[obol] A 200 two-fer weekend
- From: "Paul T. Sullivan" <paultsullivan@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "obol" <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "COBOL" <cobol@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "EOR list" <birding-neoregon-group@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 5 Aug 2013 17:52:47 -0700
Folks,
As many probably know, I've been slowly working toward seeing 200 species of
birds in each of Oregon's 36 counties. (That's 7200 county birds -- Yikes!!)
Of course, when you've seen 195 species in a particular county, the last 5
become much harder, especially in some counties with very little of some
particular habitat.
I didn't plan this from day one, but after I had seen 100 species in each
county, then 125, then 150, then 175, I had it narrowed down to a few
counties. I decided to take them one at a time. In 2010 Carol & I worked on
Columbia county and reached 200 there. In 2011 we made a dozen trips to
Sherman county, missing species that Withgott-Finnegan-Irons saw, until we
finally reached 200 there.
So I had it down to three counties. Gilliam (virtually no forest), Hood
River and Josephine (virtually all forest, little marsh/lake habitat).
2012 was disappointing. Multiple trips east of the mountains only narrowed
the gap, but did not clinch the deal in either Hood River or Gilliam.
I began 2013 with Hood River at 195, Gilliam at 193, and Josephine at 186.
I decided to concentrate on Hood River, but a few species seen during Raptor
Route trips to Gilliam county helped. On July 3-4 I narrowed Hood River to
199.
This weekend began with Gilliam at 196. I'd made an arrangement to visit
(with permission) some private timberland in Gilliam county. Saturday, on
the way up, a stop in Hood River and a visit to Willow Cove in the NE corner
of Gilliam county in the heat netted nothing new.
Sunday morning I got into the Gilliam woods at 6 AM before the heat.
Western Wood Pewees were everywhere. Eventually I tooted and psssshed up a
flock of little birds and found a BROWN CREEPER (#197), along with
Golden-crowned Kinglet, Nashville Warbler, etc. Then a silent bird atop a
snag turned out to be an OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER (#198). In the afternoon I
went up to the house to thank my hosts and found activity at their
hummingbird feeders! After careful study I determined that we were seeing
Rufous Hummingbirds, a BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD (#199), and a CALLIOPE
HUMMINGBIRD (#200)!!
A stop at the sewage ponds in Condon netted Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs,
Lesser Yellowlegs, Least-Western-Bairds Sandpipers, Spotted Sandpiper, and 3
SOLITARY SANDPIPERS (#201).
I was on a roll. I called Carol to say I was going to stop in Hood River
overnight and try to beat the crowd to the Hood River delta this morning. I
only needed one dowitcher, I said.
This morning turned out just right. The wind was down -- no windsurfers. I
got to the delta at 5:30 AM ahead of all the rampant off-leash dogs. I
walked out on the delta and saw Crows, Killdeer, Canada Geese, flying
Osprey, and 25 California Gulls. I spooked 5 Least Sandpipers. Then among
the gulls I saw a familiar shape probing in the shallow water -- a
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER (#200). Wow!!! The bird stayed from 5:45 until I
left at 7:45. The sun had risen. The first dogs had arrived. I imagine
the bird has moved on by now.
For those who asked, Josephine county still stands at 186. I made one trip
down there in April when Dennis Vroman had seen 4-5 species I could use, and
found none of them.
So I've seen 7186 of 7200 -- so far. Stay tuned.
Good birding, everyone,
Paul T. Sullivan
OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol
Manage your account or unsubscribe: //www.freelists.org/list/obol
Contact moderators: obol-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Other related posts:
- » [obol] A 200 two-fer weekend - Paul T. Sullivan
