[obol] Astoria TROPICAL KINGBIRD

[Shawneen Finnegan]

I spent the day on the Northern Oregon Coast, birding slowly from  
Cannon Beach, the South Jetty, and Wireless Road area in Astoria.

Late this afternoon (3:45 PM) I found a TROPICAL KINGBIRD at the  
north end of Wireless Road.  It was at the very beginning of the  
north terminus of the road at Miles Crossing.  As one turns onto  
Wireless (heading east) from Miles Crossing there is a house at the  
corner on the north side of Wireless.  At the far end of the yard  
(tall hedges) are powerlines that cross the road, just before the  
road makes a slight jog to the right.  If you go past the yellow sign  
on the right that says children crossing, or something like that, you  
have gone too far.  It was literally the first telephone pole on the  
right after turning onto Wireless.  The kingbird used the wires as  
its base, flycatching regularly.  (Mike Patterson, if you have a  
better way of describing this intersection, please speak up).  I left  
it still in the same spot at about 4:20 PM, taking video and digiscopes.

My first stop in the morning was at Cannon Beach, where I birded the  
neighborhoods on the north side of the river outlet.  Lots and lots  
of Winter Wrens, Fox Sparrows, some juncos, and one Townsend's Warbler.

 From Ecola State Park I did some seawatching with very pleasant  
conditions.  There were lots of loons of all three types, murres,  
pelicans, cormorants, Western Grebes, etc. Of note were 3-4 Red- 
necked Grebes and more Western Grebes in flight than I can remember  
seeing.  One group of 8 flew by.  The big rock offshore with the  
lighthouse was covered in Brown Pelicans and cormorants.

I arrived at the South Jetty of the Columbia around 1 PM.  The wind  
was blowing strongly from the S-SW with a low overcast which hugged  
the river mouth.   Present among the many loons, murres, Heerman's  
Gulls, pelicans, scoters, Western Grebes, were 5-6 Black-legged  
Kittiwakes and two Northern Fulmars.

The only thing of note along the Wireless Road was a very bright  
green Pacific Treefrog sitting on a clump of withering blackberries.   
Very cute...

Shawneen Finnegan
Portland, Oregon