Hi All,
Pip and I decided to walk Floras Creek up to Valley Flora organic farm.
This is on south end of Langlois. We just walk the road up 1.5 miles or so
then back. Wasn’t expecting much- hoping to hear Vesper Sparrows but no
luck with that? No Chipping Sparrows either which is unusual- maybe a bit
later for both?
Anyhow, I park near Hwy 101 and walked east. We got about a tenth of a mile
this AM to where a lone leafless maple (must be dead or not doing well) is
along road next to creek. I noticed a cloud of bird come up out of the
creek and land in it. That was the beginning of an hour and a half watching
flock after flock come in and some would just fly over to the wooded ridge
and deciduous alder behind me and others would land and load up the tree.
At some point the tree would get so many birds they would just all flush
and mainly fly into the stand behind me or continue NE. This went on over
and over and over for like an hour and a half when I finally continued on
with my walk. It was 99% rumps but I had to do some counts and came up with
8,000 in that time. The other big story was GC Sparrows- I have never seen
a flock of 70 before- the flocks of 30 were also impressive!
Anyhow, my checklist attached. I suspect I could have been at Lower
Fourmile Creek (a bit north of here in Coos) and had a nice fall out there
too.
Fun time of year- lotsa exposed mud along New River this spring- the next
few weeks should be awesome down here!
Merry migration!
Tim R
back in Coos
eBird Checklist - 18 Apr 2024 - Floras Creek - 53 species (+2 other taxa)
https://ebird.org/checklist/S169189667