[obol] 25,000 Starling Roost - Yamhil county

[Carol Karlen]

obol:

At 7:30 pm, Sept. 16, 2006, while doing the Yamhill county North American
Migration Count, Carol Karlen, Laura McMasters, and Paul Sullivan found a
phenomenal swarm of EUROPEAN STARLINGS going to roost.  PTS estimated the
flock at 25,000 birds!!!

They wheeled and swirled in the sky, dipping down to a filbert orchard and
coming up again for ~15 minutes before finally plunging into the trees.

It is likely that this is the cause of some of the images seen on NEXRAD
radar and discussed as a possible Barn Swallow flock.  Persons interested in
the phenomenon might want to watch the radar tomorrow morning -- or visit
the site.

Location:
Travel 6 miles south of Dayton on Hwy 221 (Salem-Dayton Hwy) and turn east
on Grand Island Rd. for less than a quarter mile.  The birds were going into
the filbert orchard adjacent to 17340 Grand Island Rd.  Lift-off tomorrow
may happen before 7 AM.

Earlier we had visited the Greenacre Rd. site in search of the large Barn
Swallow roost, and did not find it.  We had seen it Aug. 27, 2006, and knew
where to look.  Instead, we saw small numbers of Barn Swallow streaming
toward an area south of Greenacre Rd.  This led us to visit Grand Island Rd.

Good birding,

Paul Sullivan
Carol Karlen