Fern Ridge Reservoir 9-30-16

Hi All,

I drove down to Fern Ridge Reservoir today to try to find the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and American Avocets, as well as any other birds of interest that might be around.  En route I stopped at the Monroe Sewage Ponds, which one can see fairly well from the gate.  I had not been there for some 20 years, but after seeing some 30 Wood Ducks, I remembered seeing this species there all those years ago.  There was also a lone White-fronted Goose.

I searched the area north of the Eugene Airport for Horned Larks, but came up empty.  There were a few other birders at Fern Ridge looking for the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, which was reported to still be present, and I found it without too much difficulty  in the original area where it has been found, near the martin boxes.  Here are a few shots:

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper.  Note the reddish crown.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

There was a couple from England and New Jersey there enjoying that bird as well.  Sylvia Maulding relayed that the Avocets were also still around, so I headed south, past the viewing platform.  En route there was a young Peregrine Falcon in the snag near the platform.

Perergrine Falcon

I walked all the way to where the path turns east but no avocets.  There were a few Pectoral Sandpipers , a Snipe and one Baird’s Sandpiper though.  On the way back toward the platform the 5 avocets flew in from somewhere west, probably from behind one of the islands, so this was a good county bird for my Lane list also.  About that time I saw a darkish Harrier with small white wing patches to both the upper and undersides of his primaries, making my wonder about the possibility of some Oriental vagrant, but I suspect it is more likely some aberration.

Wilson's Snipe

Pectoral Sandpiper

Once back near the platform I headed to the west to look again for the Sandpiper, but by the time I got there, the Peregrine started looking for a meal, and was mercilessly dive bombing the flocks of shorebirds.  I watched the show for about 2 minutes, after which time not even a killdeer remained on the mudflats.  I then decided to meander home, so got back in my car and headed north.

Needing a Baird’s Sandpiper in Benton County, I stopped a Cabbel Marsh, but the only shorebirds there were some 20 Long-billed Dowitchers, and four American White Pelicans.  I next stopped at the Philomath Sewage Lagoons, where the only species of note were 2 early Canvasbacks.  There was a long Long-billed Dowitcher picking around the rocks near the water of one pond, seemingly out of place.  I was wondering if he was having any success away from the usual mud flats where they almost always probe.  I suppose if he began turning rocks over we could rename him a “Long-billed Turnstone!”

Canvasback at the PPP

Last week there was this Sharp-shinned Hawk here.

Sharp-shinned Hawk at the PPP