard three or more nighthawks at once in a clearcut off Hayward Road. It has been decades since I have encountered a "flock" of this species in nw Oregon. I have heard one at this spot on every evening visit since June 12 so it's probably a reliable spot for folks in the Portland area desiring to see this semi-rarity. The prolonged sunsets at this time of year and the waxing moon guarantee a very pleasant outing this entire week. The walk in is about a mile, with a nice view at the end of western Tualatin Valley, the part including Forest Grove and Fernhill Wetland. The clearcut is on an extensive south slope and true wild blackberries(Rubus ursinus) are starting to ripen. This ancestor to the Marion blackberry has such a fabulously intense flavor that it alone could justify the hike. Bring a non-birding friend, maybe a romantic interest. The ox-eye daisies that line the logging road and the foxglove in the clearcut are not native but look fabulous in the rosy twilight. Hayward Road leaves Hwy 26 between mileposts 46 and 47, just across the street from the Manning trailhead of the Banks-Vernonia linear park. This is about 4 miles west of Tillamook jct (where Hwy 6 begins and contolled access to 26 ends) or 2 miles east of Vernonia jct ("Staley's", where hwy 47 diverges from 26 to go north). Drive up Hayward Road almost 2 1/2 miles to where there is a gate on either side of the road. Park here and walk south past the blue gate. Bear left at the bottom of the slope and don't panic when you get to the steep stretch, it's relatively short. There are lots of birds to hear such as Pacific-slope Flycatcher and Willow Flycatcher, although it's not easy to see them. At the top of the grade a road goes left. Go straight ahead and you will soon come to an acute angled fork. This is the clearcut with the nighthawks. The left fork will take you up a bit higher for slightly better views. The right fork descends gently before curving north around the east side of the clearcut. This gives good access to blackberries. Pay attention to the road. There are Mountain Quail dustbaths at regular intervals. They evidently use the same spot repeatedly as each scrape has gotten deeper over the past month. It is possible to walk back west though the clearcut where this road reaches a high spot and rejoin the previously mentioned spur. Earlier in the day you might see Western Bluebirds foraging here, and Olive-sided Flycatchers have been calling from both the highest and lowest ends of the clearcut. The hilltop to the east provides stunning views of the entire Tualatin Valley, but trees along the road have grown so fast that it's almost necessary to climb one to see very far these days. Back at the gate be on the alert for Barred Owls. A juvenile bird is hanging out in the hollow to the north, making its begging screech frequently. Lars Norgren _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Re: On the non-warblerness of Chats From: Rich Hoyer <birdernaturalist AT me.com> Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:06:16 -0700 Hi All, The latest genetic information actually suggests that Yellow-breasted Chat is most closely related to Bobolink. When this is finally resolved, it would either be moved to Icteridae, or both would have to be removed and placed in a different family (or maybe even 2 different families; Bobolink isn't very icterid-like either). Just google "icteria dolichonyx" (without the quotes) for more info and citations. Good Birding, Rich --- Rich Hoyer Tucson, Arizona Senior Leader for WINGS http://wingsbirds.com --- On Jun 28, 2009, at 8:49 PM, Joel Geier wrote: > Dennis Vroman wrote: > >> ...Yellow-breasted Chat (although it might end up a non-warbler by a >> AOU decision). > > Hooray for that! Chats are anything but warblers. Their manic > repertoire > and nocturnal habits place them closer to mockingbirds, so far as I'm > concerned. > > Warblers are little, tiny birds that sing too fast for me to remember > their songs from one week to the next. Chats are something else. > > Cheers, > Joel > > (writing from Camp Adair, a.k.a. the Willamette Valley's Chat Central, > where due to the cool spring they seem to be singing later into the > season than usual -- still doing display flights even -- and all > through > the night). > > > > _______________________________________________ > obol mailing list > obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org > http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Common Nighthawk Clatsop Co. - 6/28/2009 From: Mike Patterson <celata AT pacifier.com> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:14:25 -0700 I got to see (and hear) a day-flying COMMON NIGHTHAWK at Hamilton Creek Meadow just west of Jewell this afternoon while doing butterfly surveys. -- Mike Patterson Astoria, OR Weaponized Ginseng http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/northcoastdiaries/11435/ _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Nighthawk feeding on the ground From: Leith McKenzie <loinneilceol AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:05:59 -0700 (PDT) I am currently at Carpenter Mountain Lookout. I just watched a Nighthawk land outside my door, harvest and eat 2 insects while walking about 2 feet on the ground. Maitreya _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Sisters Least Flycatcher photos From: Stephen Shunk <steve AT paradisebirding.com> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:57:57 -0700 All, Here are a few of my digiscoped pixof the LEAST FLYCATCHER found at Calliope Crossing late this morning. Some of the characters to note include: - dark wing-coverts and tertials strongly contrasting with light feather edges - short, broad-based, mostly bright-colored bill - bold complete eye-ring - whitish throat contrasting with darker chest and flanks - pale buffy/yellowish tint to lower belly - short primary projection - compact, "pudgy", large-headed overall shape Of course, these characters are not individually unique to this species, but all of them together make a pretty good case. What first caught my attention, however, was the diagnostic "song," a spirited, snappy, rapidly (almost incessantly) repeated *chi-bek, *an unmistakable and characteristic song of the boreal forest. There are a handful of LEAST FLYCATCHER records from Deschutes County, and this makes a least the third from the vicinity of Indian Ford Creek (one from Ind. Ford Campground; one near the headwaters of the creek, on the west side of Black Butte Ranch; and this one near Calliope Crossing); all of these records are from June. Local fall migration records include the Redmond Sewage Ponds in September and Tumalo State Park in early October. As many of you know, LEAST FLYCATCHER has bred along the John Day River. In case today's bird continues in the area, we should watch carefully for breeding behavior, especially considering the multiple June records along Indian Ford Creek. Could flycatchers be as fun as woodpeckers?! Steve Shunk -- Stephen Shunk Paradise Birding Sisters, OR USA www.paradisebirding.com 541-408-1753_______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Sisters Least Flycatcher photos From: Stephen Shunk <steve AT paradisebirding.com> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:57:57 -0700 All, Here are a few of my digiscoped pixof the LEAST FLYCATCHER found at Calliope Crossing late this morning. Some of the characters to note include: - dark wing-coverts and tertials strongly contrasting with light feather edges - short, broad-based, mostly bright-colored bill - bold complete eye-ring - whitish throat contrasting with darker chest and flanks - pale buffy/yellowish tint to lower belly - short primary projection - compact, "pudgy", large-headed overall shape Of course, these characters are not individually unique to this species, but all of them together make a pretty good case. What first caught my attention, however, was the diagnostic "song," a spirited, snappy, rapidly (almost incessantly) repeated *chi-bek, *an unmistakable and characteristic song of the boreal forest. There are a handful of LEAST FLYCATCHER records from Deschutes County, and this makes a least the third from the vicinity of Indian Ford Creek (one from Ind. Ford Campground; one near the headwaters of the creek, on the west side of Black Butte Ranch; and this one near Calliope Crossing); all of these records are from June. Local fall migration records include the Redmond Sewage Ponds in September and Tumalo State Park in early October. As many of you know, LEAST FLYCATCHER has bred along the John Day River. In case today's bird continues in the area, we should watch carefully for breeding behavior, especially considering the multiple June records along Indian Ford Creek. Could flycatchers be as fun as woodpeckers?! Steve Shunk -- Stephen Shunk Paradise Birding Sisters, OR USA www.paradisebirding.com 541-408-1753_______________________________________________ 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: Chat taxonomy From: Mike Patterson <celata AT pacifier.com> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:00:45 -0700 For those who feel left out on the whole chat family tree thing, this from the BNA: "Considerable controversy has surrounded the question of this species’ taxonomic placement, the early history of which is described by Sibley and Ahlquist (1982). Eisenmann (1962) called into question the then generally accepted placement of the species in the wood-warblers by noting W. J. Beecher’s correction to an earlier publication that the pinnate M7b (M. adductor mandibulae externus medialis —a jaw muscle) is missing, suggesting an affinity to tanagers (Thraupidae), and W. George’s comment that the hyoid apparatus differs from that of most genera of New World 9-primaried oscines. Ficken and Ficken (1962a) listed morphological and behavioral characters in which the species differs from other parulids. Nevertheless, 2 analyses based on molecular characters place the species in the wood-warblers. Avise et al. (1980) examined 16 proteins encoded by 26 loci in 28 species of wood-warbler, 1 thrush (Turdidae), and 1 vireo (Vireonidae); although somewhat distinct genetically from other wood-warblers, the species was grouped within the parulids (but see Ingold et al. 1988). Sibley and Ahlquist (1982), using DNA hybridization, also placed the species within the wood-warblers when compared with tanagers, vireos, mimids (Mimidae), and other taxa." -- Mike Patterson Astoria, OR Weaponized Ginseng http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/northcoastdiaries/11435/ _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: On the non-warblerness of Chats From: Joel Geier <joel.geier AT peak.org> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:49:53 -0700 Dennis Vroman wrote: > ...Yellow-breasted Chat (although it might end up a non-warbler by a > AOU decision). Hooray for that! Chats are anything but warblers. Their manic repertoire and nocturnal habits place them closer to mockingbirds, so far as I'm concerned. Warblers are little, tiny birds that sing too fast for me to remember their songs from one week to the next. Chats are something else. Cheers, Joel (writing from Camp Adair, a.k.a. the Willamette Valley's Chat Central, where due to the cool spring they seem to be singing later into the season than usual -- still doing display flights even -- and all through the night). _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Forwarded - re: RFI Red Crossbills From: "Judy Meredith" <jmeredit AT bendnet.com> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:43:33 -0700 From: "Dean Hale" mep AT q.com HI OBOLERS, Julie Smith called me last week to ask for help on studying red crossbills. Here is her Email. If anyone has some information it would be much appreciated. Please contact her. Thanks, Dean. ----- Original Message ----- From: smith AT plu.edu I teach at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA and I work on Red Crossbills (specifically song divergence). This summer I am trying to record the songs of as many of the call types as possible. I would greatly appreciate any information that anyone has about red crossbills. They will likely be settling down to breed soon and so if anyone hears crossbills singing or observes behaviors that suggest that they are likely to remain in a given area to breed I would greatly appreciate an email to indicate where they were observed. Also helpful is information about developing cone crops. They specialize on seeds in conifer cones and so if there is a large cone crop in a given area this can be a good indicator that crossbills may breed in that area in July - August. It would be very helpful to know about cone crops for the following conifers - Ponderosa pine, Engleman spruce, Douglas fir, Western hemlock, Sitka spruce. Thanks for your help. Best, Julie smith AT plu.edu _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Re: 10,000 Pelicans From: "Phil Pickering" <philliplc AT charter.net> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:16:09 -0700 Speaking for myself, the trouble was not with the report itself which I took at face value. The trouble was the photo titles and captions suggest the number they document was being overestimated which, along with the report of 1000s of Marbled Murrelets elsewhere did not inspire confidence in the accuracy of the Pelican total. This is knowing from experience that even careful block counting can lead to inaccuracy when they are unevenly distributed with multiple dense clumps. That is not to say there weren't 10k+ there, but it is the reason I posted about the ease of overestimating Pelican numbers, and presumably the reason some others may have questioned the total. If anybody is dismissing the report out of hand that would indeed be doing a disservice to the Oregon birding community, but I'm guessing few if any are actually doing that. In this case there is objective reason to be skeptical pending further documentation or corroboration, and that isn't something that should be taken personally. Happens to everyone. Cheers, Phil _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Re: 10,000 Pelicans - the final feather... From: Vern DiPietro <vernd AT oregonfast.net> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:23:50 -0700 I agree! On Jun 28, 2009, at 7:20 PM, Will Clemons wrote: > > Seth and Michelle, > > I was saddened to read your latest post. > > I have enjoyed your posts and your photos; especially when the two > of you were blessed from time to time to have some uncommon visitor > drop into your back yard and pose for photos - bravo. > > I particularly enjoyed your Brown Pelican photos. That's a boat > load of Pelicans to be sure, I said to myself. I have seen > hundreds (when N & S bound flocks in a day were aggregated), but I > have never had the good fortune that the two of you had to witness > the spectacle you photographed a part of. It reminds one of being > in the Klamath area when thousands upon thousands of Snow Geese are > there. > > I have birded in the Pacific Northwest for approaching 30 years > now, and I have learned that to be a birder who speaks up about > what one sees, one must take a Duck's approach to water relative to > the ego that exists in our Oregon birding community. We need to let > it roll off our back, because it will not cease or soften. Public > birders on OBOL for some unknown reason seem to face more > negativity than appears on other sites up and down the Pacific Coast.` > > Be upset. > Let it settle. > Do not quit posting your words or your photos. > The two of you add value to OBOL! > > Will Clemons > SW of Portland > willclemons AT Yahoo dot com > > Birding: > The best excuse for getting outdoors > And avoiding chores > > > > > _______________________________________________ > obol mailing list > obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org > http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol > Vern DiPietro Ada Oregon. www.vernondipietrophotographer.com "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those that mind, don't matter, and those who matter, don't mind." -- Dr Seuss _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Re: 10,000 Pelicans - the final feather... From: Will Clemons <willclemons AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:20:59 -0700 (PDT) Seth and Michelle, I was saddened to read your latest post. I have enjoyed your posts and your photos; especially when the two of you were blessed from time to time to have some uncommon visitor drop into your back yard and pose for photos - bravo. I particularly enjoyed your Brown Pelican photos. That's a boat load of Pelicans to be sure, I said to myself. I have seen hundreds (when N & S bound flocks in a day were aggregated), but I have never had the good fortune that the two of you had to witness the spectacle you photographed a part of. It reminds one of being in the Klamath area when thousands upon thousands of Snow Geese are there. I have birded in the Pacific Northwest for approaching 30 years now, and I have learned that to be a birder who speaks up about what one sees, one must take a Duck's approach to water relative to the ego that exists in our Oregon birding community. We need to let it roll off our back, because it will not cease or soften. Public birders on OBOL for some unknown reason seem to face more negativity than appears on other sites up and down the Pacific Coast.` Be upset. Let it settle. Do not quit posting your words or your photos. The two of you add value to OBOL! Will Clemons SW of Portland willclemons AT Yahoo dot com Birding: The best excuse for getting outdoors And avoiding chores _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: An Observation From: Kevin Smith <kevinsmithnaturephotos AT gmail.com> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:00:54 -0700 In the past few days and weeks I have been photographing many different nestlings. The common thread here is excrement and how it is handled and 'Homeland Security'. Common in raptors is expelling the foul stuff out of the nest as if from a water gun. The nestling backs up to the edge (sometimes rather awkwardly) and expels its load some twenty feet or so depending on the height of the nest. This tends to keep the area under the nest free from whitewash in contrast to Owls which do not expel quite as far and whose nests are therefore much easier to spot (sic). In the smaller birds (Warbling, Cassin's Vireos, Sparrows, Kingbirds, etc) the parents 'change the diapers' by removing a nicely packaged fecal sac which they fly off with some distance, maybe 50 to 100 feet. They seem to know when the nestling is about to produce this sac and will wait patiently until it pops out of the anal opening. Some nestlings will do a little 'wiggle dance' before this occurs. As in our population both the female and male take part in this cleaning, though the female seems to do it more often. I'm sure that if our progeny were to extrude this nice little 'package' the male of our species might partake more often. In the Woodpecker/Sapsucker/Flicker populations they carve out the interior of the nest cavity in such a way as to produce 'sawdust' as a nest lining. This sawdust comes in handy later as the nestlings are too far down in the nest for the parents to remove a nice packet as in the Vireos, etc and they cannot 'shoot' it out of the nest because of the depth of things, so it gets deposited in the nest bottom, in the sawdust. The parents then 'go deep' and retrieve a 'lump' of wet sawdust which is then carried away some distance from the nest cavity as in the Sparrows, Vireos, etc. This behavior ensures that intruders will not discover the where a bouts of the nestlings. Of course SOME nestlings announce their where a bouts with a constant crying call of "FEED ME!" This is especially true of the Red-naped Sapsucker nestlings who's nest can be easily located if your hearing is even as poor as mine. Others nestlings only cry when the parents come in with food. This seems much safer for said nestlings. But SOME parents are so proud of the fact that they have built a beautiful home er nest that they will sing non-stop while sitting on said nest right up until they have laid eggs and are incubating them (Sound familiar?). Until recently I never knew that the Vireos did this odd behavior. And I mean they REALLY SING it OUT! I look forward to exploring more the behavior of nesting birds. It is truly astonishing. Kevin Smith -- Kevin Smith Crooked River Ranch, Oregon _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: LEAST FLYCATCHER Calliope Crossing From: Stephen Shunk <steve AT paradisebirding.com> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:49:20 -0700 All, Steve and Bonnie Altshuld and I were birding at Calliope Crossing this morning, and just before noon, we found a vigorously singing LEAST FLYCATCHER about one-half mile upstream from the crossing on the south side of the creek. The bird made repeated loops around a small territory between the creek and the 900 road. As Judy mentions below, FR 900 is the road that leaves Pine Street westward just south of the crossing, parallelling the creek on its south side. About a half-mile west of the junction, there is a small opening on the north side of the road with 2 large, live ponderosa pines at its center. I marked the location with "Halloween"-colored flagging. The bird sang almost continuously for 15 minutes or so before we left to look for woodpeckers (we had our priorities straight!). At about 3 p.m., I drove back by the spot and did not see or hear the bird, but it was quite hot and things were generally quiet. I will post some poor pictures soon, and Steve A. has some good ones in full sun I'll get from him later. Thanks for the initial posting, Judy! Steve On Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 11:52 AM, Judy Meredith wrote: > Hi birders > 11:50 a.m. > Steve Shunk just this minute called and is listening to and watching a > LEAST FLYCATCHER at Calliope Crossing. > Directions - Go about 1/4 to 1/2 mile down the 900 road, just past > the snowberry patch. ( 900 road is the one that is perpendicular to > Pine Street) > Have fun, > Judy > jmeredit AT bendnet.com > > _______________________________________________ > 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. > -- Stephen Shunk Paradise Birding Sisters, OR USA www.paradisebirding.com 541-408-1753_______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: LEAST FLYCATCHER Calliope Crossing From: Stephen Shunk <steve AT paradisebirding.com> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:49:20 -0700 All, Steve and Bonnie Altshuld and I were birding at Calliope Crossing this morning, and just before noon, we found a vigorously singing LEAST FLYCATCHER about one-half mile upstream from the crossing on the south side of the creek. The bird made repeated loops around a small territory between the creek and the 900 road. As Judy mentions below, FR 900 is the road that leaves Pine Street westward just south of the crossing, parallelling the creek on its south side. About a half-mile west of the junction, there is a small opening on the north side of the road with 2 large, live ponderosa pines at its center. I marked the location with "Halloween"-colored flagging. The bird sang almost continuously for 15 minutes or so before we left to look for woodpeckers (we had our priorities straight!). At about 3 p.m., I drove back by the spot and did not see or hear the bird, but it was quite hot and things were generally quiet. I will post some poor pictures soon, and Steve A. has some good ones in full sun I'll get from him later. Thanks for the initial posting, Judy! Steve On Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 11:52 AM, Judy Meredith wrote: > Hi birders > 11:50 a.m. > Steve Shunk just this minute called and is listening to and watching a > LEAST FLYCATCHER at Calliope Crossing. > Directions - Go about 1/4 to 1/2 mile down the 900 road, just past > the snowberry patch. ( 900 road is the one that is perpendicular to > Pine Street) > Have fun, > Judy > jmeredit AT bendnet.com > > _______________________________________________ > 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. > -- Stephen Shunk Paradise Birding Sisters, OR USA www.paradisebirding.com 541-408-1753_______________________________________________ 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: Washington Ornithological Society Convention From: "Wilson Cady" <gorgebirds AT juno.com> Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:31:52 GMT This year's Washington Ornithological Society Convention is being held in Kelso/Longview on September 18, 19, 20 & 21, 2009 Registration is now open for the 2009 WOS conference in Kelso/Longview. If you get your registration in before July 3rd, you will receive priority status for the field trips of your choice. Highlights of the conference include: Over 40 field trips to choose from. We will cover a wide swath of southwest Washington, from the ocean to the Columbia Gorge to Mt St Helens. We will have owling trips and birding by kayak. Some of the premier birders in the state will be leading the trips, including several who live in this corner of the state An evening presentation for the Washington Rare Birds committee A banquet with special speaker Robert Michael Pyle, noted author and naturalist Register now at http://www.wos.org/2009conference.htm Wilson Cady Washougal, WA ____________________________________________________________ Win the battle of the bulge with great liposuction solutions. Click now! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTJeOKDwhy7eNqXbfwN7RWwucPlvPGdoyX1Gs8aGKXUMDxmZPsBIoY/ _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Santiam Breeding Bird Survey, Linn county From: Joel Geier <joel.geier AT peak.org> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:09:06 -0700 Hi folks, My daughter Martha and I ran the Santiam Breeding Bird Survey this morning. This route starts at Crabtree Lake, a jewel of a spot in the western Cascades, and runs down the Crabtree Creek drainage (with a bit of a jog over one ridge) to the Roaring River, then hooks south to end end up near Lacomb. Last year the snow was still deep enough in late June that I had to walk over snow drifts for the first mile of this route. This year was nothing like that; there was no sign of snow at all. Stonecrop and Oregon sunshine are already blooming on the rock outcrops around the lake, with bleeding heart & penstemon blooming in the deeper soils. SWAINSON'S THRUSH, WINTER WREN, and PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER were the birds of the day, recorded at 38, 27, and 26 of the 50 stops, respectively. The first two are typical of this route but it seemed like flycatchers were more vocal than usual this year. A spontaneously calling NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL (heard at the first two stops) and 6 COMMON NIGHTHAWKS (all in the first ten stops) got the route off to a good start. We heard (or should I say "felt"?) SOOTY GROUSE hooting at four stops and RUFFED GROUSE at one stop in the upper elevations, plus saw one a couple of Sooty Grouse going across the road, and one Ruffed Grouse with a half-grown chick just past the end of the route north of Lacomb. The most surprising bird of the day came as we pulled in to Stop 34 on the ridge between the Crabtree Creek and Roaring River drainages, and we saw a BARRED OWL flying a short ways, then perching to look back at us. It flew off as I got out of the car to start the 3-minute count. I thought that we'd have to leave it as a "between-stops" bird. But just as I hit the start button on the timer for the 34th time of the day, another one flushed a short distance up the road, to become what I think is the first Barred Owl for this route. On our way up there last night, we spotted a male BULLOCK'S ORIOLE flying over the Albany-Lyons Hwy right at the junction with US Hwy 20, near Crabtree north of Lebanon -- seemed like an odd place for one. Happy birding, Joel -- Joel Geier Camp Adair area north of Corvallis _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Re: 10,000 Pelicans From: "HARVEY W SCHUBOTHE" <ninerharv2 AT msn.com> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:40:06 -0700 It is sad to lose Seth's communications on OBOL. Obviously, a raw nerve was touched and while some may see him as overreacting, I am afraid he was much too much on target. I have had similar feelings often as I continue to read some of the e-mails on OBOL. There seems to be an old guard infatuated with counts, county records and reputations who love to flaunt their expertise. They can be dead wrong but because of the list and count drive and reputations continue to marvel with fellow in-crowders and scoff at amateurs who may have been lucky enough to stumble on to something that they with all their expertise and experience did not. How many of them tromped around looking for the elusive Henslow sparrow that one of their "gods" had misidentified so that they could add still one more species to their life list? Only when some of us neophytes started to question that identification did they start to look closely at their "find". Almost two years ago, brown pelicans swarmed the rocks at the Yaquina Head lighthouse. They were on the big rock right off the lighthouse. They covered every other rock in the area. And contrary to a couple of comments made with regard to Seth's find, the pelicans kept coming as the day went along. They would leave at night only to come back in similar swarms and cover every inch of rock they could find the next day. Did I count them all? No. Could there have been 10,000 in the area? Possibly. Then again I don't hold myself out as birding expert and don't really care if someone else values my opinion or not. Our counts are not always precise anyway. I love these seawatch counts: 1000 of these, 150 of those. Maybe it was really 765 and 132. It's a ballpark number and who really cares anyway. I always love these counts and records that require a visual, that suddenly turn around and hear some owls and now they count too on a "big day" so we can say we saw 160 species when we actually saw only 148. Again, who cares? Both numbers are impressive to me. I hope Seth cools down and realizes that there are many of us who value the insights he has provided over time. Perhaps he will realize that there are many more of us that share his excitement about this wonderful world of birds. Harv ----- Original Message ----- From: Seth Reams To: obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2009 3:33 AM Subject: [obol] 10,000 Pelicans It is very interesting to me that no one, and I mean no one, asked us about our counting methods. We did what we thought we should do: We counted a group of 10, then applied it 10 times to make a hundred, the we applied that to the entire flock, both inland and over-sea. The number, conservatively, was 10,000. We should have reported more. Greg, we truly appreciate you trying to be nice and give us the benefit of the doubt. You are a gentleman. We deserved it this time. There were birders from all over the country there that day (4 states, at least). Many of them said that they thought the number was more in the neighborhood of 15,000. We do not report items to OBOL, with out being as certain as we can be. For we know, that if we report something out of the ordinary, we will be chastised and ridiculed for some time to come. That is very unfortunate. We have seen, and reported, a couple of rare bird sightings. Now, we will not do so to OBOL. Why? Because we are made to feel like fools for our observations. We are "new" birders, so we must be mistaken. All of you who have been around for a while, you feel that we must not know what we are talking about. Way to be short-sighted and closed-minded. We were told repeatedly, that we did NOT see 10,000 Brown Pelicans in Fort Stevens. Yet no one said, "How did you arrive at this number"? Incredible that so many people are so closed minded. This will be our last post to OBOL. Thank you for teaching "new" birders that it is NOT okay to report unusual sightings. p.s. There are quite a few of you that do NOT fit this description. You know who you are. Thank you for all the help you have given us over the years. We truly appreciate all you have done and we hope to see you around. To the rest of you, those with blinders on and a chip on your shoulder, we wish you the best of luck. Good birding. Seth and Michelle _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Singing Swainson's Thrush, SW Portland, Terwilliger Trail From: Marcia Marvin <mmarvin AT spiritone.com> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:12:57 -0700 Hello OBOL - This was a first for me - a singing Swainson's Thrush virtually in the neighborhood. I have had them in the yard on several occasions, but silent. I heard this one while on the Terwilliger Trail east of Capitol Highway. I took a hiking trail that, had I followed it to the end, would have taken me to John's Landing. Once I got down a ways, I began hearing the thrush, which continued vocalizing for the entire time I was in the area, until I started back up toward to road. As always with this bird, for me anyway, it was a magical experience and one that made me forget for a moment how close to civilisation I was. Good birding! Marcia _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: West Side Rd/Crater Lake, Klamath Co. 6-27-09 From: Julie Van Moorhem <jvanmoo AT sisna.com> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:59:16 -0700 Marilyn Christian and I looked for the Chestnut-sided Warbler yesterday but didn't find it. We did find LAZULI BUNTING and HERMIT WARBLER in the area. At Crater Lake we didn't find the Rosy-finch either--just lots of CLARK'S NUTCRACKERS and a pair of WESTERN BLUEBIRDS. At 7-Mile Guard Station we found a pair of MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS and saw a fledgling. On the way home on Hwy 140 heading east we saw a female BLUE GROUSE just east of MP 46 on the roadside. The funny thing about that is that Marilyn saw one in the exact same area on Thursday. She just got her lifer Blue Grouse at Hamaker Mtn about 2 weeks ago and now has seen a total of 3 in very short order! Good birding y'all, Julie Van Moorhem Klamath Falls _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Sandy River Delta From: Doug Robberson <dlrobbo AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:46:15 -0700 Today Noah Strycker lead a group of Friends Of Doug (FOD) on a birding by ear trip to Sandy River Delta. Highlight of the trip was seeing &/or hearing 6 Red-eyed Vireos and two Yellow-breasted Chats. We missed seeing any Tyranninae kingbirds. If you get a chance to bird with Noah, go for it. Besides knowing his birds, he is a nice guy who answers all your questions. Thanks Noah! Doug Robberson Tigard, OR _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: LEAST FLYCATCHER Calliope Crossing From: "Judy Meredith" <jmeredit AT bendnet.com> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 11:53:07 -0700 > Hi birders > 11:50 a.m. > Steve Shunk just this minute called and is listening to and watching a > LEAST FLYCATCHER at Calliope Crossing. > Directions - Go about 1/4 to 1/2 mile down the 900 road, just past > the snowberry patch. ( 900 road is the one that is perpendicular to > Pine Street) > Have fun, > Judy > jmeredit AT bendnet.com _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: 10,000 Pelicans From: Seth Reams <nepobirds AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 03:33:59 -0700 (PDT) It is very interesting to me that no one, and I mean no one, asked us about our counting methods. We did what we thought we should do: We counted a group of 10, then applied it 10 times to make a hundred, the we applied that to the entire flock, both inland and over-sea. The number, conservatively, was 10,000. We should have reported more. Greg, we truly appreciate you trying to be nice and give us the benefit of the doubt. You are a gentleman. We deserved it this time. There were birders from all over the country there that day (4 states, at least). Many of them said that they thought the number was more in the neighborhood of 15,000. We do not report items to OBOL, with out being as certain as we can be. For we know, that if we report something out of the ordinary, we will be chastised and ridiculed for some time to come. That is very unfortunate. We have seen, and reported, a couple of rare bird sightings. Now, we will not do so to OBOL. Why? Because we are made to feel like fools for our observations. We are "new" birders, so we must be mistaken. All of you who have been around for a while, you feel that we must not know what we are talking about. Way to be short-sighted and closed-minded. We were told repeatedly, that we did NOT see 10,000 Brown Pelicans in Fort Stevens. Yet no one said, "How did you arrive at this number"? Incredible that so many people are so closed minded. This will be our last post to OBOL. Thank you for teaching "new" birders that it is NOT okay to report unusual sightings. p.s. There are quite a few of you that do NOT fit this description. You know who you are. Thank you for all the help you have given us over the years. We truly appreciate all you have done and we hope to see you around. To the rest of you, those with blinders on and a chip on your shoulder, we wish you the best of luck. Good birding. Seth and Michelle _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Re: Common Nighthawk more over NE Portland From: Erik Knight <erikknight05 AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 02:02:00 +0000 (UTC) Heard, then saw one over NE 39th & Going around 8:45PM Friday night. Erik Knight Portland, OR ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Green" To: obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org Sent: Friday, June 26, 2009 12:44:19 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: [obol] Common Nighthawk more over NE Portland One heard on successive evenings last week, June 17 and 18, over ca. NE 22nd and Fremont.  'Peent'  call only; did not see it. Mike Green U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Division of Migratory Birds and Habitat Programs 911 NE 11th Avenue Portland, Oregon 97232 503-872-2707/FAX 503-231-2019 _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Ridgefield NWR: Quiet day, W PELICANS in the early AM only From: Will Clemons <willclemons AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 27 Jun 2009 17:02:53 -0700 (PDT) Saturday, Carol Ledford and I birded the River "S" Unit at Ridgefield NWR with my Mom (Olive), my neighbor and her two children (~4mi W of I-5 at Exit 14 in SW Washington; http://www.fws.gov/ridgefieldrefuges/). Highlights: AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN: There were 5-6 on Rest Lake early this morning, but they remained only until around 9AM. LAZULI BUNTING: I thought I heard two LAZULI BUNTINGS singing in the entrance canyon (one near the R/R tracks and one near the top), but Carol and I could only see the one nearest the top of the canyon. YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD: These Beauties are still around, both at Long Lake and South Quigley Lake. Most have finished nesting but a few remain near nests at S Quigley. Foragers were seen on Long Lake. The Refuge seemed very quiet today, and numbers of individuals as well as species were low. Will Clemons SW of Portland willclemons AT Yahoo dot com Birding: The best excuse for getting outdoors And avoiding chores Complete list of 54 species seen / heard: AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN American Bittern Great Blue Heron Turkey Vulture Canada Goose Gadwall Mallard Cinnamon Teal Ruddy Duck Osprey Red-tailed Hawk Virginia Rail Sora American Coot Wilson's Snipe Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Great Horned Owl Anna's Hummingbird Red-breasted Sapsucker Northern Flicker Western Wood-Pewee Willow Flycatcher Steller's Jay Western Scrub-Jay American Crow Tree Swallow Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow Black-capped Chickadee Red-breasted Nuthatch White-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper Bewick's Wren House Wren Winter Wren Marsh Wren Swainson's Thrush American Robin European Starling Cedar Waxwing YELLOW WARBLER Common Yellowthroat Wilson's Warbler Spotted Towhee Savannah Sparrow Song Sparrow LAZULI BUNTING Red-winged Blackbird YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD Brown-headed Cowbird Bullock's Oriole House Finch American Goldfinch _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: scrub-jay fledgling From: "Tom Escue" <tom-escue AT comcast.net> Date: Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:34:03 -0700 While working in my backyard today I heard a huge commotion by the neighborhood SCRUB-JAYS coming from my backyard trees. My German Sheppard had grabbed a fledgling that was apparently on the ground. It died in a few seconds. The JAYS left immediately. This has happened before to other backyard birds. I have seen these SCRUB-JAYS scolding cats that come into the yard. I don't know where the nest is though. Probably near by. This was the first fledgling I've seen this summer. Tom Escue Springfield_______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Fisher Butte From: adamus7 AT comcast.net Date: Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:48:30 GMT This report was mailed for Paul Adamus by http://birdnotes.net Date: June 26, 2009 Location: Fisher Butte Unit, Fern Ridge, Lane County, Oregon Noted incidentally while doing vegetation transects across wetland on Rt. 126, from 9 a.m. to noon Birds seen (in taxonomic order): Canada Goose Gadwall Mallard Cinnamon Teal Great Blue Heron Turkey Vulture Sora Killdeer Wilson's Phalarope [1] Vaux's Swift Northern Flicker Western Wood-Pewee American Crow Common Raven Purple Martin Tree Swallow Violet-green Swallow Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow American Robin European Starling Cedar Waxwing Song Sparrow Black-headed Grosbeak Red-winged Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird American Goldfinch Footnotes: [1] At least 4 birds doing distraction dispay Total number of species seen: 27 _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Least Flycatcher at Ft. Klamath From: Arch McCallum <archmcc AT qwest.net> Date: Sat, 27 Jun 2009 09:50:38 -0700 OBOL: Friday, June 26 at 6:30 am I found a Least Flycatcher "chebecking" vigorously and flying from tree to tree every few seconds at the back of the Ft. Klamath cemetery, i.e., near the treeless pasture edge. It was audible from the gate. The aspen groves around Ft. Klamath would certainly support a small breeding population of these birds if enough founders could ever arrive at the same time. They recall the preferred habitat in Minnesota and North Dakota, and stopover spots in e. Washington. I found 4-5 singing "western" flycatchers along the road to the fish hatchery by Crooked Creek, and numerous "westerns" calling, post-dawn, along Westside Rd. north of Sevenmile Rd., i.e., on the dirt portion. Rich Hoyer tipped me to the latter spot. I'll reserve further comment until I have a chance to review the tapes. Good birding, Arch McCallum Eugene _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Crook County White Pelicapalooza From: "Charles Gates" <cgates326 AT gmail.com> Date: Sat, 27 Jun 2009 07:28:49 -0700 White Pelican numbers are very large in Crook County this summer. The Ochoco Reservoir flock is up to 130 now (12 Caspian Terns there as well). Prineville Reservoir and Houston Lake each have about a dozen. Last year, I saw one White Pelican in the county the whole summer. Chuck Gates Powell Butte P.S. Two female Anna's Hummingbirds have been coming to my feeders for a week._______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Caspian Tern, Peoria, Linn Co. From: "M & R Campbell" <campbell AT peak.org> Date: Sat, 27 Jun 2009 06:32:10 -0700 When I stepped out the door at 5:30 this morning to get the paper, I heard a distinctive, ugly croak out over the river and caught a glimpse of a Caspian Tern. We've seen them here three times before: 7/1/2004, 5/4/2005, 3/7/2007. Usually they have been alone--once a pair--and they have always been flying south over the river. These kinds of sightings make me wonder how many other, quieter, birds fly past when I'm not looking. Randy Peoria _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Re: More Coos Shorebirds -- 26 June 2009 From: Justin Bosler <justin.bosler AT gmail.com> Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:53:25 -0700 Hello OBOL, I was questioned on a number of my observations from this morning, so I drove back down to the N. Spit of Coos Bay from Reedsport this evening to do some further investigating (and I'll likely be back there again tomorrow). My main objective was to re-find the yellowlegs that I had tentatively identified as a Lesser this morning. On first impressions at a distance, I had originally identified the bird as a Greater, but as I watched it off and on throughout the morning I became convinced it was a Lesser. Not only did it appear dainty with a thin, relatively short and straight bill, but the behavioral cues pointed me toward that identification. Unfortunately, I never heard the bird vocalize. I eventually settled on Lesser from an unbiased point of view, not knowing it was on the early side for southbound Lessers at this particular location. I may very well have been fooled by the apparent depth of water or height of vegetation, or both, in combination with the fact that it was a solitary yellowlegs at a distance with no nearby shorebirds for direct comparison. I never re-found that bird, or any yellowlegs for that matter, but as I returned to my truck at 7:00 PM I heard a GREATER YELLOWLEGS calling to the west. I'll never know if it was the same bird. However, in my better judgement, I'm retracting my earlier identification and leaving it at yellowlegs sp. I then returned home to find out that Tim Rodenkirk had a flock of 22 Greater Yellowlegs out on the N. Spit just before I got there this evening! How ironic. Anyway, it wasn't a wasted return trip. As for shorebirds, I picked up 2 WESTERN SANDPIPERS. Then, I got my first Oregon BANK SWALLOW in with a diverse aggregation of swallows that included at least 1 NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED as well. There was also a pale-headed Cliff Swallow that was intriguing. Perhaps lacking melanin pigments in the head feathers? Good Birding, Justin Bosler On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 1:50 PM, Justin Bosler wrote: > Hello OBOL, > >     This morning, 26 June, I spent a few hours (0730-1030) out on the > N. Spit of Coos Bay mainly seeking shorebirds.  Aside from the > expected Killdeer (22) and Spotted Sandpipers (5), I had 1 worn adult > LESSER YELLOWLEGS, 2 worn adult SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS (dropped in > around 1000), and at least 1 male WILSON'S PHALAROPE (likely a local > breeder).  Thanks to the dowitchers it wasn't a complete bust. > >     Waterfowl diversity has dropped off since mid-June, but a few > interesting finds this morning included 1 female BLUE-WINGED TEAL with > 8 tiny ducklings in tow (very wary and secretive), 8 RING-NECKED DUCKS > including a brood of 4 ducklings, and a rough count of 10 broods of > GADWALL (92 birds in total).  Disappointingly, only 1 female GREATER > SCAUP remains (17 on 6/14), and zero Buffleheads (2 on 6/14) or Ruddy > Ducks (1 on 6/14). > > Good Birding, > Justin > > -- > Justin Bosler > Reedsport, OR > justin.bosler AT gmail.com > 717-475-9998 > http://www.flickr.com/photos/29219448 AT N08/ _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: FW: [SHOREBIRDS] Arctic Breeding Conditions in 2009 From: Doug Robberson <dlrobbo AT comcast.net> Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:20:21 -0700 Doug Robberson Tigard, OR ------ Forwarded Message From: Jean Iron Reply-To: Jean Iron Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:52:55 -0400 To: Shorebirds Subject: [SHOREBIRDS] Arctic Breeding Conditions in 2009 Yesterday we saw an adult Lesser Yellowlegs near Toronto and on Wednesday there was an adult Least Sandpiper in Hamilton at the west end of Lake Ontario. These are the first "fall migrant" shorebirds in southern Ontario and they are right on schedule. Several people asked us to comment about recent reports of a "Disastrous breeding season in the Arctic". The Arctic is huge; it is 3500 km from southern James Bay (subarctic) to northern Ellesmere Island. Most shorebirds have large breeding ranges and even in late years many birds breed successfully and rarely does the entire Arctic experience the same climatic conditions. We checked with northern researchers and summarized their comments below. Shorebird nesting in 2009 is poor in some regions but normal to good elsewhere. Ontario: Ken Abraham reports that conditions in the Hudson Bay Lowlands were about 10 days late from Attawapiskat south on James Bay, including Akimiski Island, with Canada Geese and Snow Geese hatching in mid June, more like the 1990s average than the 2000s average and within the overall norms. Other species on Akimiski Island were correspondingly late. His guess is that for those species that require shorter time there will be some reduction but not huge. Perhaps the predation effect will be somewhat greater if alternate species are less available. Because coastal snow, ice and water inundation conditions were similar from Cape Henrietta Maria to the Manitoba border, Ken expects that for Canada Geese nesting within 40 - 60 km from the coast, a much reduced effort and productivity will be the norm. Snow Geese at Cape Henrietta Maria were greatly down and the suggestion of a 90% reduction seems to fit what they saw on their survey. However, beyond 40 - 60 km inland, he thinks conditions will be different. Mark Peck said that species nesting away from the Hudson Bay Coast in boreal bogs and fens such as yellowlegs should not be severely impacted because much of the freeze took place near the coast. Manitoba: The situation is worse in northern Manitoba at Churchill where temperatures were well below normal until recently and the snow cover melted late. However, Erica Nol reports that birds have started to nest, just very late, and it won't be a complete bust for shorebirds if there are enough bare spots. Whimbrels and Hudsonian Godwits are nesting, but overall nesting success should be below average for most shorebirds in northern Manitoba. Nunavut: Snow melt was up to three weeks late in mainland Nunavut north of Manitoba. Recent temperatures have been close to normal. Much of Baffin Island is now snow free and conditions there and on Bylot Island are about normal. High Arctic breeders should have a good breeding year. Northwest Territories: Vicky Johnston suspects it will be a poor breeding year in parts of the Western Arctic. Spring was roughly three weeks late in Yellowknife on Great Slave Lake based on leaf-out. The Mackenzie Valley and Delta warmed early but then cooled off again. The Delta flooded slowly and the water receded slowly, so some prime shorebird breeding areas were subject to heavy predation. Yukon: Cameron Eckert reports a late spring, but once the heat came, everything shifted into high gear. Alaska: Declan Troy reports from the North Slope that the snow on the tundra is long gone. It was much warmer earlier in the month and his guess is that the breeding season has been early there. We will be recording the arrivals and numbers of adult and juvenile shorebirds in southern Ontario and may post updates. Acknowledgements: We thank Ken Abraham, Bruce Di Labio, Cameron Eckert, Michel Gosselin, Vicky Johnston, Erica Nol, Mark Peck, Ken Ross, Don Sutherland, and Declan Troy. Ron Pittaway and Jean Iron Toronto, Ontario ------ End of Forwarded Message _______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol Subject: Re: Warblers in SW Oregon? From: "Dennis P. Vroman" <dpvroman AT budget.net> Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:54:04 -0700 On the Selma BBS route on the 23 June there were: Black-throated Gray, Hermit, Yellow-rumped, Nashville, Orange-crowned, MacGillivary's and Yellow-breasted Chat (although it might end up a non-warbler by a AOU decision). Dennis (north of Grants Pass) Is anyone seeing more than an occassional warbler in Jackson, Josephine, or Douglas County? Last year at this time I saw many anytime I was near water. This season? Very few sightings at all, and none along my creek in weeks! Where are they? Julie Edmonds Tiller, Oregon_______________________________________________ obol mailing list obol AT oregonbirdwatch.org http://oregonbirdwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/obol