[obol] Sept. Lincoln Co. Bird Notes Received Thru 9/28

[Range Bayer]

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
         BIRD FIELD NOTES from the September 2006 Sandpiper 27(7)
         for Observations Received Through Sept. 28 by Range Bayer

      The Sandpiper is a publication of Yaquina Birders & Naturalists, a
Lincoln County (Oregon) natural history group.

      Comments in this column about abundance or seasonality refer to
LINCOLN COUNTY only.  If you have any Lincoln County field notes, please
share them with Range (rbayer at orednet.org; P.O. Box 1467, Newport, OR
97365; 541-265-2965) by the 20th of the month.  Bird field notes columns in
the Sandpiper since 1992 are at
http://www.orednet.org/~rbayer/lincoln/bird.htm#recent (all lower case
letters).

      Abbreviations, terms, and some Lincoln Co. site locations:  BEAVER
CREEK: creek flowing through Ona Beach State Park, BOILER BAY: State
Wayside about 0.5 mi north of Depoe Bay, ECKMAN LAKE: lake 2 mi east of
Waldport along HWY 34, HMSC: OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center, HY=hatch
year (bird hatched in the current calendar year), IDAHO FLATS: large
embayment just east of HMSC, LNG TANK: large green Liquefied Natural Gas
tank on the north side of Yaquina Bay about 1.5 miles east of Yaquina Bay
Bridge, ONA BEACH: State Park about 6.6 mi south of Yaquina Bay bridge
along HWY 101 at Beaver Creek, SALLYS BEND: large Yaquina Bay embayment
east of the LNG tank, THORNTON CREEK: about midway between Toledo and
Eddyville along HWY 20, YBSJ: Yaquina Bay South Jetty.


                        CHANGE IN ORDER OF SPECIES

      After long procrastination, I start listing species in their new
phylogenetic order this month.  The biggest change is that waterfowl are
first, followed by gallinaceous birds (upland game birds), and then loons
and grebes.  So species may not be in the order with which you have become
accustomed.


                        WATERFOWL-CALIFORNIA QUAIL

      A CACKLING GOOSE swam with two large domestic ducks at Eckman Lake on
9/16 (JW).  BB spotted the first southward bound "V" of CANADA GEESE over
Yachats on 8/30.

      At Eckman Lake, KM found 94 MALLARDS, a female NORTHERN SHOVELER, and
11 HOODED MERGANSERS on 9/10.  On 9/11, RL watched 108 ducks at the south
end, mostly scruffy MALLARDS but also a few AMERICAN WIGEON, GREEN-WINGED
TEAL, and HOODED MERGANSERS.  On 9/17, they were joined by a pair of RING-
NECKED DUCKS and a female WOOD DUCK (JW).  On 9/24, JW surveyed 20 wigeon,
7 Ring-necks, 8 Wood Ducks, and 10-12 Hooded Mergansers.

      5 male wigeon and 6 NORTHERN PINTAILS were at Idaho Flats on 9/10
(KM).

      SURF SCOTER migration is underway with about 600 flying south during
PP's 9/21 seawatch at Boiler Bay.

      At YBSJ, there were 2-4 HARLEQUIN DUCKS on 9/11 & 23 (JL; CAFT).  One
was at Boiler Bay on 9/21 (PP), and 6+ were at Seal Rocks during the 9/23
CAFT.

      JL discovered an exotic MUSCOVY DUCK swimming in Olalla Slough east
of Toledo during the 9/17 Lincoln County North American Migration Count.

      Beginning on 8/27, J&LM have had 2 CALIFORNIA QUAIL at their Coquille
Point home, just east of Sally's Bend.


                             GREBE-GREAT EGRET

      A tight flock of 5 PIED-BILLED GREBES including one hatch-year (HY,
hatched in 2006) grebe was at Eckman Lake on 9/10 (KM).  The HY bird
"retained some rufous on the upper breast and lower neck as well as dark,
squiggly stripes on its white throat" (KM).

      Roughly 40,000 SOOTY SHEARWATERS were at Boiler Bay at 3 PM on 9/18,
but they had all left by 5:30 PM (PP).  At least 5,000 Sooties were there
on 9/21 (PP).   The afternoon of 9/24, shearwaters in the "low thousands"
were close to shore between Lost Creek and Ona Beach State Parks (RC).  On
9/25, 4,000+ Sooties and 1 SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER were at Boiler Bay (PP).

[Image Not Included: Kitty Brigham's photo of two Brown Pelicans near Seal
Rocks on Sept. 21.]

      BROWN PELICANS put on a good show with 120 flying mostly northward at
Boiler Bay on 9/21 (PP), and the same day
200 pelicans were at Idaho Flats (JL).  200+ were at Sally's Bend during
the 9/23 CAFT, and 700 with many small flocks flew north during PP's 9/25
Boiler Bay seawatch.

      At dusk (7:16 PM) on 9/21, flocks of 10 and 106 pelicans were flying
south just west of the Yaquina Bay Bridge (RB), so they had not yet found a
roost site, if they were going to roost.  On 9/22 at 8:09 PM (55 minutes
after sunset) just north of Seal Rocks, KB & RB saw the silhouettes of 10-
15 pelicans flying north, so they were not roosting at Seal Rocks and had
not yet found a place to do so.

      Squawker, the continuously calling GREAT BLUE HERON, was seen flying
over the HMSC and heard at 6:25 PM on 9/13 (RB), 8:05 PM on 9/18 (RB), and
about 10:15 AM on 9/22 (JL).

      In the evening of 9/14, NC saw 64 GREAT EGRETS flying up King Slough
at Yaquina Bay, presumably to roost.  The 9/23 CAFT also counted 64 at
Sally's Bend.  On 9/25, one Great Egret was flying north about 1/4 mile
offshore of Boiler Bay (PP).


                              KITE-PHALAROPES

      An immature WHITE-TAILED KITE followed the 9/16 YBNFT around the HMSC
Nature Trail, and a kite was also noted there three days later (TW).  1-2
were at Nute Slough and Boone Slough in upper Yaquina Bay on 9/23 (CP; 9/23
CAFT).  Another kite was at Beaver Creek on 9/27 (LS).

      1 RED-SHOULDERED HAWK was discerned near the Adobe Motel in Yachats
on 9/4 (AF) and at Sally's Bend during the 9/23 CAFT.  An AMERICAN KESTREL
was observed at Yaquina Head on 8/30 (BLM) and near Adobe Motel in Yachats
on 9/4 (AF).

      A PEREGRINE FALCON visited Yaquina Head on 9/5 (BLM).  At Thornton
Creek on 9/13, DF observed that:

      "A big Peregrine swooped in low and then began circling higher and
higher.  That in itself was notable, because I only see Peregrines at
Thornton Creek about once a decade.  This time, there was a SHARP-SHINNED
HAWK circling quite a lot higher above the falcon.  After the Peregrine
attained a certain height, the Sharpie dove on it three different times,
coming very close, and eventually succeeded in driving the much larger
falcon away.  Gutsy.

      A single AMERICAN COOT swam at Eckman Lake on 9/10 (KM), and it
remained single through at least 9/24 (JW).

      1-3 MARBLED GODWITS were at Idaho Flats on 9/2 (JS), 9/10 (KM) and a
beach near Waldport on 9/2 & 3 (AF).

      Eckman Lake has been good for yellowlegs.  SaL saw 2 LESSER
YELLOWLEGS amongst 13 GREATER YELLOWLEGS at the south shore on 9/10--
yellowlegs come and go, and KM found at least 5 Lessers amongst a total of
27 yellowlegs there the same day.  On 9/11, RL spotted 40 Greaters along
with 6 DOWITCHERS (RL), and on 9/17, JW found 16 Greaters.

      Our first fall WILSON'S SNIPE was at Beaver Creek during the 9/23
CAFT.  On 9/21, PP noted 200 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES and at least 2 RED
PHALAROPES at Boiler Bay, so a few Reds were around.


                     LONG-TAILED JAEGER-MOURNING DOVE

      SK twice spotted a LONG-TAILED JAEGER about 40 miles offshore in
early Sept.  PP spotted a jaeger sp. from shore at Boiler Bay on 9/21.

      A swarm of 400+ gulls were feeding on what appeared to be small,
whitish moths above Siletz Bay during the 9/23 CAFT.  This was our only
report of what used to be a common late summer/early fall phenomenon.

      An immature HERRING GULL was at the crab docks at Waldport on 9/3
(JG), and an adult MEW GULL was at Idaho Flats on 9/10 (KM).  PP
distinguished a BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE at Boiler Bay on 9/21.

      17 adult and 11 hatch-year COMMON MURRES were beached along 4.6 miles
of beach north of Ona Beach in August (B&SLo, L&VO).  This is much less
than last year.

      MARBLED MURRELETS and PIGEON GUILLEMOTS were noted at Yachats on 9/2
& 3 (AF), and 7-12 Marbleds and 2-6 PG's were at Boiler Bay on 9/21 & 25
(PP).  2 Marbleds were also at Boiler Bay during the 9/23 CAFT.

      Some MOURNING DOVES were at J&LM's Coquille Point home during the
summer with a high count of 9 in early Sept.  But in mid-Sept. numbers
dropped back to 1-2.


                            BARRED OWL-SWALLOWS

      A BARRED OWL was an unexpected beached bird north of Ona Beach on
8/31 (B&SLo, L&VO).

      ME reported the first ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRDS of fall at his Lincoln City
home on 9/14.

      For J&KC's home about 4 miles east of Waldport, JC writes:

      "Since the second brood of CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES fledged on July
17, they have been extremely friendly.  Every time we water the plants with
the garden wand, they come down and take showers.  They sit on the plant
while the rain-like water splashes on them.  On August 3, we wanted to show
some friends how the chickadees would take showers, and while the
chickadees were in and out of the shower, a RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD flew over to
check out the watering wand.  After a couple of minutes of flying through
and around the water, we saw an incredible sight - the hummer and a
chickadee ended up side-by-side taking a shower while the water wand was
splashing on them.  It was magnificent!"

      A RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER was "hawking" insects at LO's North Beaver
Creek home on 9/24.  It was joined by a second sapsucker on 9/28 (LO).

      Last dates for VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW and BARN SWALLOW at Thornton
Creek on 9/22 (DF)--these are fairly late, but the latest Lincoln County
dates for these in SemiL are 10/10 and 10/1, respectively.


                               BEWICK'S WREN

[Image Not Included: Howard Shippey's photo of an adult Bewick's Wren
stuffing a long-legged insect (cranefly ?) down the gullet of a nestling in
June.  The bill of a second chick pokes up just to the right of the gaping
chick.  This nest was in a blue flower pot in Newport.]

      There were 10 eggs in the BEWICK'S WREN'S nest near HS' Newport home
on 6/6, though only three of them successfully hatched and one
unsuccessfully hatched though had been seen trying to break out of its
shell.  HS has 25 hours of video (contact him at viadv at mindspring.com; 574-
1689), kept daily notes, and wrote on 6/13:

      "1 chick hatched!  It's so tiny, I wasn't sure at first that it was a
chick.  If you stretched it out fully from head to toe, it would fit
comfortably on a nickel."

and on 6/14:

      "Hatchlings are so tiny I wasn't sure it could be possible, but
adults began feeding them immediately.  Communication between adults and
their understanding of what they are doing is incredible to watch.  For
instance, the male, who had been bringing a variety of large bugs to feed
his mate, changed his behavior the instant chicks began to hatch, and began
showing up at the nest with much smaller, not-seen-before white grubs of
some sort.  Even so, the grubs are almost bigger than the chicks.  Adults
are very attentive to feeding, taking great care (evidently) that chicks
don't choke, reaching into chicks' mouths with surgical precision to tease
grubs into proper alignment for swallowing.  I don't know how adults decide
which chick to feed, but they evidently do decide, placing dinner first in
one chick's open mouth, then deciding against it and offering to another
chick, and so on until finally, one chick wins the bug du jour. I can't be
sure but wonder if the adults are giving each chick a taste of everything
on the menu, maybe even squeezing some bug juice into all their open
mouths, for a taste, although only one actually gets the bug (?).  There
does seem to be some kind of rationality at work - I just can't discern
exactly what it is."


                           BLUEBIRD-FOX SPARROW

      A dozen WESTERN BLUEBIRDS graced Thornton Creek on 9/22 (DF).  The
night of 8/24, RB heard call notes of SWAINSON'S THRUSHES as they migrated
over the HMSC.

      8 AMERICAN PIPITS flocked along beach vegetation south of Seal Rocks
on 9/9 (TD & SS, M& MH--M & MH were former YB&N members who were returning
for a visit).  JL spotted two during the 9/16 Beach Cleanup near Beverly
Beach north of Yaquina Head.  On 9/23, about 30 were at Boiler Bay, and 5
were at the YBSJ (CAFT).  One lingered at Boiler Bay on 9/25 (PP).

      ME found Lincoln County's third NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH and the first of
this century at the Salishan Nature Trail south of Lincoln City on 8/20.

      Our latest WESTERN TANAGER was at Thornton Creek on 9/22 (DF)--the
latest record in SemiL is 9/26.

      Not all birds are departing!  Our first fall GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW
was about 4 miles east of Waldport on 9/24 (J&KC).  And our first FOX
SPARROW was reported at Yaquina Head on 8/23 (BLM).  A newly arrived Fox
Sparrow sang over and over along the HMSC Nature Trail for the 9/16 YBNFT.


      OBSERVERS/SOURCES: Betty Bahn, Range Bayer, Kitty Brigham, Bureau of
Land Management staff at Yaquina Head (BLM), Rebecca Cheek, Jorrie & Ken
Ciotti (http://www.birdsamore.com), Neal Coenen, Corvallis Audubon Field
Trip (CAFT; led by PV and reported by MC), Marcia Cutler, Todd Dunkirk,
Mark Elliott, Darrel Faxon (see
http://www.orednet.org/~rbayer/lincoln/bird.htm#thornton_creek), Andy
Frank, Joel Geier, Mark & Mary Jo Hedrick, Steve Kupillas, Janet Lamberson,
Sally Lockyear (SaL), Bob Loeffel (BLo) & Shirley Loeffel (SLo), Roy Lowe,
John & Linda MacKown, Kathy Merrifield, Laimons & Vicki Osis, Chuck Philo,
Phil Pickering, SemiL (semimonthly Lincoln Co. bird records through 1992
for each species at
http://www.orednet.org/~rbayer/lincoln/bird.htm#semimonthly [all lower case
letters]), Howard Shippey, Joline Shroyer, Stacy Strickland,  Louise
Swanson, Paula Vanderheul, Tom Wainwright, Jean Weakland, Yaquina Birders &
Naturalists Field Trip (YBNFT led by CP).