Lars, Peter et al.,
Inland jaegers are often found in the company of small gull and tern species
that they harass in order to get them to drop food items. There seems to be a
strong correlation between the timing (late August thru much of September) of
inland migrant Common Terns and Sabine's Gulls and inland Parasitic and
Long-tailed Jaegers. When Common Terns and Sabine's gulls show up at large
inland lakes and reservoirs (i.e. Timothy Lake or Fern Ridge Res. near Eugene)
they often hang around for several days. I suspect that Jaegers do the same.
Being that jaegers spend much of their life at sea out of sight of land, I
think they are inclined to stay far from shore at inland locales as well. When
I lived in Illinois, the local birders ran "pelagic" trips on Lake Carlyle in
south central Illinois. Nearly every year they would find Parasitic Jaegers and
occasionally Long-taileds, but always way out in the middle of the lake far
from shore. It was quite rare that anyone ever saw a jaeger from shore at Lake
Carlyle. Sabine's gulls are similar in this respect. When I have seen them
sitting on the water at Fern Ridge, it was essentially out in the middle of the
reservoir as far from land as possible. When not up flying around chasing gulls
and terns, jaegers can be virtually impossible to detect as they sit on the
water. When sitting on the water they maintain a very low profile and being
mostly dark, they blend into the water surface, especially if the water surface
is not calm and glassy. A sitting jaeger could easily evaporate out into the
middle of Timothy Lake and go unnoticed for many hours.
Timothy Lake is certainly worth checking anytime from now until early November.
Late August through much of September is the best time to find the species
mentioned above, along with Eared Grebes, Red-necked Grebes, and various other
waterfowl. Moving into October and into early November is the best time to find
inland scoters, plus various other diving ducks. It is the best time of year to
find inland Pacific and Red-throated Loons as well, along with large rafts of
migrating Western Grebes that may include the occasional Clark's Grebe.
Dave Irons
Beaverton, OR
________________________________
From: obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf of Lars
Per Norgren <larspernorgren@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2017 9:31 PM
To: pbarnes123@xxxxxxxxx
Cc: OBOL@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [obol] Re: Any sightings of Jaeger on Timothy Lake?
*
Long=tailed and Parasitic Jægers routinely appear in western
Oregon inland locations in September. They are very much on
the move. I wonder if any stick around for an hour, let alone
overnight. The frontal system arriving Sunday night could bring
more to unexpected spots, along with Common Terns, Sabine's
Gulls, a few other species more often seen on pelagic trips. Lars
On Sep 15, 2017, at 9:25 AM, peter barnes wrote:
Has anyone been out to Timothy Lake to see if the jaeger reported earlier
this week is around? Considering going there this weekend. Would appreciate
positive or negative reports. Thanks.
Peter Barnes
Portland
