This came out on the daily eBird rare-bird alert for Linn County.
- pleasant Valley Rd, Linn, Oregon
- Map:
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=44.4266393,-122.7600718&ll=44.4266393,-122.7600718
- Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S28417022
- Comments: "west side of Pleasant valley rd"
It would be right on schedule for LONG-BILLED CURLEWS in the mid-valley
(one day ahead of the average date of first detection), but six is a
remarkable count for this side of the Cascades!
I do have some concerns about whether this list is really for the stated
location, so some caution is advised before running out to look for
these birds.
If it is mapped correctly, this location is on the *east* side of the
South Santiam River, a bit north of Sweet Home.
But I have some concern that this might be a case of a "misfiled
checklist," if the person who reported it was traveling on the other
side of the mountains.
The birds in the photos certainly look like curlews, but the brush in
the background of the top photo looks odd for our area (is it sagebrush
or sprayed-off dwarf Scotch broom?), and the ground cover looks atypical
for this region.
The checklist also lists 3 Western Meadowlarks and 8 Horned Larks -- the
former seem like reasonable possibilities but the latter would be
surprising for the wet-pasture habitat and fairly closed-in landscape
that I remember from last time I scouted Pleasant Valley Rd. for
grassland bird habitat.
There is a Vern Tunnell associated with a company along Pleasant Valley
Rd. in Sweet Home, but I also found this photo that was posted for a
location in Idaho a bit earlier this week:
http://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/25685081
So this might yet turn out to be from Idaho ...
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
POST: Send your post to obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
JOIN OR QUIT: //www.freelists.org/list/obol
OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol
Contact moderator: obol-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
