*
Plural Bewick's Swans? I spent two hours around Shedd on Friday night, where a
modest number of Tundra/whistlers had just alighted. That night I read about a
Bewick's that Deanna Emig saw on Smith Rd (north of Halsey) Friday. I returned
to Linn County via Harrisburg (there's a bridge over Willamette there) to find
a flock of 150 Tundras halfway (21/2-3 miles) to Halsey from Harrisburg on
Peoria Road-- the east side, south of Cartney Road. They were distant but
lighting was excellent. One BEWICK'S was easy to find, on the left edge of a
sub-flock. It may have been the same bird as Deanna's, the yellow
pattern was very similar. Driving east on Cartney got me somewhat closer, but
with back lighting and the individual swans packed together. Looking for
reported Trumpeters on Irish Bend Loop (Linn Co side of Willamette) I found a
large swan flock seemingly a mile from Nixon, Peoria, and Irish BL, starting to
shimmer in the heat. Sheltered spots were 63 degrees. Back at the original
flock some birds were sleeping, most were feeding non-stop, those with heads up
often had very muddy beaks. Are they tearing the grass up by the roots? Sorting
through swans can seem a fool's errand. They had moved much closer to a perfect
parking pull-out in my absence, but the prolongued search for a Trumpeter made
it feel like work. Just as I was decamping three gulls came sailing out of the
north and alighted in a completely bare field to the west. I dragged the scope
back out and they proved to be two adult HERRINGS and an adult THAYER'S.
Back at Finley the young eagles were cavorting in the updraft of Pigeon
Butte as I imagine they often do. In the back swamp of Muddy Creek, that water
feature running north from Bruce Road at the parking lot west of the bridge,
there were 10 SNOW GEESE, adults and young both. They were at the far north
end, visible from the knoll overlook, but not the parking lot directly on Bruce
Road that's actually closer to them. I checked hard for Golden Eagles w/o
reward. Dawson Road had a ridiculous number of dead sheep and bored Bald
Eagles of all ages. Lars
On Jan 28, 2018, at 4:22 PM, Sally Hill wrote:
The Bewick's Swans that I saw on Friday were in Linn County; not Lane County
as reported on ebird. My ebird report has been corrected.
Sally Hill
Eugene Oregon
