Polk County Big Year - 2017 Part 3

Now that spring migration is in full swing, and my part 2 is getting quite long, I felt it best to start  part 3.  

4/28/17

I realize it is getting on the late side to tackle trying to find a Long-eared Owl.   These owls are strictly nocturnal, meaning they are only active at night, when it is fully dark.  There are exceptions of course, but one cannot rely on hearing or seeing one in the day time.  Plus, there have not been many sightings in this county, and I was at a loss to know where to listen, but I remembered a couple reports in a certain locality near the refuge, so went there.  However, I woke up a little late and got to the area about 5:25 in the morning, and it was just barely getting light, so I thought I was already too late. But right after I played the "hooo" song, a female piped up, making a very nice addition for the year (168).  I have to admit this was luck. 

I next headed over to the refuge and watched the geese take off for the day - thousands of them.  They know they are safe at the refuge and certainly take advantage of it.  Here is a pic of some heading out in the pre-dawn light.

A few of the many Cackling Geese leaving the refuge for the day.

I next walked the trail around the butte picking up Cassin’s Vireo (169) for the year.  I came home and ate breakfast with Rosie, and then headed up to Bald Mountain where I found a pair of Purple Martins (170) choosing a nest site - an old woodpecker hole in the top of a snag.  Martins in most other situations have reverted to using man-made bird houses, so it is uncommon to see what I saw this morning in comparison.  Matter of fact, someone at  Oregon State University is doing a study this year on snag nesting martins.   On my way back down I heard a Sooty Grouse (171), which was the main reason I went up there in the first place.

Back down in the lowlands I found a Vesper Sparrow (172) on that certain Christmas Tree farm where they have now been for a few years.  I checked a few more places before coming home, but  nothing new for the year. 

A Purple Martin near his nest hole

Male Purple Martin peering out a nest hole

4/29/17
This morning I needed to extract some wax out of my  left ear, and so asked my wife to find an “ear candle.”  If you don’t know what they are, you can do a search, but just to explain, they “wick” the wax out of your ear (s).  So I laid down with my head on a pillow on the front porch so as to be able to watch the hummer feeder, and while doing so saw one came in which I am confident was a female Calliope Hummingbird (173).  These are rare migrants through the Willamette Valley at this time of year, and I have only ever seen 3 in 30 years here, so this was a nice addition.

Rosie and I decided we needed a walk, so went to the refuge where I saw the first of the year Wilson’s Phalarope (174), a colorful shorebird which nests there.  Matter of fact, soon after the improvements were done there some 20 years ago, the first nest for this species west of the Cascades was found here by a good friend of mine.  We walked about 4 miles and saw a good number of species as well.

After lunch, Rosie went to stay with her mother, and I took her father to Luckiamute Landing and walked another 2 miles with him.  It is good to get him out of the house.  While there I saw 2 very good birds, Dusky Flycatcher (175) and Nashville Warbler (176).  The warbler has evaded me, as many have been seen both to the north and south of my county, so it was great to finally nail one down.

To top it off, I took a short detour en route home to check out certain flooded fields which I have been monitoring, and finally found the sought after Solitary Sandpiper (177). 

Ruddy Ducks at the refuge.  Notice the blue bills of the males.

Solitary Sandpiper

4/30/17
While at work today Rosie texted me that an Oriole was on our hummingbird feeder.  These birds do this on occasion as they like the sugar water.  After I was home for a bit, at 7:45 PM, I was standing at the window watching the hummers, and this Bullock's Oriole returned (178).   I was so close - the closest I have ever been to one, and if I moved he would have flown off, so was not able to get a picture.  Hopefully later on I will be able to get one of this beautiful species.  

This bird came again to the feeders as well as to the cedar tree in our front yard.  I snapped a few pics, but they were not really all that great.  The next day he was still around and Rosie got some better pics, and so one is posted below.  Isn't he a beauty!

Bullock's Oriole 5/1/17

5/3/17

Ah, my work week ended yesterday, and so it is back to birding.  The end of April and about the first half of May is the prime time for migrants arriving or passing through, so I arranged to take my next work week off, giving me some 11 days in a row for working on my year list.  I don’t suppose you can guess what the weather man is predicting.........FOOLED YA!  No doubt you were going to assume more rain, but it is supposed to be mostly dry for the next 2 weeks.  This can be great, but I really do need one or two foul weather days to shake things up and force some migrants down, so we shall see how things go.

I figured I had better try to to sleep in today, but it did not work well.  My mind is in the habit of waking up at least by 0500, so after that it was tossing and turning until I decided to get up at 0630.  As it was supposed to get close to 80 degrees, I figured I could really only effectively bird in the morning as it would be too hot afterwards.  So after explaining that to Rosie, she decided since I’d be back around noon, that she would go with me.  We went to the refuge and checked some flooded fields.  We saw and heard a number of birds, but nothing new for the year.  Below is a shot of a field of mustard greens and 2 of an Acorn Woodpecker “cache.”  A cache is a dead tree where they drill holes to store acorns in.  There are reports of some large dead trees containing thousands of holes/acorns.  This one was likely not over 500.  I did not feel like counting.  For the afternoon it was lawn mowing and yard work.  

Green mustard plants.

Acorn Woodpecker Cache

Acorn Woodpecker Cache

It was a beautifully hot day, almost enough to complain about.......but after all the rain no one is doing that.  I got the lawn mowed and most of the garden weeded.  In the evening Rosie and I went for a walk and heard a Black-headed Grosbeak (179).


5/4/17
I got out at daybreak and headed to Luckiamute Landing.  On the way I stopped at a river crossing and heard a Yellow Warbler (180).  At the landing I added 4 new year birds: Yellow-breasted Chat (181), Swainson's Thrush (182), MacGillvray's Warlber (183) and a long overdue Spotted Sandpiper (184). Another nice day and it looks to not be quite as hot as yesterday.  I may head to the refuge a little later to see if I can keep a good thing going. 

We decided to go to town for groceries, and it was going to be hot again anyway, like in the mid 80s, so birding was on hold anyway.  While pulling up last year's flowering kale plants, I heard a Western-wood Pewee (185).  That is 6 new year birds and the day is not over yet.....

5/5/16
I was out at dawn only to be greeted by wind and rain. I had planned to walk the R&R tracks along the Farmer Rd marsh, but this idea got scrapped because of such.  I ended up walking around the refuge for a while and finding an expected Western Tanager (186). I drove around afterwards, but the rain sent me back home sooner rather than later.  It is supposed to clear up by noon, but the wind looks like it is here to stay, so not sure what will happen. 

American Goldfinches

Black-headed Grosbeak

Notice the size difference between the Band-tailed Pigeon
and the Mourning Dove - 2 species in the same family

Red-tailed Hawk

5/6/17
The next paragraph is what I posted to the local and state on line birding services: 

Hi All,

"Soon after I got up this morning I stood in front of my hummer feeders as I often do, and this morning saw a female Black-chinned Hummingbird (187) at 2 feet away for about 30 seconds.  No brown at all, wing tips at least even with end of tail, head color dull greenish and no whitish eye stripe and longish bill, and sl greenish/grayish at sides and whitish throat. That was 25 minutes ago.  I have the camera set up in case she returns.  Wow!  What a bird! These features should rule out Ruby throated, Costa's and Calliope. " 

This is only the 2nd county record, and pretty much unexpected, and a great boost to the year list. And the day has only just begun!

As we were eating breakfast, I checked Oregon Birder’s On Line and found that Bar-tailed Godwits were being seen over at the coast.  They were found 2 days ago, and the fact that they were still here was quite unusual.  These are very rare shorebirds to the west coast, and the last time they were reported was 2005.  I had never seen one before, so since Rosie was game, we headed over there.  When we were a few miles away I checked OBOL again and found someone else saw them just 30 minutes previous, so that was even more encouraging.  And, thanks to modern technology, one can type in the address which was provided and drive right to the place.  It almost seems like cheating, but hey, why not.

We parked the car and headed north on the beach as we could see other birders scoping some large waders.  We finally got close enough to see the target bird. I rarely see a life bird anymore unless I go to another part of the country or to another country, so this was great.  There were many other waders in the  vicinity: Whimbrels, Black-bellied Plovers, a Pacific Golden Plover, Semipalmated Plovers, Dunlin, Red Knots, Western and Least Sandpipers and a pair of Snowy Plovers.  Below are some of my better shorts. 

Bar-tailed Godwit (middle) with Whimbrel

Bar-tailed Godwit

Red Knot

Black-bellied Plover

Marbled Godwit in front, Whimbrel in rear

Snowy Plover

It was really windy on the beach or we would have stayed and walked around more. We ended up driving inland a couple miles to a lake and ate lunch in the car while watching Rough-winged Swallows and a Belted Kingfisher, and then we headed toward home.  We saw this pair of Common Mergansers on the Alsea River, and this picturesque Song Sparrow on a boardwalk near Corvallis.  After checking the Lucky 99 Pond and the Refuge, we came home, quite content about our good fortune of today. 

Common Mergansers

Song Sparrow

5/7/17
I had arranged to take some young birders, Caleb and Evan Centanni, into the coast range today, as they had not been up there much and lacked some species found there.  New ones for me were Hermit Warbler (188) and Hammond's Flycatcher (189).  Birding was, in general, slow.  We figured it was still early for migrants in the higher elevations.  They did however see or hear new birds for them, so that was great. One odd sighting we had was a Red-tailed Hawk carrying a snake about 2 feet long by his head. While not surprised to see this based on what I know they would eat, I had just never seen it before. Another  surprise was  a Long-tailed Weasel scampering over some decaying logs. Down in the lowlands we had a pair of Black Terns (190) at the refuge.  This one was not a for sure bird as they are not seen every year, so was certainly the best bird of the day. 

5/8-9/17

Most of these two days were spent in the garden tilling it and arranging other things there for the growing season.  En route to Salem I did stop at the refuge, but nothing new.  It is nice to finally have good weather, so I need to make the most of it.

5/10/17

The weatherman is getting a  better reputation now, keeping the rain at bay.  I need to get the garden planted while this weather lasts.  Tomorrow it is supposed to rain.  So I thought I could bird for a few hours, and it paid off. At the very east end of the refuge I found Lesser Yellowlegs (191) among some 15 Wilson's Phalaropes and 3 Long-billed Dowitchers.  I little later on I found a Short-billed Dowitcher (192) among about 15 Long-billed Dowitchers.  This was in a seasonal marsh about 5 miles north of the refuge.  I meandered back, eventually reaching the refuge.  I was pretty decided to call it a day after scanning for a bit, but decided I'd just head to an overlook, and there I spied a Long-billed Curlew (193)!  There are less than 20 county records so this species is certainly not to be expected, and just a wonderful addition to the year list.  Well, tis out to the garden now.  

5/17/17

After the last entry it began raining in earnest, and on Friday afternoon we went north to Washington State to spend some time with Rosie’s sister Trudy and her husband Glen, who are also birders.  They invited us to help them on the annual North American Migration Count, which is always in early May.  En route we ate with our daughter Esther in Portland, and had to battle the traffic getting through that urban area.  Am sure it took us an extra hour because of it.

We had a great time, and birded along a trail paralleling the Klickitat River.  This is on the east side of the Cascades so there were a few birds I was not as familiar with there, like Ash-throated Flycatcher, Gray Flycatcher and Lark Sparrow.  We decided to return a different route, not wanting to deal with the traffic, so headed directly south to Redmond, and then west over the Cascades to Salem, and then home.  We figured it took about twice as long, but at least the scenery was great! 

I did my three usual work days, and am now ready for more local birding.  It has been a week since I did any birding here, and migration is still in full swing. The weatherman is predicting better weather for a while, so this is a welcome change from the rain of late (again).  Rosie and I will be doing a nice walk at Luckiamute Landing after meeting with our financial advisor (yea, just doing a little retirement planning).

An unlikely visitor to the feeding area

One big happy family - actually this is the exception as rufous hummingbirds are
well known for being the most pugnacious of all North American hummers.

Ash-throated Flycatcher - near Lyle Washington

Lazuli Bunting - near Lyle Washington

Western Tanager - near Lyle Washington

An oddly patterned/colored horse - near Lyle Washington

Rosie and I walked at Luckiamute Landing as planned and added Olive-sided Flycatcher (194) and Cedar Waxwing (195) for the year.  The waxwings are a late migrant, but are very common when they are present.  The flycatcher was only migrating through the lowlands here as they only nest higher up in the coast range or Cascades, and it has been a few years since I last saw one in the county - a testament that I have not tried very hard to get this, and, that they are not common in the county. We saw and heard many other species and had a great walk.  That location is the only reliable place in the county for Red-eyed Vireo, so I will be sure to go back in June as these are one of the last to arrive.  Afterward we ate and walked at the refuge, and then came home.  

Not sure what I will do tomorrow, but I need to get out early for a few species, so that may be on the agenda sometime in the next 2 days. As it stands now, I only have 8 left on the easier county birds, and only 4 of these are gettable now, the other are either very late migrants or I need to catch them in fall migration.  So much of my focus from here on out will be looking for rare ones. 

Some California Quail finally found our feeder

Olive-sided Flycatcher at Luckiamute Landing

Olive-sided Flycatcher at Luckiamute Landing: Looks like he is wearing a vest. 

5/18/17

I decided to head up into the Coast Range to Bald Mountain as three of the few remaining species are to be found there.  It was brisk and overcast, but by the time I was coming off the mountain the sun was making his appearance.  En route there I was able to take a picture of two male Wood Ducks, North America’s most beautiful waterfowl species.  While on the mountain I got a decent pic of a male Purple Martin.  I made numerous stops both coming and going and finally got a Hermit Thrush (196) to respond to playback. 

Wood Ducks

Male Purple Martin

5/19/17

This morning while sipping tea at the breakfast table a female Calliope Hummer came to the feeder twice.  The second time she landed and stayed put for about 20 seconds allowing time enough for Rosie to check her out.  The 2nd time this year for this species at my feeders for this rare bird, and a great way to start the day.

We ate breakfast on the front porch as it looked to be a splendid day coming on, probably one that we might complain of heat later in the day.  A pair of Western Bluebirds have taken the bird box just 30 feet away for the 3rd consecutive year, and this year a 2nd male is assisting with the feeding duties.  We suspect he is the offspring of a previous year’s brood, as they are known to do such.  Here is a pic of one of them. Isn’t he a beauty!  You can tell the ends of his tail feathers are getting worn from rubbing against the wooden box. 

Western Bluebird 

5/20/17

Late yesterday I drove up into the Coast Range with plans to camp overnight so as to try for Marbled Murrelets (197) at dawn.  This species nests in old growth (of which there is very little left) and flies inland at dawn to relieve it’s mate, who then flies back to sea, and the exchange takes place again the next day.  Those of you who have read my birding blogs may remember one called “The Valley of the Giants,” which is 30 miles west of my house, and one of the largest patches of old growth (50 acres) left.  I camped at the trailhead and heard only one bird at dawn.  I was expecting more, but one will do.

After that I meandered back home except for taking a nice walk.  Except for the dipper pic, all these pictures were on this walk.  I have only Willow Flycatcher and Townsend’s Solitare to find of the easier land birds, and both were possible on this walk, but I did not find any.  It had been about 25 years since I walked on this old logging road and could not remember exactly where it was, or how far along the rocky escarpment-like features were that I wanted to check out.  And there was a gate across the beginning of the road, so I ended up walking 3 miles in and the same out.  The scenery was pretty nice.

American Dippers can dive up to 20 feet below the surface hunting for food!

"All Ears"

That is not a moustache......more like deer hair I'd say

A pair of Dark-eyed Juncos building a nest

American Goldfinch

5/21/17

I was awake at 0500 as my body is used to such, and decide to try for Grasshopper Sparrow at the refuge. This species is somewhat erratic in consistency from year to year in small numbers in natural grass fields, and a late migrant as well.  I walked some 2 miles and finally found one (198).  The pre-dawn bird chorus is something that is invigorating to me, and there were many birds singing their hearts out this morning: Bullock's Oriole, Western Wood Pewee, Lazuli Bunting, American Goldfinch, Black-headed Grosbeak, Ring-necked Pheasant, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow Warbler, Spotted Towhee, Tree Swallow to name a few.  I also saw an Osprey catch a fish at Morgan Lake, which is on part of the refuge.  As it is supposed to be a nice day and not too hot, I tried to talk my wife into a canoe ride down the Willamette River, and she said yes.   So there may be more yet to report. 

We had a pleasant excursion down the Willamette River from Buena Vista to the town of Independence, which is about 15 miles.  It was sunny, breezy, and not too hot.  Other boaters were out and about as well, but the river was not crowded as it can get in summer.  Soon after embarking I heard a Willow Flycatcher (199) in the willows along side of the river, of course.  About 2/3 of the way we stopped for lunch.  When we arrived at the Buena Vista Park where we were to start the trip, there was a group of people taking canoes and kayaks down river, just as we were.  One lady offered to help us get our canoe off of our truck, to which we were more than happy.  Afterward I jokingly said, “Well, guess you can help us at the other end of the trip to load it back up.”  We both laughed.  We were 20-30 minutes ahead of them on the river, and after landing, then taking our car to get the truck, and getting my truck back to the end point, that group had just arrived, so I jokingly asked it she was going to help us get our canoe back on, to which she said, “Pretty good timing!”   She enlisted a young man to help us, so it all worked out pretty good.  We saw and heard a number of the expected birds, but one adult Double-crested Cormorant seemed out of place, since they do not breed on the river, so guess he was late for moving on.  

20 Common Mergansers on the river

 The rest are just a few pictures taken.  I probably should have taken more, but...

I have entered all my sightings (or so I thought) this year in eBird, the standard birding software for most birders.  As often happens, there is a discrepancy between what is entered there and my own personal records by one bird.  I hate having to narrow it down but there is no other way to rectify it. 

5/22/17

This morning I went over all my data and lists and finally narrowed it down to one bird which I neglected to put into eBird - Spotted Sandpiper (200). I saw one back in April at Luckiamute Landing flying down the river, and we saw a number of them yesterday on the river banks as they are common and nest along there.  However, earlier in this blog there is mention of it, but I did not put it in eBird, so that made 200.  So, I suspect that I must have missed one bird in January's list, or mis-counted and started out one less, and I am NOT going to figure it all out. EBird is sophisticated and if it says there are 200 for the year here in Polk County, I am just fine with it. So this is nice to be all caught up and I'd say I am in good shape, where I need to be with my strategy to beat the old record.  The only bird I still need, excepting those on the rare lists, is Townsend's Solitare.  As it is going to be in the high 80s today, I am taking a break from birding and catching up on chores around the house. 

Violet-green Swallows setting up house. 5/25/17

5/26/17

Rosie felt she needed a good walk today, so she was OK with heading up to Bald Mountain, and I needed to continue looking for a solitare.  It was a lovely day, not too hot or windy with a clear sky.  When we were on the last stretch before parking at the gate a largish bird took off in front of us and flew from the right side of the road to the left.  This was the exact spot where I saw a ruffed grouse back in early February, so my mind was already forming such pre-conclusions.  A few feet further along an the bird flew from the left side toward the right and around a corner, and then I could see it was a raptor, and since his wings were beating quite fast I was thinking falcon, but it was just not the right place for one.  I sped up and rounded the corner.  The bird had landed on the right side of the road and took off as we approached, and when were right on top of him,  it was clear - Goshawk! (201).  This is a large accipiter and rare anytime in the coast range or valley.  It is thought to be a rare breeder in the coast range, while much more common in the Cascades.  This was indeed a great find and probably the 6th or 7th time I have seen one in my home county.

We hiked up Bald Mountain and sat around for a while.  You could see the Cascades to the east - Mt St Helens, Mt Hood, Mt Jefferson, the Three Sisters, and Mt Batchelor.  The the west you could see the ocean.  There were lots of birds around, and I took some more shots of martins.  We did not find a solitare, so I will have to return next week.  By the time we were almost home a rear tire was going flat.  Such are the risks when driving around on gravel roads. 

A pair of Purple Martins

View from Bald Mountain

Rosie in the field on the mountain

Mom bluebird bringing a moth to her hungry youngsters

6/3/17

The summer doldrums have arrived, and while birding activity is quite notable in the morning, it dies down as the heat of the day approaches.  The only regular gettable birds are Townsend's Solitare and Common Nighthawk, both in the coast range.  Of our 5 bird boxes this year, there are 2 pairs of Violet-green Swallows, 1 each of Tree Swallows, Western Bluebirds, and House Wrens.

Female Violet-green Swallow

6/11/17  Lesser Goldfinch in my front yard

6/11/17  Sora.  We lured him out with playback on a walk at the refuge

6/11/17.  It is not often you see these two so close.  At the refuge this morning. 

Mom bluebird.  Looks like they are attempting a 2nd brood

A pair of Chipping Sparrows is building a nest nearby

Dad bluebird

6/13/17

With reports of red-eyed vireos (202) coming in, I drug myself over to Luckiamute Landing, and found one in the gallery forest, where one has been for the last 3 years.   Rosie came with me, and she is the one who saw it fly in after a little playback.  Here are a couple decent pics:

Red-eyed Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

Junior Bluebird

One of the local "bullies"

6/16/17

While watching Rosie eat a late salad dinner, I saw a Common Nighthawk (203) fly by on the horizon. Thirty years ago this was a more common sight in the area, but their numbers are much less with loss of their habitat.  I could likely find them still in the Coast Range, but seeing one now saved an evening trip up there. 

Earlier today we drove to the refuge for a walk, and found 4 baby skunks on the side of the road.  I suspect the mother was in the brambles nearby, but we could not detect her.  Maybe she was napping while her youngsters were doing some exploring?

Four little stinkers!

7/31/17

It was not for another 6 weeks until I finally added another bird - Semipalmated Sandpiper (204).  They had been showing up now for most of July both on the coast and in the valley, so I had been looking for one, and persistence finally paid off.

I should interject here some more information that will help the reader to see where I am in this big year.  One thing already mentioned is that the Monmouth Sewage Ponds are closed for construction until November.  While probably not affecting the list during the summer doldrums, it could make a big difference during September and October.  At least one can look through the fence and see all of the first pond, which is where the majority of rare birds have occurred.

The other thing that has already started to affect it is the draining of wetlands at the refuge.  The manager explained to me that he found a new invasive plant last year, and so they are draining parts of it where found so as to be able to access those areas to deal with it.   This in itself wound not be so bad if they lowered a couple of other marshes so as to provide mudflats for shorebirds, but they are keeping the water level high elsewhere, and so no mudflats are appearing.  The area would have been the best habitat for attracting rare water associated birds, but this potential is cut way back now, so things will be rather difficult from here on out, especially since two particular shorebirds only come through in the fall - Baird’s and Pectoral Sandpipers.  And there is only one other place in the county where the water is drying up where I can hope to find them.

There were some other things affecting my efforts as well.  I hope to explain this in the short of it if I can.   I have been feeling tired for about 6 years, just worn out, which I attributed to simply getting older.  But in the last 8 months it has been worse, and it finally caught up with me in that I just did not deal with a certain phone call at work properly, which led to my termination there.  In hind-sight this was for the best, for if it did not happen, I may have just dropped.  That was in mid May.  In early June I was feeling even worse and went to my doctor, who did not catch what was ailing me, and in a few days spend at least a week on my back with severe fatigue, brain fog and headaches, as well as some other symptoms.  I also lost 10 pounds.  Through a series of events I felt my self diagnosis was Lyme Disease, and so sought out a naturopath who had success healing a friend who had that disease, but it took over a month to get an appointment.

In the meantime I started doing a lot of juicing, left off sugars, coffee, etc.  By the time I saw the naturopath I was feeling better, but he felt I had a strept infection and some parasites in my gut, so put me on some concoctions to assist the body in ridding it of those things, and I suspect I have been in detox mode since, so have not felt like I am progressing.  So birding has been somewhat limited of late simply for lack of energy.

Another item which prevented more birding entered the picture as well.  In May my father-in-law began to retain fluid in his feet and ankles, and in by mid June ended up in the hospital with a critically low sodium level, and well as minor symptoms of CHF and a UTI.  By the time he came back home, he needed help as it was all he could do just to get up, get dressed, eat.  He had no energy, and kept declining.  So my wife and I were assisting them for hours each day.  In mid July I sent him to the ER and he was admitted with renal failure, and died 5 days later.  So we have been needing to deal with after death issues.  Sometimes when it rains it pours.  

Life has a way of making it seem you have the horse by the tail, or so it seems.  I am learning to just take it a day at a time, really.  Am just living in the moment.  Since I still have some brain fog, it is harder to process all that is going on, so in a way it is easier to not worry about tomorrow.  With that in mind, I decided to stop this third entry, and write on last one, explaining my strategy from here on out. 

http://billsbirdingjaunts.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-magnificent-seven.html