I covered for some folks who normally do the Coquille Valley mid-winter
Bald Eagle count today. That would be from Bandon to Myrtle Point, around
the Coquille Valley, then back to Bandon.
Weather was gorgeous, started out at 36F and got up in the low 50s.
I had a "goodly" number of eagles for this count- 15. Other treats included:
1- BAND-TAILED PIGEON seen well atop a Doug-fir along North Bank road. I
usually do not see migrants returning until mid-Feb, must have been lucky
to spot this lone overwintering bird?
4- SWAMP SPARROWS (if I was looking for these guys instead of eagles N.
Bank road could easily produce double-digit numbers)
12- WESTERN BLUEBIRDS
3- BARN SWALLOWS
2- TUNDRA SWANS (that is all we had on the CBC too)
1- WESTERN SCRUB-JAY (usual location at Norway)
1- male CINNAMON TEAL (I was not even glancing at ducks and the valley had
many thousands, I just happened to see one in front of me, a very uncommon
species in Coos most winters)
I stopped in Bandon afterwards to take a quick look at the Division Street
feeders Harv Schubothe had mentioned on the recent CBC. He said his
team found a house with a bunch of feeders and were invited in back where
they found an American Tree Sparrow coming to the feeders on count day.
When I happened by the owner was putting up a couple new feeders. He has 12
up now and it looked like southern AZ- the place was swarming with ANNA'S
HUMMERS. I counted 38 at the feeders at one time with another 20 to 30 in
the nearby trees and bushes. Imagine 50+ hummers coming to feeders in
January in Oregon! It was really amazing, this is the place to be in late
April and May to look for a surprise hummer. He said he has over 100
hummers in the summer (I suspect that is not an overestimate!). He did
invite me in back but no luck with the tree sparrow. There was one
Townsend's Warbler at the feeders also.
Merry New Bird!
Tim Rodenkirk
Coos Bay
