[obol] Eugene CBC, a tale of two towns

[Lars and Gail Norgren]

      It was the best of counts. It was the
worst of counts. The best thing was not
getting writers' cramp counting all those
juncos and golden-crowned sparrows. I don't
have previous years' numbers from my area
for comparison, but I've done a great many
Willamette Valley Counts and the numbers of
many familiar species seemed down by almost
an order of magnitude. The worst thing was
all the misses of regular birds. No Horned
Larks. Excusable considering many birders
never see them in the Willamette Valley.
Detecting them in winter can be a very specialized
form of grunt work. But no Eurasian Wigeon!
One highly seasoned birder called this inexcusable.
I'm inclined to think it was more an indication
of present bird distribution.
     I was thrilled to get a pass to the East and
West Coyote Units of ODF&W's Fern Ridge Wildlife
Management Area, virtually off limits to the public
throughout the winter. We saw no American Wigeon
at all. I suspect the total for the count circle
will be well below average. We also recorded
under 200 Pintail and Green-winged Teal
respectively, only three Shovelers and Under
ten Mallards in a landscape designed and
managed for ducks. The Falcated Duck
disappeared after the big wind Dec 14. Here
in the western Tualatin Valley where I live
there were no ducks until after that event.
We now have large amounts of Pintail for the
first time since last winter.
     As a native of Corvallis there was always
a vaguely illicit pleasure to participating
in the Eugene Count while I grew up. Eugene
routinely got 20 more species than us and
sometimes closer to 30-35 more. There may not
be any two count circles in the state more
similar in terms of habitat, climate, and
demographics of the counters. But Eugene
was always way beyond us. This year Corvallis
made a new record and was almost at parity
with Eugene. It is less than 60km between the
centers of the two count circles, but I can
imagine I'm traveling to a different country.
The Valley Pine and California Black Oak
pretty much appear at the Lane County line.
White-tailed Kite and Red-shouldered Hawk
are routine species for Eugene, while they
remain hard to find in Benton County. It
was very satisfying to show five novice
birders excellent looks of both these
species through a scope. We saw both at
two separate locations in our area. Upon
returning to the East Coyote parking lot
in the afternoon an incredibly bright adult
Shoulder flew within 15m of us. I really
can't imagine a more gorgeous or exotic looking
bird anywhere on earth.
     As a child I always looked forward to
the first vulture of Spring, which generally
appeared in Corvallis about the Ides of March.
Now they are wintering near the city limits
of Eugene. The typical foggy conditions had
me worried that we would miss them yesterday,
but that was groundless.Anyone wishing to
add Turkey Vulture extremely early to their
year's list should visit a very bodacious
bird feeder on Dukhobar Rd.. Three dead
calves next to a house there had attracted
SIXTEEN vultures. Some were on the carcasses,
some on the ground nearby, others in the lower,
middle, and upper branches of Oregon Ash trees.
Oh Winter! Now that you are here can Spring
be far Behind?     Lars Norgren MANNING OREGON