[obol] Birding Crook County

[Charles R. Gates]

I did a little birding in Crook County in the last two days.  On Tuesday,
Marilyn Miller and I toured the new ODOT mitigation project in Prineville.
This is a new wetland project next to the Crooked River and behind the new
sanitation ponds.  The wetland is small but the plan is to make it pretty
big.  It has quite a bit of promise since it's right next to the river.  It
will be lots of years before the trees grow but the marsh should be
impressive in a few years.  We found VIRGINIA RAIL, SORA, YELLOWTHROAT, W.
PHALAROPE, and LEAST SANDPIPER there yesterday.  We also found baby WESTERN
GREBES at Ochoco Res. (this year is the first I've recorded young at this
location) and 2 WHITE PELICANS.

Today, I went out with teen birder David Schas.  Since beginning his birding
life this winter, David has tallied over 160 species in the county.  He has
spent hours and hours learning the birds and often knows the birds before he
has even seen them in the field.  I wish I had his natural abilities.  Our
highlights were 2 WHITE-FACED IBIS, 4 CHUKAR, 2 BLACK-THROATED GRAY
WARBLERS, and 2 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS at North Shore Rd. along the Crooked
River.  The warblers are migrants so I guess the fall game is on.  We also
found RUFFED GROUSE, RED CROSSBILL, PRAIRIE FALCON, VAUX'S SWIFT,
WHITE-HEADED WP, PILEATED WP, WESTERN FLYCATCHER, OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER,
GRAY JAY, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, and MAC WARBLER on Forest Rd. 27 in the
Ochoco Mnts.  The Orange-crowns were a surprise as was a RUBY-CROWNED
KINGLET.  Neither is a common nester in the Ochocos as far as I know and
both are probably migrants.  Below is a list of what I saw on both days in
Crook Co.
Chuck Gates
Powell Butte

Pied-billed Grebe	1
Western Grebe	17
White Pelican	2
Double-crested Cormorant	15
Great-blue Heron	10
White-faced Ibis	2
Canada Goose	150
Mallard	30
Lesser Scaup	1
Turkey Vulture	3
Osprey	1
Red-tailed Hawk	5
American Kestrel	3
Prairie Falcon	1
Chukar	4
Ruffed Grouse	2
California Quail	5
Virginia Rail	4
Sora 	2
Killdeer	20
Spotted Sandpiper	4
Least Sandpiper	16
Long-billed Dowitcher	2
Wilson's Phalarope	1
Ring-billed Gull	3
California Gull	1
Mourning Dove	8
Common Nighthawk	2
Vaux's Swift	1
Rufous Hummingbird	2
Hairy Woodpecker	1
White-headed Woodpecker	1
Northern Flicker	8
Pileated Woodpecker	2
Olive-sided Flycatcher	1
Western Wood Peewee	3
Hammond's Flycatcher	1
Pacific Slope Flycatcher	1
Ash-throated Flycatcher	2
Western Kingbird	6
Bank Swallow	50
Cliff Swallow	100
Barn Swallow	6
Gray Jay	3
Steller's Jay	5
Black-billed magpie	25
American Crow	2
Common Raven	10
Mountain Chickadee	6
Red-breasted Nuthatch	10
White-breasted Nuthatch	1
Brown Creeper	2
House Wren	2
Golden-crowned Kinglet	1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1
Mountain Bluebird	7
American Robin	7
European Starling	10
Orange-crowned Warbler	2
Yellow-rumped Warbler	4
Black-throated Gray Warbler	2
Townsend's Warbler	2
MacGillivray's Warbler	5
Common Yellowthroat	1
Western Tanager	3
Lazuli Bunting	2
Spotted Towhee	1
Chipping Sparrow	20
Song Sparrow	2
Dark-eyed Junco	5
Red-winged Blackbird	4
Western Meadowlark	4
Yellow-headed Blackbird	2
Brewer's Blackbird	2
Bullock's Oriole	3
Cassin's Finch	3
House Finch	2
Red Crossbill	3
American Goldfinch	2
House Sparrow	10