Dave is on the money. I would add that if you look at the weather conditions, that should determine your birding strategy. This weekend on the coast has been low pressure, SW winds. This would mean it isn't worth looking for shorebirds. Shorebirds on the coast in spring are most abundant and visible when the air pressure is high and the winds strong NW. The birds will be low to the ground and close to the coast. If these conditions do not prevail, the shorebirds simply will pass Oregon up. They are stopping at major estuaries only in spring (there is literature about this); Oregon does not have any. I suspect that most of the birds this week were either far offshore (l think likely) or very high and somewhat inland (I'm not certain that is correct - think about it, you are heading NW, not really north or NE, so over the ocean is more of a straight line and probably there are less predators). Far offshore makes sense due to E winds also. Anyhow this is likely a not very spectacular year for spring shorebirds, as I suspect as Dave says they are passed us.
Cheers Dave Lauten On 5/4/2014 7:26 PM, David Irons wrote:
Hi Brandon,Unfortunately, the shorebird migration futility, at least as it relates northbound Westerns, Leasts, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitchers and to a lesser extent Black-bellied Plovers, was entirely predictable. David Fix, who lives in Humboldt Co. CA, closely monitors the presence and departures of the masses of shorebirds that make a northbound stopover on Humboldt Bay. He sent me a note after reading OBOL posts which suggested that the 'big movement' had yet to happen early last week (after the weekend). About 8-9 days ago, the galaxy of these species gathered at Humboldt Bay (usually numbers in excess of a quarter million birds) were GONE! The flight happened then, but weather conditions were such that we did not have an overly conspicuous inshore flight in Oregon. It takes nnw winds and we had mostly southerlies during this period. Dave Lauten and Kathy Castelein noticed lots of small flocks passing along the southern Oregon coast during this period and while birding in Clatsop Co. last Sunday Shawneen and I observed a similar passage with flock after flock of 50-100 birds streaming past parking lot C at the south jetty of the Columbia River. That was, for all intents and purposes, "the flight." It happens within a predictable date range, normally during the mid-20s of April, regardless of whether conditions are right for us to fully appreciate it. Some shorebirds, like Whimbrel, have much more protracted migratory passage along the Oregon coast, but the flight of Westerns, Leasts, Dunlin, and Short-billed Dowitchers is comparatively compact. These birds leave massive estuaries to the south of us, the most proximal being Humboldt Bay, and most don't stop again until at least Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor.If you have any questions about the timing of these shorebird flights, all you need to do is check the schedule of coastal bird festivals. Godwit Days, held in Humboldt, is always scheduled for the 3rd weekend in April, which falls from the mid-teens to the early 20's of that month. That was two weeks ago, when the numbers of shorebirds on Humboldt Bay were building to a seasonal maximum. The Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival is scheduled for the fourth weekend in April, which falls between the early and late 20's of the month, again so that festival goers can experience the seasonal peak. Their annual festival was last weekend.If you want to witness the flights of these species along the Oregon Coast, you need to be there within the date range bracketed by or approximately bracketed by these festivals. Don't expect to find more than a modest percentage of the birds in this flight inside Oregon's estuaries, because in most years few will ever stop to feed on Oregon mudflats. As the shorebird flies (about 35-40mph–we paced a flock on Clatsop Beach last weekend), the flight from Humboldt to Willapa/Grays Harbor is no more than 12-hour non-stop hop. That's a modest jaunt for a migrant shorebird. Find a jetty, a promontory, or a spot up on the dunes fronting a long open stretch of beach (really good on days with nnw winds), then sit back and enjoy the show.Looking ahead to 2015, the fourth weekend of April (including Friday) spans the 24th through the 26th. Based on my experience, this is close to perfect timing. I have almost always experienced good flights when I could get to the coast around the 25th of April. You should have no trouble seeing lots of shorebirds passing along Oregon's outer coast that weekend. Better still, take an extra day and make a long weekend of it at the Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival. You'll come home wishing that estuary was in Oregon.Dave Irons Portland, OR ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 May 2014 16:31:33 -0700 Subject: [obol] Futility in Florence From: brandon.green18@xxxxxxxxx To: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxxHoping to catch some of the shorebird migration, I birded the north and south jetty areas of Florence this morning and there was NOTHING around. I had a pair of flyby SURF SCOTERS at the north jetty and a few YELLOWTHROATS around the south jetty deflation plane. Yippie. My guess is that the 30 mph wind gusts didn't help. I did get plenty of sand in my mouth and ears, though, so at least I didn't leave empty-handed.-Brandon
