[obol] Re: Boiler Bay State Wayside, Oct 26, 2014 -- Our eBird report and some commentary
- From: Alan Contreras <acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: llsdirons@xxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 09:30:08 -0700
There is also the matter of Interesting Distractions. Diane and I stopped to
watch a fulmar that landed in the Siuslaw River channel well up between the
jetties. Likewise the Cassin's Auklet that swam so close to the jetty that we
had to lean over the rocks to see it at all. So even with multiple observers
there are moments of non-seawatch.
.
.
Alan Contreras
acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx
Eugene, Oregon
On Oct 26, 2014, at 9:57 PM, David Irons wrote:
> Greetings all,
>
> Despite high hopes, our four-hour seawatch at Boiler Bay today yielded no
> stunning rarities and there was no "southerly" component to the list of
> species that we racked up. That said, the dozen or so birders who gathered to
> take in this spectacle were hardly disappointed. In terms of pure numbers,
> today's flight was exceptional (see counts below). The constant
> inshore/overland stream of gulls that passed us may have numbered in excess
> of 100,000 birds.
>
> Similarly, there was a constant offshore stream of loons, Cassin's Auklets,
> more gulls and phalaropes, many far too distant to identify to species.
> Again, what we counted is often only a fraction of what we witnessed. The
> flight of Cassin's Auklets was the largest that we've ever seen and I believe
> the largest ever seen by Phil Pickering, who lives nearby and spends many
> days per year tallying the flights past Boiler Bay State Wayside.
>
> Those of you who follow OBOL closely may have seen Phil's report posted
> earlier today. In many ways this report and his are nearly identical, but it
> is important to recognize that the experience one has at this sort of
> seawatch is very much an individual one even though those doing the observing
> may be standing mere feet from one another. Phil was about 5-6 birders down
> the row from where we stood and much of what he saw, we didn't. As a rule, I
> think Phil focuses his attentions a bit farther offshore than we do/did.
> Given that the number of hours he has spent seawatching far surpasses the
> seawatching hours of most other birders, he surely processes birds faster and
> is comfortable identifying birds at greater distances than others might be.
> Even standing side-by-side it is impossible to get your birding partners on
> every bird that you see and vice versa. Birds are flying by, moving in and
> out of troughs, and there are generally few points of reference other than
> clouds on the horizon to use when trying to get others on a bird. Today,
> there were no fishing boats out, nor any crab pot floats to use as reference
> points, and the swell and wind chop were considerable.
>
> The list of species and counts below were entered into the eBird database
> (checklist and notes below). It was a very fun day and one we would gladly
> repeat any time. The weather was far better than expected. By sunrise the
> winds were modest and sea spray was not an issue. The rain cells that came
> ashore during our watch seemed to end either to the north or south of us and
> by late morning the sun came out and layers were shed.
>
> Dave Irons and Shawneen Finnegan
> Portland, Oregon
>
> Boiler Bay State Wayside, Lincoln, US-OR
> Oct 26, 2014 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
>
> Protocol: Stationary
>
> Comments: Sea watch following a big storm with winds that were less westerly
> than forecast. No shockers. 48 species (+2 other taxa)
>
> Brant 18
> American Wigeon 2
> Mallard 2
> Northern Pintail 60
> Green-winged Teal 25
> Greater Scaup 200
> Surf Scoter 25000
> White-winged Scoter 800
> Black Scoter 20
> Long-tailed Duck 1
> Red-breasted Merganser 2
> Red-throated Loon 3000 -- There were many more thousands of loons streaming
> past the entire time that we were present, but they were not all identified
> to species. In all we believe that perhaps as many as 80,000 total loons
> passed during our 4-hr seawatch.
> Pacific Loon 20000 -- Massive movement. Constant stream all the way to the
> horizon. There were many more thousands of loons streaming past the entire
> time that we were present, but they were not all identified to species. In
> all we believe that perhaps as many as 80,000 total loons passed during our
> 4-hr seawatch.
> Common Loon 2500 -- Biggest flight of Common Loons we have ever seen. There
> were many more thousands of loons streaming past the entire time that we were
> present, but they were not all identified to species. In all we believe that
> perhaps as many as 80,000 total loons passed during our 4-hr seawatch.
> Horned Grebe 1
> Red-necked Grebe 8
> Western Grebe 20
> Northern Fulmar 5000 Conservative estimate. At times up to 40/min were in
> view and they were mostly passing south and did not seem to be circling back
> and forth. Nearshore birds were almost entirely dark and intermediate morphs.
> Farther offshore, there was a significant percentage that were light or
> double-light types.
> Pink-footed Shearwater 2
> Sooty Shearwater 4
> Brandt's Cormorant 500
> Double-crested Cormorant 2
> Pelagic Cormorant 80
> Brown Pelican 150
> Black Oystercatcher 6
> Dunlin 80
> Red Phalarope 300 -- This tally is limited to the birds that we saw well
> enough to identify to species, which was a tiny fraction of all the
> phalaropes that were seen over our 4-hr seawatch.
> Red-necked/Red Phalarope 10000 -- Extremely conservative, presumed Reds. Many
> distant flocks of what appeared to be phalaropes were too far offshore to
> identify. All nearshore phalaropes that we saw well were identified as Reds.
> Pomarine Jaeger 2
> Parasitic Jaeger 5
> Common Murre 2400
> Marbled Murrelet 5
> Cassin's Auklet 30000 -- Part of the massive movement of birds seen streaming
> south after major storm. Constantly going south. All counts are conservative.
> There may have been twice this count, but many distant flocks of apparent
> small alcids and phalaropes were not identifiable to species.
> Rhinoceros Auklet 3
> Black-legged Kittiwake 25
> Sabine's Gull 4
> Bonaparte's Gull 300
> Heermann's Gull 7500 -- Part of the massive movement of gulls seen streaming
> south after major storm. Constantly going south. All counts are conservative.
> Mew Gull 5000 -- Part of the massive movement of gulls seen streaming south
> after major storm. Constantly going south. All gull counts are conservative.
> Ring-billed Gull 1
> Western Gull 300
> California Gull 20000 -- Part of the massive movement of gulls seen streaming
> south after major storm. Constantly going south. All gull counts are
> conservative. There was a constant stream passing almost directly overhead
> and behind us over land and we paid little attention to makeup of these
> flocks. When we did, about 80 percent of the movement–200-300 per minute for
> four straight hours–were this species.
> Herring Gull 1000 -- Part of the massive movement of gulls seen streaming
> south. All gull counts are conservative. There was a constant stream passing
> almost directly overhead and behind us over land and we paid little attention
> to makeup of these flocks–200-300 per minute for four straight hours.
> Glaucous-winged Gull 500 -- Part of the massive movement of gulls seen
> streaming south. All gull counts are conservative. There was a constant
> stream passing almost directly overhead and behind us over land and we paid
> little attention to makeup of these flocks–200-300 per minute for four
> straight hours.
> Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) 500 -- Part of the massive movement
> of gulls seen streaming south. All gull counts are conservative. There was a
> constant stream passing almost directly overhead and behind us over land and
> we paid little attention to makeup of these flocks–200-300 per minute for
> four straight hours.
> Elegant Tern 1 -- Seen by Dave. Numbers have been waning. Identified
> primarily by shape and size, along with flight style. Clearly a tern that was
> larger and longer-winged than Common/Arctic/Forster's and smaller and
> narrower winged than Caspian. Long wings and flight style were consistent
> with Elegant, which have remained in Oregon in good numbers up to the
> present. I also saw the bill, which appeared orangish. At the distance that I
> saw the bird, the bill of a small tern would have not been seen and the bird
> clearly did not have the bulk of a Caspian Tern. I am very familiar with this
> tern and I have seen thousands this year in Oregon and more recently in
> California.
> Peregrine Falcon 1
> American Crow 2
> Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
> Song Sparrow 1
>
> View this checklist online at
> http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S20349427
>
> This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
>
>
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