[obol] Brownsville CBC Results

[Barbara Combs]

Twelve participants braved wet and snowy weather to participate in the
Brownsville Christmas Bird Count yesterday, December 26.  Snow prevented
access to some higher elevations in the count and to some species that would
occur in those habitats.  The count's preliminary total is 101 species,
which includes one count week species.  The count total has often dipped
below 100, so this is a good effort from our small crew.  Two species new to
the count were found.



Dedicated Brownsville CBC counter Rich Armstrong found the count's first
hummingbird ever, an ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD attending a feeder between the town
and the Pioneer Cemetery.



The Brownsville Sewage Ponds are undergoing massive construction work.  On
Friday, December 21, I stopped by the ponds to check out the situation
there.  I counted 3 ducks floating around in the front pond along Highway
228.  I had little hope that we would find many waterfowl species there on
count day.  But, the calendar and the weather worked in our favor.
Construction
workers were away from the pond from Saturday through Tuesday, and were
assigned to work on the Sevenmile Lane ponds on the day of the count.  The
period of no construction activity made the ponds a safe refuge once again,
and a LONG-TAILED DUCK, possibly moving in via the storm activity from
Alaska, had found the Highway 228 ponds.  With a nod from the City of
Brownsville, the construction company representative was gracious about
allowing me to go into the ponds to census the waterfowl, and gracious again
when he said anyone working on the count that day could stop by the ponds to
look at the duck.



Due to the construction activity at the ponds, this is not a bird that
others can go see.  Bulldozers and dump trucks will again be doing their
work, forcing the waterfowl there to find another haven and making birding
in the area impossible.  Please do not trespass in the construction area.


The most common birds we missed that might be in the count circle sometime
during count week, which includes today, Friday, and Saturday, are:



Trumpeter Swan

any goldeneye

Ring-necked Pheasant

Ruffed Grouse

Sooty Grouse

Mountain Quail

Pied-billed Grebe

Western Grebe

Golden Eagle

Black-bellied Plover

Spotted Sandpiper

Western Screech-Owl

Pileated Woodpecker

Northern Shrike

Gray Jay

Horned Lark

Bushtit

Marsh Wren

Swamp Sparrow

Brown-headed Cowbird

Lesser Goldfinch

Evening Grosbeak



If you bird in the count circle in the next couple of days and find any of
these species, please let me know where and when.



I am planning to conduct the Brownsville CBC next year on December 26th once
again.  Mark your calendars now for a chance at discovering other new and
exciting species in the area, and for enjoying a relatively tranquil count
without a lot of traffic noise and interference.


-- 
Barbara Combs   obie '70
Eugene OR
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