[obol] Sunday at the Oregon Coast (Lincoln & Lane Co)

[MARCIA CUTLER]

Like various other obolites, Paula Vanderheul and I headed to the coast Sunday for a brief respite from the heat.  We also ran into the fog which seemed to play tag with us along the coast line.  The visibility at Boiler Bay was less than 100 feet so we quickly departed.

Depoe Bay was better and along with a fair number of Common Murres, some Pigeon Guillemots, 3 BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS, we saw a small alcid which we decided was a CASSIN'S AUKLET.  This bird was about half the size of a Murre, mostly dark with white under the tail.  It had a rather pointy looking bill at the bow matching the pointy looking tail at the stern.  When it stood up to preen a bit, we could see a light belly.  The head was completely dark.  I also saw another small alcid flying.  This bird was completely dark as far as I could see (but it was out quite a ways) and flew with quick, fluttery wing beats rather like a Vaux's Swift.  I'm not experienced enough with small alcids to say whether this was another Cassin's Auklet or a Marbled Murrelet.

We saw several GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS at Seal Rock and a few more at Yachats.  There were a few HEERMAN'S GULLS at Depoe Bay, 1 with numerous CALIFORNIA GULLS, about 6 RING-BILLED GULLS and 3 CASPIAN TERNS behind the Marine Science Center at Newport, and a couple more at Yachats.

Most of the shorebirds we saw were LEAST SANDPIPERS, about 60 behind the Marine Science Center and about a dozen at the Weigh Station on Highway 126 near Florence.  However, we did run into a rather large flock of WHIMBREL at Seal Rock around 3 p.m.  We counted between 61 - 65 birds!  They would spend a bit of time at one of the beaches under the pullouts then fly out only to come back and land at another beach.  After about 10 minutes, they appeared to take off for good, presumably heading south, tho the fog made it impossible to track their flight for very long.

The only BROWN PELICANS we saw were 3 at Yachats.  a RED-NECKED GREBE was seen from the Weigh Station on Highway 126.

We checked the North Jetty at Florence and didn't find much.  Visibility was spotty.  We could see about one-tenth a mile up and down the river and across to the crab docks and beginning of the south jetty.

We also walked the educational trail at Mike Miller Park in Newport.  There were at least 2 OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHERS there, a HOODED MERGANSER, a WRENTIT was heard as were several RED CROSSBILLS (mostly heard, but briefly seen at times flitting between tree tops).  2 WILSON'S WARBLERS and a PURPLE FINCH were seen.  ROBINS and SWAINSON'S THRUSHES were everywhere.

Cheers,

Marcia F. Cutler
Corvallis
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.oregonstate.edu/mailman/private/obol/attachments/20060724/8daacdc9/attachment.html