Chat

On Monday, Cali and I took the Goldfinch-Pliskin route on our morning walk.

As we entered the McDonald Forest path at the west end of Goldfinch, I heard a series of calls, whistles and other noises that I hadn't heard before. For some reason, I thought of the description I'd heard of a Yellow-Breasted Chat. To be sure, I listened to the Chat vocal on my iPhone Peterson app. I was right! As a bonus, the Chat popped out of the bushes and talked to us for a minute or so before going into hiding again.

I first identified a Yellow-Breasted Chat at Finley in 1977, but I really don't remember seeing or hearing it since then. Now I have a new sound to be listening for.

May Numbers

May was another really good month for birding. Overall, I saw 117 species (27 FOY). I added three lifers: Aplomado Falcon in Campinas, Brasil, Glittering-throated Emerald in Porto Alegre, Brasil, and Eastern Phoebe in Polk County, OR. I saw 105 species in Oregon (25 FOY), 46 with Cali (18 FOY), 27 at home (9 FOY) and 74 at Finley WLR (15 FOY).

May was also a good month for walking. It's fairly common now to get in three walks a day with Cali. Even though I was in Brasil for a week, we managed to walk 33 times for 48.45 miles in 17:05:45. The mean walk was 1.47 miles in 31:05 at a 21:10/mile pace.

A Year of Birding

It has been one year since I started birding again and posted observations online. During that year, I identified 219 different species while birding in Oregon, California, New York, Maryland, France, Germany, and Brasil. I saw 49 different species while walking with Cali, 49 species at home, and 125 species at Finley Wildlife Refuge. In Oregon, I identified 150 species in the past year.

Sora

Yesterday I went to Finley WLR to find the Whimbrels that had been spotted at the conservation wetland just east of the Refuge. I found six of them.

Then, as I was driving on Bruce Road at McFadden Marsh, a bird stopped to look at me while crossing the road. At first I thought it was a quail. But it didn't have the quail's "top knot." As it quickly darted into the marsh grass, I saw enough of it to think it was either a Virginia Rail or a Sora. It flashed white under it's tail, so I was thinking Sora. Then I played the Sora call from my iPhone. Sure enough, the Sora called right back.

This is the first Sora I've seen since 1978 at Malheur WLR.

Stormy Day at Finley

Yesterday was very stormy, but I managed to do some birding at Finley in the wind and spitting rain. Most of my birding was by car, but I did get out and walk the boardwalk to Cabell Marsh and found a Black-throated Gray Warbler and some Wilson's Warblers. I hadn't seen those for a long time.

My species total was 51! That's not bad for a stormy day.

April 2012 Birds

April was a very interesting month for birding. We still had most of our winter residents here at the beginning of the month. By the end of April, many summer residents had arrived. There are also migrant species passing through.

In April, I saw a total of 90 species (all in Oregon). Of these, 37 were FOY (first of the year). At Finley, I saw 73 species (29 FOY). At home, there were 36 (9 FOY). With Cali, I saw 36 species (4 FOY).

I'm hearing more and more songs that I don't recognize, so I should have some interesting things to learn in May.

Grosbeaks

For about the past 10 days, Evening Grosbeaks have descended on our feeders, eaten just about everything, and then have flown away. It reminded me of Allie's high school varsity soccer team. At the peak, we had about 20 of these birds at one time. The routine happened two or three times each day.

Now, there are just about 5-6 Evening Grosbeaks. However, two male Black-headed Grosbeaks have arrived today to join the female that has been feeding here occasionally for a few days.

The Warbler and the Hawk

The large amount of activity at our backyard feeders has attracted a Cooper's Hawk (and, less frequently, a Sharp-shinned Hawk). The hawk likes to swoop in, sit in a tree, and look for a meal. Once I saw it perch on top of the shepherd's hook hanger that holds one of our feeders.

Earlier this week, the hawk swooped in as usual. The feeding birds scattered. Martha went out and chased the hawk away. (She's not fond of the whole bird eating birds thing.) When she came back into the house, we noticed that a Yellow-rumped Warbler hadn't flown away but was still sitting in a feeder tray hiding under the overhanging protection. It stayed there, hunched down, for about 10 minutes until other birds came back.

Survival!

Swallows and Geese

What a difference a few days can make! At Finley Wildlife Refuge today, I did not see any geese. Most of the other waterfowl are also gone. There were Coots, quite a fewMmallards, a couple of Pintails, Shovelers, and Teal, but it looks like a much different place now that the geese have migrated north.

On the other hand, the air was swarming with swallows. I saw Barn, Olive-green, Cliff, and Tree Swallows. They have definitely come back now.

Sounds of Spring

We've had a very wet year so far with a lot of flooding in low-lying areas. That includes Finley Wildlife Refuge where the main road has been closed several times. During the Christmas Bird Count, we were concerned about how dry the Refuge was. There were doubts by the Refuge staff about whether some areas would be able to support returning species. Then the rains came and came and came.

With thing drying out a bit, and with the refuge now open everywhere, I went to Finley yesterday with the goal of seeing as many species as possible.

Bottom line: 50 species!

Many winter residents are still around, and quite a few summer residents are back. It was great! Among the returners are Orange-crowned Warblers, Turkey Vultures, Greater Yellowlegs, Band-tailed Pigeon, Rufous Hummingbird, Swallows, Common Yellowthroat and others.

The best part of it is that the air is filled with songs and calls as everyone stakes out territory and looks for a mate.

Gyrfalcon

OK, so it has taken a new addition to my life list to wake me up and get me posting again. Since the last post, I've been busy birding in Oregon, California,and Brasil. I've been busy helping with auditions and rehearsals for the Crescent Valley High School production of Cinderella. We've had two house guests, Magic and Ginger. Life is very full.

The new bird on my life list is a Gyrfalcon. It was discovered on a routine raptor count by a local expert birder. I had to wait to return from Brasil to see it, but I DID see it yesterday. The location is on McFarland Road south of Finley WLR. It's not very close to the road, so viewing is at a distance. But it's an obvious ID with a scope.

Here's a photo of the general situation.

I haven't yet seen a great photo of the bird. But it's fun to watch it hunt and fend off birds like Northern Harriers that want to harass it. Birds are SO territorial right now.

This is another rare bird that has attracted a lot of attention. When I went to the site yesterday, there were about a dozen cars with birders from Portland, Salem, Corvallis, and Eugene. A few of them ended up in a photo posted on our email list.

Palo Alto Baylands

On an overnight trip to the Bay Area this week, I paid a quick visit to the Palo Alto Baylands as the sun was setting. This is an interesting place to compare the migration with our Oregon migration pattern.

In 20 minutes, I saw 22 species. I always enjoy the Black-necked Stilts there. I don't have enough history to know what was missing, but I was surprised that I didn't see a Turkey Vulture. They must still be further south.

I have two more Bay Area trips upcoming in February and will try to look for migrants headed north.

Signs of Spring?

After the deluge we've been experiencing, it's great to have a warmer and dryer day. For the past week, the Song Sparrows have been singing. Today, a Yellow-rumped Warbler was singing and singing and singing from the top of a tree near our house. The other birds also seem to be warming up for spring. The Black-capped Chickadees have been noisy all winter, but now they are giving their complete "chick-a-dee-dee" song. The Anna's Hummingbirds are getting noisier and more aggressive around our feeder. A new flavor of suet is causing quite a bit of activity. We even had two Red-winged Blackbirds show up there this morning. Signs of spring?

Wild Weather

We've been having some wild weather in January. After complaining about how dry it has been this winter, things changed. We had snow then rain and flooding. We're in the middle of a pineapple express series of storms. The sun is shining at the moment, but the wind blew the decoration off of our upstairs deck last night.

With road closures due to flooding, it's been slow birding this week. I did manage to go to Finley and get some photos of the snow.

It was interesting to see the ducks and geese walking across the ice at Cabell and McFadden.

Unfortunately, the flooding closed the Corvallis schools. Our final weekend of The Mystery of Irma Vep was cancelled.

2011 Birding Wrap-up

2011 was the year for me to rediscover birding. From a simple start in May through the Corvallis Christmas Bird Count in December, I regained my footing (my wings?) fairly well. I still have a lot to learn and experience, but I'm off to a good start.

Here's a view of the 2011 data:

In 2012, I hope to expand beyond the Willamette Valley in Oregon and do more birding with other people.

Bald Hill Blue Jay (and the Mountain Plover again)

There has been a Blue Jay hanging around the area just north of the barn at Bald Hill Park. While Blue Jays are common east of the Mississippi River, they are very rare in the Willamette Valley. They were easy to see in Central Park, but this one has eluded me on seven different days. I heard it twice but couldn't see it. Then, this morning, it popped out of a tree and onto the bike path right in front of me! Here's a photo taken this morning by another birder.

I also took another trip to Llewelyn Road to see the Mountain Plover that's now been there for more than a month. It was windy, and there were few birds around other than a couple of Bald Eagles. I thought the eagles would have scared the plover away, but it was there! Here's a photo taken by another birder.

Two rare Willamette Valley birds in one hour - very nice.

2011 Corvallis Christmas Bird Count

For the first time since 1978, I did the Corvallis Christmas Bird Count. I've been working since May to regain my birding legs (wings?), and I thought this would be a good time to start birding with other people again. It turned out to be a great idea. I was on the team with Fred Ramsey covering Finley WLR. Fred taught me birding more than 35 years ago, and I did CBC's with him when I was in grad school. This one was special. We teamed up with Molly from the Finley staff and had access (in a Finley vehicle) to the entire refuge - even the areas that are off limits this time of year.

Our team saw or heard 68 species. I saw 63 of them myself and was able to contribute first sightings of more than a dozen of the birds.

Overall, about 60 people were in the CBC. The species count was the usual 127.

What a fun day!

The Owl and the Plover

This week has been exciting for Oregon birders with a Snowy Owl hanging around the Mennonite Village in south Albany and with a Mountain Plover on Llewelyn Road south of Corvallis. The Snowy Owl attracted enough attention for a story in our newspaper. I went to see both birds on Monday morning. Both were lifers for me, so this was pretty exciting. There was a birder from Portland watching the Snowy Owl with me. Here's one of his photos. This owl is not yet an adult. But it was amazing to watch it hunt.

The cold and fog this week have made birding a bit tough. I did go out in the sunshine yesterday to see a group of Wilson's Snipes near Rickreall. I hadn't seen one since 1977!

On Tuesday, a Sharp-shinned Hawk swooped onto our fence and then quickly grabbed a Dark-eyed Junco under one of our feeders. Today, a Cooper's Hawk perched for about 30 minutes in our ash tree before leaving "empty handed" when Cali chased it off.

Finley Woodpecker

Yesterday, I decided to hang out across the road from the big red barn at Finley to see the Lewis' Woodpecker that has been there for awhile. I arrived around 11am as the sun was just burning off the fog. I didn't see the Lewis' Woodpecker, but I did watch a Pileated Woodpecker for about 20 minutes. I haven't seen one for about 30 years, so that was a real treat.

While I was there, I heard what has become a familiar sound when I'm in California but not here. There was a Black Phoebe in with a group of Western Bluebirds. I also saw a Bullock's Oriole and a Hairy Woodpecker. Nice!

Just before dark, I went back to Finley and saw six Short-earred Owls on Bruce Road just before dark.

Five "first time in Oregon this year" birds in one day! I've already seen 46 species in the first two days of December.

November 2011

November was an interesting month.

Advent began early (27 Nov). For about the 10th year, I played my version of the David Lanz version of O Come O Come Emmanuel at communion. It's Martha's favorite, and I get more requests for it than anything else each year.

Cali and I went on 25 walks for a total of 32.8 miles over 11 hours and 52 minutes. It's getting colder and wetter, so we take advantage of the nice days!

We're settling into the winter resident birding pattern in the Willamette Valley. The Cackling and Canada Geese are here in the tens of thousands. At home, I saw 17 species (compared to 15 in October). With Cali, I saw 22 species (23 in October). I started tracking Finley observations in November - 47 species. Overall, I saw 62 species in Oregon in November (57 in October) and 102 worldwide. My trip to Brasil included 23 species. Trips to San Luis Obispo and Palo Alto Wetlands produced 28 species in California.