Hey Birders,
Roughly a dozen of us meandered our way around Ford's Pond this morning,
about 0900-1230; local birders joined remnants of the Oregon Audubon
Council meeting held in Sutherlin. It sprinkled slightly at the beginning
and at the end as we approached our vehicles, but no rain while we walked
the pond. Really nice.
Before most people arrived an imm PEREGRINE FALCON was chasing an adult
BONAPARTE'S GULL higher and higher in the sky. As they circled higher and
higher sometimes it appeared the gull was chasing and even attacking the
falcon. Maybe it was.
Will Wright spotted an AMERICAN BITTERN in the SE corner of the main pond,
but it skulked into the brush/weeds before most of us could get a look.
An adult NORTHERN SHRIKE gave us great views and long looks. A n. shrike
observed here a couple weeks ago was a brown immature, so this appeared to
be a different bird.
A MERLIN chased some birds through the sky, then probably the same bird
came back later to perch on a utility pole. It was a nice pale
bird--compared to the darker ones we usually see around here--that appeared
to be a "TIAGA" type MERLIN (see photos in eBird checklist).
Complete checklist of 70 species, including photos of the "TIAGA" type
MERLIN:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S25754631
To those on the trip, please add your own comments, and let me know if you
have any comments/corrections on the eBird checklist. Thank-you,
Matt Hunter
Melrose, OR
