Great Backyard Bird Count - Days 3 and 4

The second half of the Great Backyard Bird Count yielded much better results. For starter's, here's what I saw:

Sunday
American crow - 3
Black-capped chickadee - 3
Red-breasted nuthatch - 2
Spotted towhee - 1
Brown creeper - 1
House finch - 2
Song sparrow - 1
Western screech-owl - 1

Monday
American crow - 5
Black-capped chickadee - 7
Red-breasted nuthatch - 3
Brown creeper - 1
House finch - 2
Song sparrow - 1
American robin - 2
Steller's jay - 3
Varied thrush - 3
Northern flicker - 3

The single dark-eyed junco that came through the yard this morning - odd to see it by itself!

Thirteen species were seen and heard in the yard this weekend - not too bad! I definitely saw more activity by going out early this morning as opposed to counting in the afternoon.

The Great Backyard Bird Count helps give scientists a snap-shot of bird activity across the continent, but I can only imagine the monumental task of trying to pull meaningful trends out of the masses of data that are admittedly somewhat prone to error when including information from all levels of birders putting in varying levels of effort. For instance, I saw that there are eight different reports of blue jays , an eastern species, in Oregon; these are almost certainly actually sightings of Steller's jays, which are in fact blue in color so often get referred to by novices as blue jays. While I imagine pulling population trend data must be near-impossible, some of the other questions they are asking include the timing of migration movements, the status of irruptive species in a given year, and the differences in bird diversity in urban, suburban, rural, and natural areas.

All this backyard bird-watching also got me thinking about changing trends in my own back yard. There are several species that I used to see fairly regularly growing up here, but not anymore. Some examples are the pileated woodpecker, downy woodpecker, and band-tailed pigeon. Sadly, they have most likely been pushed out of this region as the surrounding city has developed further of the last two decades. Still, it's cool that I can be right in the middle of a metropolitan area and see more than a dozen species in the yard over the course of a winter weekend.

Great Backyard Bird Count - Days 1 and 2

It's been a pretty quiet start to the Great Backyard Bird Count for this backyard birder, with not many species or many birds spotted in the last two days. I've only spent about half an hour a day out in the yard, but the feeders have been very quiet which also contributes to the low counts. Here are my counts from the last two days:

Friday
American crow - 7
Red-breasted nuthatch - 2
American robin - 2
Northern flicker - 1
Steller's jay - 1

Saturday
American crow - 11
Black-capped chickadee - 2
American robin - 2
Northern flicker - 1

Only six species in these two days, so there's definitely some other possibles to be added in the next two. Unfortunately everything has been pretty far away, so no photos yet, but I'll report back at the end of the weekend and I'll try to get some pictures to share too!

Back to Stormy Weather

While yesterday was clear, calm, sunny, and mild, today was the exact opposite: cloudy, windy, rainy, and cold - more what you would expect for the Oregon Coast this time of year. That made birding a bit more difficult but a half day out still yielded some good finds.

A drive along the estuary adjacent to Yaquina Bay led to sightings of some large mixed flocks, perhaps seeking shelter from what was a very stormy looking ocean today. One flock was made up mostly of ruddy ducks and western grebes (99), with a few bufflehead and lesser scaup mixed in for good measure. A little further along was a raft of surf scoters with one pair of white-winged scoters (100) - yay!!

Later in the afternoon I stopped by Yaquina Head Lighthouse where it was so windy I had trouble getting my car door open. I snapped this shot through the open window of the car....

...and the only reason I wanted to get out of the car was to get a better look at these common murres (101) that were all huddled together on the top of a rock. The photo is a bit blurry because it was so windy I couldn't hold the camera still enough!

Closing in on 100 in Newport

The weather for today's birding excursion around Newport could not have been better: sunshine, blue skies, and a slight breeze that put just enough chill in the air to remind you it was February and not the middle of summer. It really lifted my spirits to be out and about in the sun today!

First stop was Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, pictured above. From this vantage point over the jetties the first bird I saw was a new year bird, the brown pelican (92). Brown pelicans are not "supposed" to be this far north this time of year, but the fact of the matter is there were pelicans everywhere I looked today. A lot of people are concerned about why they never headed south this year (global warming?!) and indeed many of them are not fairing so well - I saw several dead ones today that probably succumbed to the cold temperatures or lack of food the pelicans have to deal with if they're going to winter on the Oregon coast. Many are speculating about whether or not they are going to start breeding here.

Brown pelicans were listed as endangered from 1970 until just three months ago when they were officially delisted off the Endangered Species List. This means their population has recovered from issues they faced like DDT and other contaminents, and I have to wonder if some of their range expansion might be due to a burgeoning population and not just climate change. Whatever the reason, there are certainly a lot more of them around to be seen, and they've been starting to get some major media attention. This article reports an interesting fact: from 1918 to 2002, the Aubudon Society reported less than 100 brown pelicans wintering in Oregon. This year, they estimate there are more than 3000 of them here.

But back to today's birding! After a rather disappointing stop at the Hatfield Marine Science Center, the birds at South Jetty State Park more than made up for it. In addition to the surf scoters, common loons, common goldeneyes, bufflehead, horned grebes, and double-crested and pelagic cormorants that were fishing the bay, I added four more year birds literally within the span of about 100 yards! First, I spotted a red-necked grebe (93) among the other divers. Then I zeroed in on the California gull (94) standing patiently in the parking lot. The biggest surprise of the day was a solitary horned lark (95), pictured below. And then to top it all off, a fox sparrow (96) emerged from the bushes and perched right next to a song sparrow, providing a lovely direct comparison.

Down at Seal Rock State Park the wave action was awesome, but the birding even more so. At the overlook there were about a dozen black turnstones (97) hanging out. Walking down to the beach flushed two black oystercatchers (98), the last year bird of the day.

In addition to the pelicans flying about (the above pelican photos were taken at Seal Rock), the gulls also proved to be quite entertaining. There was a mixed flock of western and California gulls that hung out nicely for some photographing. Here's a nice western gull with its reflection in the photo below - I also witnessed an intense gull fight and took some pictures I'll save for an upcoming post....all I'll say for now is I've never seen anything quite like it!

After a late picnic lunch of cheese and crackers a drive down through Waldport to near Yachats didn't yield much more in the way of bird activity, so it was back north to Newport for a stop at the historic waterfront before calling it a day. The roads were all under construction, but that didn't stop the California sea lions from hanging out on the docks in the bay. Check this guy out:

After a quick stop for groceries it was time to call it a day, and in the end I saw 35 bird species including seven new year birds. Will I be able to top 100 on this trip?! I hope so! I couldn't have asked for a better conclusion to the day than a glass of white wine and a sunset over the Pacific Ocean. I love this photo and just had to share.....Cheers!

A Seven Raptor Day at Finley NWR

I thought my trip to the beach early this week was going to be delayed due to fighting off the head cold that seems to be going around like a wildfire, but luckily (though it hit me hard) it was short in duration and I was feeling much better this morning. I was inspired to take a slightly different route to the beach and stop by Finley National Wildlife Refuge a little south of Corvallis. Amazingly, I've hardly ever been through this refuge, having visited maybe only once before.

The refuge was set aside to provide wintering habitat for the protected dusky Canada goose, but of course many other species of plants and animals benefit. While I did see lots of duskies today, including many wearing the distinct red neck band, it wasn't the waterfowl that stood out on today's birding trip. It was the whopping seven different species of raptors!

It started near the entrance to the refuge where I got a beautiful drive-by look of a rough-legged hawk. I did see one earlier this year at Ridgefield NWR, so it wasn't new to the year list, but that one was far away, and this one was perched right by the road. It's probably the best view of a rough-legged I've ever had: it was patient enough for two drive-bys on the way in, and it was still perched there on the way out.

As expected, red-tailed hawks and American kestrels were perched everywhere. In fact, including the hawks I saw perched along the I5 corridor on the drive down to Corvallis, I probably easily saw 20-30 red-tails today. The next big find was at the Prairie Overlook within the refuge, where very surprisingly a white-tailed kite (89) flew by! Here it is "kiting", or hovering in mid-air as it looks down for prey:

At one of the marsh overlooks I did finally spot some dunlin (90), which I would have expected much earlier on the year list. While I was excited to pick these up, it was then back to raptor watching as the next species seen included an immature bald eagle and a northern harrier. It was leaving the refuge where the seventh raptor was spotted - definite icing on the cake for a good afternoon's birding - a Cooper's hawk (91) perched alongside the road.

Several thousand geese land near a barn in Finley NWR

There was a refuge count of 33 species for the day, with three being new year birds. Not bad at all! I hope to further boost that year bird total during the next few days which I will be spending near Newport, Oregon on the coast. Stay tuned!

Upcoming: Great Backyard Bird Count

I wanted to remind all of my North American blog readers that February 12-15 is the Great Backyard Bird Count. Participating is easy - all you have to do is count birds for a minimum of 15 minutes and report your findings on the website. I've added a button to the side bar that I'll leave up through the count to help remind you (and me!) to participate. Last year, observers reported an astounding 620 species! It was during the bird count last February that I added a life bird of my own, the pine grosbeak.

This morning I did a little backyard bird count preview by spending an hour reading in the yard. During that time I heard and saw about seven or eight species, including black-capped chickadees, American crows, northern flickers, a varied thrush, and this red-breasted nuthatch:


There was another persistent trilling call that I couldn't recognize, but neither could I locate the bird. Many of the birds were "heard only", which can make counting up a tally of them difficult, but maybe I should brush up on my calls a little bit for the backyard bird count weekend anyway!

Koll Center in the Rain, Ridgefield in the Sun!

Yesterday it was drizzling all day, but I had to get out at least a little bit so I went over to Koll Center Wetlands where I can bird mostly from the car (I get the foot checked out again tomororw - hopefully I will have increased freedom to roam shortly!). I saw 27 species there, a pretty decent number, and the most photogenic of which was this red-tailed hawk. I stayed in the car so I wouldn't flush it and actually opened the sun roof and photographed it in the tree above me that way!

But today, guess what?! Sunshine!! There have been some great sightings recently reported at Ridgefield NWR so I've been waiting for a good day to jet up there and hopefully add some birds to the year list, and today was clearly that day. Look at all that blue sky and sun over the Ridgefield wetlands! It was even warm enough to drive the whole auto-tour route with the windows down.

Surprisingly, there seemed to be fewer species out enjoying the nice weather than have been reported recently. I only turned up 30 today, a pretty low species count for Ridgefield....and none of them were the great horned owls, greater white-fronted geese, American bitterns, or pileated woodpeckers others have seen in the last couple of days. Ah well, there were still some nice sightings, and it was worth just being out in that great weather! One of the closest birds I got to was this western scrub-jay who posed nicely just outside the (open) car window:

As far as raptors go, there were several bald eagles and red-tailed hawks about, but the most numerous today were the northern harriers. This female (differentiated from the males by being brown instead of gray) flew overhead and looked straight down into the camera lens for this photo:

While this red-tail was hunched over preening, I was hopeful I might have spotted a great horned owl. Once it lifted its head it was clearly a red-tailed hawk, but it was generous enough to stay put for a nice photo-op:

One of the coolest sightings of the day was actually mammalian instead of avian. I saw a total of three river otters, but this one had caught a fish that it hauled towards shore in order to eat it:

This great blue heron looked on as the otter ate its prize, but it made no attempt to steal it:

There were lots of great blue herons about, including a couple that were right in the road. When I stopped to look at one, it walked right by the car allowing for some great close-ups, like this one:

In the end, only one new bird was added to the 2010 bird list: the greater scaup (88). It was a good find, though, as lesser scaup with their purplish heads are way more common on inland lakes in the winter, whereas greater scaup are mostly oceanic. I'm lucky it was sunny out, because that's the only way I would have been able to distinguish the greenish sheen on the heads of this small group of greater scaup like I did today!