[obol] Camassia Preserve - 2008 summary

[Paul T. Sullivan]

OBOL:

Another season of Morning Birdsong Walks at the Camassia Preserve (The 
Nature Conservancy) in West Linn has ended.  We did 10 Thursday walks from 
7-9 AM, with 73 total participants.

We tallied 1043 birds of 58 species.  They were:

7 Great Blue Heron -- flyovers
11 Canada Goose -- flyovers
2 Wood Duck
25 Mallard
23 Turkey Vulture -- flyovers
15 Osprey -- nesting on cell phone tower
2 Bald Eagle -- new this year
1 Red-tailed Hawk
2 Band-tailed Pigeon
2 Mourning Dove
19 Vaux's Swift
30 Anna's Hummingbird
3 Downy Woodpecker
30 Northern Flicker
1 Pileated Woodpecker
1 Olive-sided Flycatcher
1 Pacific-slope Flycatcher
5 Tree Swallow
8 Violet-green Swallow
12 Steller's Jay
1 Scrub Jay
45 American Crow -- nesting right over the parking lot
72 Black-capped Chickadee
2 Chestnut-backed Chickadee
25 Bushtit
20 Red-breasted Nuthatch
19 White-breasted Nuthatch -- only 1 in previous 8 years!
8 Brown Creeper
33 Bewick's Wren
3 Winter Wren
20 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
8 Swainson's Thrush
3 Hermit Thrush
54 American Robin
1 Varied Thrush
150 Cedar Waxwing -- 90 on the last day!
21 European Starling
1 Cassin's Vireo
7 Hutton's Vireo
6 Warbling Vireo -- declining numbers
39 Orange-crowned Warbler
3 Nashville Warbler
17 Yellow-rumped Warbler
14 Black-throated Gray
8 Townsend's Warbler
3 Wilson's Warbler
33 Western Tanager
12 Black-headed Grosbeak
1 Lazuli Bunting
63 Spotted Towhee
60 Song Sparrow
16 Brown-headed Cowbird
1 Purple Finch
2 House Finch
11 Pine Siskin
12 Lesser Goldfinch
42 American Goldfinch
7 Evening Grosbeak

The opening up of the habitat by clearing D. firs and thinning oaks seems to 
be more to the liking of White-breasted Nuthatches.

With 9 years and 82 visits in the record books, the average species per 
visit is 24.2.
We've recorded 83 speciees and 8053 total sightings, with 585 participants.

Good birding, everyone,

Paul T. Sullivan

"...my list, as embellished as it is, reveals nothing
  about the enjoyment that I have had being outdoors.
  And how could it?  A mere bird checklist can no more
  reflect my outdoor experiences than a menu can capture
  the many subtle flavors, aromas, and other sensory
  experiences of a delicious and satisfying meal."

  James B. Ferrari, BirdWatcher's Digest, Jan/Feb '05, p. 45