[obol] 5/13/13 - Union County : More arrivals
- From: avitours@xxxxxxx
- To: birding-neoregon-group@xxxxxxx, obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, inland-nw-birders@xxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 13 May 2013 18:31:44 -0400 (EDT)
Birders -
This morning (5/13, 5:00 am - noon), Rob and Robin Ostermann, Doug and Carol
Campbell and myself, all from La Grande, birded from La Grande to Catherine
Creek State Park and back. It was a glorious day, with lots of sun, light
clouds, temps in the mid 70's, light winds and loads of birds. We collectively
found 88 species with surprisingly little effort. The recent warming trend
obviously had melted some of the snow pack and the subsequent water levels in
the Grande Ronde Basin have risen suddenly and quite drastically. The locally
heavy rain we had last night must have added to the effect. Catherine Creek
was raging near it's banks and birding by ear was extremely difficult near the
riparian zones. There were also numerous bodies of water that had filled back
up and some fields and meadows that had new water entirely. We took advantage
of all this water in the bottom lands. Locations and highlights are as
follows:
Ladd Marsh WMA via Peach and Wilkinson Road
3 - BLUE-WINGED TEAL (Always a cool duck to see!)
11 - WHITE-FACED IBIS (Not annual, mostly Spring, but an occasional breeder.)
1 - BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER (Not annual, equal Spring & Fall records.)
1 - SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER with 15 LONG-BILLED (Annual, but overlooked; we had
nice side-by-side views.)
1 - PECTORAL SANDPIPER (More numerous in the Fall and a life bird for 4 out of
5 of us.)
Catherine Creek State Park
4 - DUSKY FLYCATCHER
1 - WARBLING VIREO
2 - RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER
1 - LEWIS'S WOODPECKER
1 - PILEATED WOODPECKER
Hall Ranch
2 - WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKER (Possibly the most difficult breeding bird to find
with regularly, a life bird for 3 out of 5 of us.)
2 - WESTERN BLUEBIRD (at a cavity, male feeding female)
All three NUTHATCHES (the PYGMY was a lifer for 4 out of 5 of us)
Good birding,
- Trent Bray
La Grande, OR
The Ladd Marsh Bird Festival is only 4 days away! Details can be viewed here:
www.friendsofladdmarsh.org
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