Just some notes on a nice outing with a very pleasant group of people.
The most notable bird here might be the Chipping Sparrow, just because
it's getting more and more difficult to figure out which Chipping
Sparrows are migrants in the mid-Willamette Valley. At this location, it
was most likely a migrant.
Lisa Millbank and Don Boucher also had a migrant Chipping Sparrow in
their Corvallis yard in recent days, to go with their early migrant
Calliope Hummingbird and their overwintering female Bullock's Oriole
which has shown up very irregularly.
Roy Gerig also mentioned a flock of a dozen or so Chipping Sparrows in
the Millersburg area north of Albany recently, near where Mark Nikas
found a Clay-colored Sparrow. That area doesn't get much attention from
birders and Roy has long had a special knack for finding wintering
Chipping Sparrows. So I wasn't sure whether to count them as "migrants"
or as wintering birds that have been waiting all winter for Roy to find
them.
-------- Forwarded Message --------
To: MidValley Birds <birding@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Mid-Valley Nature
<mid-valley-nature@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Some highlights of this morning's bird walk at E.E. Wilson
Wildlife Area
Date: Sat, 01 Apr 2017 13:31:07 -0700
Hi all,
The Luckiamute Watershed Council's spring bird walk at E.E. Wilson
Wildlife Area found a good sample of the birds of the season, despite an
intermittent light drizzle that probably put a damper on bird activity.
Highlights included an adult BALD EAGLE (presumably the male) perched
near where a pair is now nesting on the north side of the Angling Pond.
A couple of OSPREY were fishing the pond; surprisingly one that caught a
fish didn't get harassed by the eagle.
A pair of HOODED MERGANSERS were courting on what's left of the Canal
Pond, after the dike breached this winter.
Smaller birds heard and seen singing along the walk included: Purple
Finch (female/immature-plumaged bird), Bewick's Wrens, Black-capped
Chickadee, Song Sparrows, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Wrentit, Spotted Towhee
and American Robin. We saw one Brown Creeper and heard a few
White-breasted Nuthatches calling. Common Yellowthroats called here &
there but stayed in cover. One Orange-crowned Warbler foraging in a
blossoming willow was only slightly more accommodating.
The ACORN WOODPECKERS in the oak grove north of the Canal Pond were
frustratingly inactive. The only one spotted stayed on the far side of
the grove and rarely moved, so was hard for most of the group to see. As
consolation we did see a GREAT HORNED OWL. A male AMERICAN KESTREL
stayed close to the nest box where the female is presumably on eggs now.
When we sat down for lunch in the picnic area just north of
headquarters, a male WESTERN BLUEBIRD made an appearance, followed by a
lone CHIPPING SPARROW.TREE and VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS were also around
the nest boxes there.
Happy birding,
Joel
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
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