[obol] Fern Ridge birds

[Daniel Farrar]

Obol,
    Just back from Royal Ave with Lydua Cruz.  We, too, saw this blackbird.
It was originally in the south center of the Redhead pond feeding with other
blackbirds on an "island".  After a few minutes it flew towards and past us,
landing east of the redhead pond in the next marsh over.  As it flew close
we saw the brilliant, bright, and wide white edging very clearly.  Whiter
than any Red-wing I've ever seen out there. And very distinctive compared to
the other blackbirds.  The red seemed o.k. for Tri to me, a nice deep red,
lacking the orange tint.  We, unfortunately were not able to see a wing
shape comparison in flight, disappointing.  It was flying with Brewer's and
Starlings and the angles were all wrong for diagnosing shape.  Looks pretty
good for a Tri-colored otherwise to me.

Daniel Farrar
Eugene, OR

On 8/5/06, Alan Contreras <acontrer at mindspring.com> wrote:
>
> I went to Fern Ridge Reservoir with Tim Lee and his father Chun-il today.
> This was Tim's "farewell" birding trip, as he leaves Eugene in three weeks
> to begin his freshman year at Berkeley.
>
> The marshes and flats between Fisher and Royal were very birdy
> today.  Three
> small flocks of ibis were present.  At least fifty Greater Yellowlegs were
> spread out over the area.  At least five Lessers were present.  Other
> shorebirds included about 40 Least, widely scattered, two Western, local
> killdeer and one imm. Wilson's Phalarope on the Redhead Pond.  About 50
> dowitchers were around; all that we could see well or hear were
> Long-bills.
> Light was not good on them for the most part.
>
> About 25 Great Egrets were around, plenty of GBH and a Green Heron.
>
> Black tern numbers are very high this year.  The ponds south of Royal are
> swarming with them.  Likewise Purple martins; there were at least 30
> martins
> perched and flying over those ponds, and scattered singles all over the
> area.
>
> At the SW corner of the large pond just south of Royal, usually called the
> Redhead Pond, Tim saw a blackbird with a white epaulette edge.  Better
> views
> a few minutes later showed a nice white edge, a bill more slender and
> "orioly" than that of an adjacent redwing, and at some angles a somewhat
> Brewers-like gloss.  The red on the epaulettes was not in direct sunlight,
> and looked pretty red to me most of the time, perhaps not red enough for
> Tricolored according to one observer's thoughts.
>
> My three photos, all in bad light, show the white edge very nicely, show
> some partly hidden red and unfortunately don't show a side view of the
> bill.
> I had excellent comparative looks at the bill with an adjacent redwing.
>
> One thing the photos seem to show is longer primary extension on the
> Tricolored cmpared to adjacent Redwing; I have no idea if that is a
> legitimate field mark.
>
> This is a fifth county record.  Four previous reports, August 13, 2005,
> July
> 13, 2003, Jan. 6, 1999 and Apr. 6, 1996, all at Fern Ridge Res.
>
> Tim can add anything I forgot.
>
> --
> Alan Contreras
> EUGENE, OREGON
> acontrer at mindspring.com
>
>
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-- 
Daniel Farrar
Eugene, Oregon
jdanielfarrar at gmail.com
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