We have one record in Coos County also, very rare here too.
Tim Rodenkirk
Coos Bay
On Sun, Jun 28, 2015 at 8:37 PM, Hendrik Herlyn <hhactitis@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello folks,
In recent weeks, I've observed a number of broods at the Philomath Sewage
Ponds, involving various duck species. Besides the ubiquitous Mallards,
there currently are three Wood Duck moms with babies, three Northern
Shoveler broods (with 6, 7 amd 10 youngsters today), two female Cinnamon
Teal (9 and 3 ducklings) and 3 almost fully grown Hooded Merganser chicks
(I watched the family dwindle from 7 or 8 chicks to 3, and I am glad that
at least those three made it to (almost) adulthood).
However, today I was very surprised to run across a female GREEN-WINGED
TEAL with three very small ducklings. A pair was around until about a month
ago, but I hadn't seen any Green-winged Teal there in quite a while.
Green-winged Teal is a very sporadic breeder, at best, in the Willamette
Valley, and I am not aware of any previous Benton County breeding records
(please set me straight if you know otherwise! :-)).
Besides the breeding ducks, one lone GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE and a
singe male LESSER SCAUP are still hanging around at the ponds. Unlike
yesterday, there were no shorebirds today besides the resident Killdeer
(one sitting on a nest with 4 eggs).
Not much else to report, but things are about to pick up again ... so stay
tuned!
Happy summer doldrums
Hendrik
--
__________________________
Hendrik G. Herlyn
Corvallis, OR
*"Nature is not a place to visit. It is home." -- Gary Snyder*
