[obol] "skimming" Curry Co. (no joy so far). Other comments follow.

[Tim Rodenkirk]

Hi Jeff and Owen,

Last time you two were down you hit some nice weather,
a bit soggy and cold this time- ehh!  The acacia you
see flowering is Acacia dealbata, a native of
Australia which is quickly becoming a noxious weed
down in Curry Co.  This species largely goes unnoticed
until it flowers in January when you can see just how
widespread it has become particularly in Curry Co. and
to a lesser extent in Coos County.  I have never
noticed much bird wise using it, and I have checked. I
have noticed warblers using the flowering Hedera
helix, English Ivy, this time of year as well as the
flowering ornamental plums (the Feb. Cape May Warbler
in Curry several years back was hanging out in the
flowering plums around Gold Beach) that should start
up anyday now on the south coast.  The manzanita is
just beginning to flower at New River and there are
loads of bees wherever you find a manzanita in full
flower (a few seem to really flower early on). 
Hummers may not make it in for a while this year
because of the nasty weather but they should normally
start being in the next week or so.

Black Phoebes are more common than ever, we had 53 on
the Coos Bay CBC, which isn't a record but would have
been if we had better coverage in a couple
under-birded portions of the count.  

I suspect the Black Skimmer was probably headed NORTH
not south.  We have had pretty ratty weather since it
was seen on Saturday and I can't imagine it just
changed it's mind and headed south after going so far
north already.  It could be on a north coast beach
right now or somewhere in Coos Bay for that matter. 

Happy birding!
Tim R
Coos Bay
--- Jeff Gilligan <jeffgill at teleport.com> wrote:

> Owen Schmidt and I have looked today from  the
> Winchuk R. mouth to Gold
> Beach without seeing the Black Skimmer.  We have
> checked the Pistol R. mouth
> twice.  
> 
> We will probably bird from Bandon to Florence
> tomorrow.
> 
> Who knows - it could be at the Columbia River mouth
> by now.
> 
> 
> On Oceanview Drive, south of Brookings, there is a
> Spanish-style house next
> to one of the Hastings bulb farm buildings.  It has
> a variety of eucalypts.
> One is about to burst into bloom. When I was on the
> recent Santa Barbara CBC
> a eucalypt had something like 34 species over
> several hours, including
> orioles, a Summer Tanager, and a Tennessee Warbler.
> 
> A eucalypt in Green Valley, AZ that typically blooms
> in early to late
> December gets swarms of birds.  I recommend the
> Brookings tree to anyone who
> can check it out perhaps in a week when the flowers
> are open.
> 
> Acacia balleyi (common name?) is also about to bloom
> in Curry Co.  I recall
> seeing a patch with Terry Wahl south of Langlois a
> few years ago.  He
> mentioned that Colin Dillingham had pointed it out
> and said that the species
> attracts warblers in winter in California when it
> blooms.
> 
> We saw 12 E. Collared Doves on a line together near
> the Winchuk R.
> 
> Black Phoebes seem more common than ever.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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