Greetings COBOLers and OBOLites
I conducted the 13th count (my 4th and this route and my 40th overall) on the
Blitzen 2 breeding bird survey in Harney County on June 11. This route starts
at the intersection of Foster Flat Rd and Jack Mountain Rd, travels 17 miles on
Jack Mountain Rd, and then 7.5 miles on Rock Creek Rd. This mostly is (or was)
a sea of sagebrush until 2013 when fire removed sagebrush from about half the
route.
Whether drought or the fire of 2013, the number of birds observed was the
second lowest ever, 441 (average 593). The species total was 33 (average
29.5), just short of the high of 34. There were no waterfowl or shorebirds at
all. Nada, zilch.
Meadowlark, Brewer's Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, and Sagebrush Sparrow were at or
near the all-time lows. The dawn chorus of larking birds just wasn't as
intense as in past years. In contrast, raptor numbers were high with record
highs for Ferruginous Hawk, Am. Kestrel, and Prairie Falcon.
The results:
Chukar 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Northern Harrier 6
Swainson's Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 8
Ferruginous Hawk 5
Golden Eagle 1
Am. Kestrel 3
Prairie Falcon 4
Mourning Dove 9
Burrowing Owl 1
Common Nighthawk 4
Gray Flycatcher 15 (record low)
Say's Phoebe 2
Ash-throated flycatcher 1
Western Kingbird 1
Loggerhead Shrike 4
Black-billed Magpie 2
Common Raven 24
Horned Lark 74
V-g Swallow 2
Rock Wren 11
Mountain Bluebird 3
Am. Robin 3
Sage Thrasher 40
Brewer's Sparrow 92
Vesper Sparrow 53
Lark Sparrow 1
Black-throated Sparrow 4
Sagebrush Sparrow 8 (record low)
Western Meadowlark 49
Brewer's Blackbird 6
Brown-headed Cowbird 1 (record low)
Total species 33 (ave. 29.7)
Total individuals 441 (ave. 593)
Total vehicles 2
Good birding,
Mark
Mark A Gonzalez
Bend, Oregon
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