Hi all,
For today's dog walk we went up the Dunn Forest 100/130 Rd about a mile
and a half, then back the same way. Much of the timber in this area has
been harvested recently, and there were a few logging trucks hauling
logs out of the 170 Rd.
About halfway in, along the edge of a replanted clearcut, we came across
a covey of 7 or 8 MOUNTAIN QUAIL. Higher up I heard a SOOTY GROUSE
booming -- surprising for the season, but somewhere recently I heard
that they'll do this once in a while on nice days in the fall.
Otherwise I saw the expected small birds -- lots of Pacific & Bewick's
Wrens, Fox & Song Sparrows, & kinglets of both persuasions, a couple of
Hutton's Vireos, a few Wrentits, and a few flocks of chickadees. On the
way back down I heard some PINE SISKINS fly over, the first I've heard
in some months. A few woodpeckers -- Downies down in the oaks, Hairies
up in the furs. Hermit & Varied Thrushes here & there.
One interesting thing was that I didn't hear a single RED-BREASTED
NUTHATCH. There has been some speculation about an influx into western
Oregon based on feeder observations in the Willamette Valley, but from
today's experience seems like the opposite might be the case in the near
Coast Range.
Also, nearly all of the CHICKADEES that I saw or heard were Black-capped
Chickadees -- I only heard one or two Chestnut-backed Chickadees as part
of a mixed flock of about 25 chickadees in a mixed conifer-deciduous
area, and very few chickadees higher up in the conifers. No Mountain
Chickadees either, just in case anyone was wondering.
Given talk last month about big movements of Chestnut-backed Chickadees
along the coast, I'm wondering if some of them might have bailed out of
the Coast Range.
Happy birding,
Joel
P.S. Dunn Forest is one of the OSU research forests, mainly in Benton
County with a bit in Polk County, off of Tampico Rd. It's deer/elk rifle
season out there now, so I'd advise wearing orange. Definitely not the
place or time to try out your new bull-elk Halloween costume.
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
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