[obol] Long drive COOL bird, ARCTIC LOON -- Yes Saturday

[Scott Carpenter]

I got a much later start than Dave Irons, et. al., but found the ARCTIC LOON
west of the bridge around 11:35 am this morning.  It was easily discerned
from a nearby Pacific Loon with the naked eye from Pentilla Road on the
north side of Blind Slough.  The loon continued to swim west, so at 11:56, I
left the area and headed to Olson Springs Rd via Ziak Gnat Creek Rd.
Unfortunately, I never saw the loon again, despite returning to the bridge
and Pentilla Rd.  There were 4 other birders looking for it when I left.

So if I'm reading people's posts accurately, it seems like the bird has been
slowly making its way from east of the bridge to west of the bridge in mid
to late morning.

For those looking for directions, I've put a map of the locations where I
successfully and unsuccessfully saw the loon, as well as links to Mike
Patterson's map and photos, online at:  http://www.westerngrebe.com/arlo/

Scott Carpenter
Portland

On Dec 15, 2007 2:42 PM, DAVID IRONS <llsdirons at msn.com> wrote:

>  Greetings All,
>
> With a full week of work and tomorrow's Coos Bay CBC looming, I decided
> today had to be the day for my ARCTIC LOON dash.  It is 480 miles doorstep
> to doorstep from my house in Eugene.  I arrived at Knappa about 5:30AM (left
> Eugene about 1:00), had breakfast and went out to Blind Slough at first
> light.  It took awhile to locate the bird, which was a ways upstream from
> bridge (past the boat ramp parking area)  It finally cooperated and swam
> downstream a ways.  It was hanging out about 200-300 yards upstream from the
> bridge.   Several others including John Gatchet, Stefan Schlick, George
> Neavoll and Bob (not sure of his last name) from Salem, got to see the bird.
>
>
> As someone mentioned earlier in the week, the downed timber along Hwy 26
> and along the outer coast (from the recent storm) has to be seen to be
> appreciated.  The extent of the wind damaged timber far exceeds anything I
> ever saw after a tornado in the Midwest.  The road into Klootchy Creek,
> where the world's largest Sitka Spruce is located, is littered with downed
> trees.   Hopefully our treasured record tree survived.  There was one spot
> where there was literally a wall (about 50 yards long) formed by a series of
> root wads of uprooted trees that lined the road side.   Truly amazing.
>
> Dave Irons
> Eugene, OR
>
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