Joel~
Thank for sharing your sightings! The ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS were a delight
to hear about. Though I'm sure some folks that actually live in Douglas County
record them annually, I only came across my Douglas County ASH-THROATED
FLYCATCHER just this year. As I close in on recording 300 for the county, I
found this species a curious "miss," especially since it is not a species that
is considered at the northern extent of its range like Blue-gray Gnatcatcher or
California Towhee.
However, a quick look at electronic range maps shows most sightings to the
north of Roseburg are east of the Cascades, an adaptation to pinyon-juniper
habitat, I'm sure. So I guess, it IS considered near the north end of its
range in the western valleys where it utilizes oak woodland.
Good birding,Russ NamitzMedford, OR
Subject: [Umpqua Birds] Umpqua Breeding Bird survey this morning
From: joel.geier@xxxxxxxx
To: umpquabirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sun, 14 Jun 2015 17:47:24 -0700
Hi all,
I came back to beautiful Douglas Co. to run the Umpqua Breeding Bird Survey
this morning. Last night I camped out in the Coast Range on the ridge above
Millwood,
The HERMIT THRUSHES were singing when I got there, so I thought I'd settle back
in the white plastic chair that I hauled along, drink couple of Deschutes
Brewery porters, and do a little work on my notebook computer. Turned out, the
MOSQUITOES were singing too, so I soon gave up on the idea of sitting outside,
retreated to the minivan, closed all the windows, and then decided that I was
tired enough to go to sleep even though it was just 7:45 PM.
At 03:45 I woke up and drove down to the starting point of this route (the big
transformer pen a few miles west of downtown Umpqua). I was a little too early
since I couldn't officially start the survey until 05:02, but it was fun to
listen to the pre-dawn birds as they gradually woke up. Do towhees ever sleep?
Finally at 5:02 I got going. The most striking thing compared to June 14th of
last year is that Umpqua Valley residents seem to be up and about earlier in
the morning, this year. Some of it might be attributable to the expanded
vineyards and other high-maintenance crops near Umpqua (there was a regular
rush hour right at 6 AM, when I had five cars pass me at a single stop).
This route runs from west of Umpqua to Cole Valley, then over through Oakland
and finally out along Driver Valley Rd. until it wraps back around toward
Sutherlin.
EURASIAN COLLARED DOVES were pretty much everywhere this year -- I was starting
to think that I heard some at every stop, but checking my forms at the end of
the day, that's a slight overstatement. I missed grassland sparrows at a few
stops that have had them in the past, but seem to be in the process of
conversion to more intensive forms of agricultures. WESTERN MEADOWLARKS
however seem to be holding strong.
I only picked up one GRASSHOPPER SPARROW this year (at the west end of Crouch
Rd., though singing from the north side of Ft. McKay Rd.) but held steady with
five VESPER SPARROWS. Some of this is no doubt a function of the 3-minute
sampling period, since sparrows only sing when they feel like it.
I didn't find anything particularly rare. Some birds that weren't on the data
forms for this route included OSPREY, COMMON NIGHTHAWK, BELTED KINGFISHER,
ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD, ACORN WOODPECKER, RED-BREASTED
NUTHATCH, and NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW.
I'm pretty sure I've recorded all of these on this route before, but the USGS
folks who run this survey try to pare the forms down to the most likely
species, to keep it short. So this is more an indication of birds that are a
little uncommon for this route, than real rarities. However today was a good
day for Ash-throated Flycatchers, with a total of 5 at 4 different stops. The
best one was singing away in full view, not far from the intersection of Driver
Valley Rd. and Elkhead Rd.
Happy birding,
Joel
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
