I did a little birding in Crook County today. It's been a long time and I really enjoyed it. Not much going on but a couple of good finds.
I stopped in at Prineville Reservoir State Park and found a leaking faucet that was attractive to a batch of Evening Grosbeaks and Cedar Waxwings. I heard some tapping and quickly found a Red-breasted Sapsucker which is pretty normal for this location in winter.
What is not normal were the 3 female Williamson's Sapsuckers that were actively feeding in the junipers of the day use lawn of Prineville Reservoir State Park. I did a little research and found that February WISA has only been reported in Central Oregon 3 times before (well 4 now that Mike Golden found one today at Smith Rock). This species has only been reported 20 times in December, 7 times in January and now 5 times in February. More importantly, of the 32 previous winter reports, only once has the bird been reported from the juniper forest away from their more preferred pines (Noted on a Prineville CBC but that bird may have been in the pine forest part of the circle. I don't remember). It is not common in my experience to have these birds come down-slope and winter in the junipers like the Red-breasted Sapsuckers. The fact that Mike and I both found some today in the juniper habitat is interesting.
Normally, Williamson's Sapsuckers migrate south into the mountains of the Southwest. A few probably winter here but they likely stay in the higher timber so they are not normally seen by winter birders. They usually migrate in April with a few birds getting here in March. That fact, topped by the fact that males usually migrate before the females in order to establish territories seems to suggest that the Prineville Res. birds and the Smith Rock bird are overwintering.
On the Crooked River about 5 miles east of where hwy 380 meets the Crooked River and about 3/4 of a mile from Bonneview Ranch, I found 4 swans. Two were Tundra (Narrow black near eye, yellow patches in front of the eye, darker bodies and smaller) and two were Trumpeters (opposite of the comments above). Nancy MacDonald (good birder from Prineville) found these guys and told me about them. I also found a presumed Tundra Swan at Ochoco Reservoir. The bird was sleeping with its head tucked but I think I got a hint of yellow near the eye. Another good Crook County birder, Scott Staats told me about the Ochoco bird.
-- It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so. Mark Twain Chuck Gates 541-280-4957 Powell Butte, Central Oregon Oregon Birding Site Guide www.birdingoregon.info OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: //www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
