[obol] Fern Ridge (Royal Ave.) highlights (White-tailed Kite, chat, etc.)
- From: Hendrik Herlyn <hhactitis@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 18 May 2013 19:59:35 -0700 (PDT)
Hello folks,
For most of the morning, Pam Otley, Oscar Harper, Phil Henderson and I birded
the Royal Ave. area at Fern Ridge (walked to the platform, then west toward
"Tern Island;" due to time constraints we didn't make it all the way to the
Barn Pond). The occasional rain squalls kept activity somewhat at bay, but we
still ended up with a nice list of 69 species (albeit very few shorebirds).
Some of our highlights included:
Four CACKLING GEESE (a lone bird on Pelican Island and 3 with a group of
Canadas near Tern Island) seemed somewhat late stragglers. Duck diversity was
way down, but we still had a few pairs of AMERICAN WIGEONS, NORTHERN PINTAILS
and NORTHERN SHOVELERS (didn't see any diving ducks at all).
A RING-NECKED PHEASANT was calling from N of the platform. Three
AMERICAN BITTERNS surprised us by circling high over the parking area: later,
we heard another one calling from a more expected reed bed. Aptly named Pelican
Island hosted 13 resting WHITE PELICANS, along with a few RING-BILLED and
CALIFORNIA GULLS. At least 18 BLACK TERNS mingled with the 100s of swallows
over the platform pond, and about 35 CASPIAN TERNS were roosting on "Tern
Island."
The only shorebirds we saw were a few KILLDEER, a couple of SPOTTED SANDPIPERS
and a lone LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER.
The rain really pushed the swallows down low, and I counted over 120 PURPLE
MARTINS (80 perched in a single tree!), 500 CLIFF SWALLOWS and 200 TREE
SWALLOWS, along with smaller numbers of VIOLET-GREENS and BARNS. However,
despite our efforts we were unable to find any Rough-winged or Bank Swallows.
A WESTERN KINGBIRD looked decidedly unhappy as it tried to fend of a rain
squall on the fence near the parking area (a few pics can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22154335@N07/sets/72157633529922970/). Songbird
activity was
quite low, but we heard our FOY YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, and a LAZULI BUNTING was
singing near the rest rooms.
Our trip ended on a high note when Phil pointed out a hovering WHITE-TAILED
KITE at the edge of the grass field NE of the parking area - this species has
been rather hard to come by lately and was a year bird for all four of us!
Happy Birding!
Hendrik
__________________________
Hendrik G. Herlyn
Corvallis, OR
"Nature is not a place to visit. It is home."
-- Gary Snyder
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- » [obol] Fern Ridge (Royal Ave.) highlights (White-tailed Kite, chat, etc.) - Hendrik Herlyn
