[obol] Columbia Estuary Report - 10/4/2007

[Mike Patterson]

The keep-off-the-jetty signs have been removed and it is now okay
to climb up on the South Jetty and watch birds.

I spent the last two mornings doing just that.  Yesterday the
ocean was angry and the pickings were slim.  I found a single
LAPLAND LONGSPUR on the shorebird flats, but the near ocean was 
just too rough, so the feeding flocks way out.

Today the sea was quieter.  There were at least 200 BLACK-LEGGED
KITTIWAKES flying about.  Fall duck movements are ramping up as
well.  On the shorebird flats, I found 2 PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVERS and
a LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER.  There were also 100+ VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS
plus 2 BARN SWALLOWS and 3 PURPLE MARTINS.  A COOPER'S HAWK and
a half-dozen AMERICAN PIPITS were sitting on the trestle and Trestle
Bay.

I also stopped at Warenton Sewage Ponds today.  The folks who run
the facility have let most of the water out and there was a good
mix of shorebirds:
  
	Killdeer               8
	Greater Yellowlegs     4
	Lesser Yellowlegs      1
	Long-billed Dowitcher 47
	Wilson's Snipe         1
	Western Sandpiper      1
	Least Sandpiper       12
	Pectoral Sandpiper     5

This guy had me going for awhile and is a testament to why one should
never get too hung up on any single fieldmark.
http://home.pacifier.com/~neawanna/temp/warr20071004sm24.JPG

-- 
Mike Patterson               
Astoria, OR                    
celata at pacifier.com  
 
Technology and the modern birder
http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/mbalame/archives/2007/09/technology.html