[obol] Malheur highlights Sep 14

[Alan Contreras]

Female Am Redstart at the second tree as you walk in to Benson Pond.  Benson
Pond was stuffed with migrants today.

Also a possible Mourning Warbler there - I have seen few HY birds, none
lately, and I am not sure if they can have grayish heads.  What I saw (and
Holly Reinhard saw briefly) was an oporornis that had a faint half-cooked
eye ring, no "Mac marks," a yellowish throat with some dull color at the
bottom "corners" where the hood would end, yellow undersides and a dull
grayish head.  When I first saw it, head-on, I briefly thought it was a
Nashville until it turned and offered a side view, after which it
disappeared into the willows.  Photos I have seen (few so far) show imm
Mourning with a greenish head, which this bird did not have.  The nape-back
color contrast was roughly the same as on a gray-headed Orange-crown.

Also present there was a standard Mac and a bunch of other migrants, using
mainly that one tree.  The reason was obvious: that willow was absolutely
swarming with insects and several kinds of bees and wasps.  Many seemed to
be feeding on the leaf surfaces - but not on any other willow in that whole
area.  What would cause this?

HQ and Frenchglen have many birds up til mid-day and seem empty in evening.
No other rarities, thought there is a BChin-type female hummer at HQ this
evening that I tried to photograph.  Getting late for normal hummers here.

Knox pond is about the only water along CPR and has a lot of shorebirds;
best were three Baird's.

-- 
Alan Contreras with Holly R and Karl Fairchild.
EUGENE, OREGON

acontrer at mindspring.com
OREGONREVIEW.BLOGSPOT.COM

Nostalgic for Nixon....