[obol] a few Benton birds of late
- From: Hendrik Herlyn <hhactitis@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: Midvalley Birding <birding@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, OBOL <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2015 16:27:54 -0800
Hi folks,
Here are a few local sightings from the past couple of days:
On Friday, 2/20, Oscar and I paid a brief afternoon visit to Finley NWR,
hoping to scan through large flocks of geese. Well, the geese were
somewhere else that day, and things were pretty slow overall. However,
around 4:30 pm, we heard a GREAT HORNED OWL calling from Muddy Creek, and a
BLACK PHOEBE was along the edge of the wet forest east of the Prairie
Overlook.
On Saturday, 2/21, I returned to Finley in the morning. On McFadden Marsh,
I found several thousand CACKLING GEESE, along with a few hundred DUSKY
CANADA GEESE, but I couldn't pull anything unusual out of the flock.
However, I saw an adult and one immature TRUMPETER SWAN (they have been
around for a while) and 4 TUNDRA SWANS.
In the conifers at the west end of Bruce Road (near the 90 degree turn) I
was able to hoot up a NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL. A small flock of WILD TURKEYS was
along Bellfountain Road, about a mile south of the refuge entrance.
From the Prairie Overlook at the north end of the refuge, I watched a big
flock (ca. 220) of TREE SWALLOWS swirling over the marshy part of the
Conservation Wetland. I scanned them for quite a while, but was unable to
detect any other species among them. All the while, a couple of WESTERN
MEADOWLARKS were singing from the prairie.
On my way home I briefly stopped at the Philomath Sewage Ponds. The male
CINNAMON TEAL and the male REDHEAD that have been around for weeks were
still in attendance, along with 3 EARED GREBES.
Driving back to Corvallis, I noticed one lone TURKEY VULTURE at the
intersection of Plymouth Drive and 53rd Street.
Later in the day, I wandered and cruised the Cardwell Hill area, looking in
vain for the PINE GROSBEAKS reported earlier by Bill Probsting - what an
amazing find!
Happy Birding
Hendrik
--
__________________________
Hendrik G. Herlyn
Corvallis, OR
*"Nature is not a place to visit. It is home." -- Gary Snyder*
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