[obol] Birds Around Newport

[Cindy Ashy]

I checked out a few spots around Newport today to see
if the storm kicked in anything unusual. I was
surprised that I did not see any dead birds. I did
find an injured male American Wigeon hobbling around
and unable to fly in the middle of the road at Yaquina
Head. 

There was a female Northern Harrier actively hunting
the grassy meadow near the Yaquina Head
Lighthouse...and I saw it again at Quarry Cove (or
another one). I have seen them before at Yaquina Head
but they're not that common (like at South Beach SP).
Otherwise, just the very common birds. I think the
wildlife was shaken by the storm. The gulls hardly
made a sound. The oystercatchers were much more
chatterbox than normal....the pair that flew in near
Lions Head never shut up and I was there a
while....the only other time I've heard them
continually vocalize for that long was just after
sunset during mating season. The harbor seals down in
Quarry Cove were more vigilent than normal. There were
lots of large broken limbs and a fallen tree going
down to Quarry Cove (actually officially closed) and
one of the rangers told me that the handicap parking
lot was submerged yesterday. I was definitely
expecting some dead birds but all I found were large
boulders strewn about in a pattern that made you fully
appreciate the immense power of the storm surge....and
a bit wary to be standing there in the middle of the
boulder field.

No unusual gulls at the South Jetty (or anywhere). The
Harlequin Ducks were at their usual spot at the first
finger along with all the other usual stuff.

At Sallys Bend there was a flock of 64 American Coots
in the shallow water following the tide out with about
half the flock stumbling around on the freshly exposed
mudflat. Luckily I received a phone call which kept me
there 10 more minutes to see the mixed flock of about
130 peeps arrive....at least a dozen sanderling sized
and the rest western/least sandpiper sized (I think
both but with just bins I couldn't tell for sure). I
also saw one Black Turnstone which I don't think I've
ever seen at Sallys Bend before and I go to this spot
fairly often. The Mew Gulls were really putting on a
show - some doing their always entertaining boogie
woggie shuffle while others were doing their best to
imitate terns diving...not nearly as adept so fun to
watch the bungling effort...another reason to love
gulls.

I saw no pelicans today (first time in a long while)
but a ranger at Yaquina Head saw a flock fly by in the
AM.

Cindy Ashy



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