Hi all,
Tired out here after driving home from Sheldon NWR today, and I'll need to pull
the data off of my laptop.
But briefly, the Hart Mountain CBC on Wednesday took place in very different
weather conditions from what we enjoyed two days later at Hart Mountain's
sister refuge, just across the line in Nevada.
The Hart Mountain count took place in full winter mode, after an average of
maybe 5 inches of snow fell across the circle and the wind blew it into drifts
deep enough to block access to Hot Springs campground, even with a 4WD pickup
with off-road tires. One team (Pat Grediagin and Craig Miller) managed to drive
all the way out to Blue Sky using 4WD plus real chains. Adam Bradley came up
from Reno to hike some of the canyons on the escarpment, and Cindy Zalunardo
and Coleen Pidgeon covered the Warner Valley Wetlands. Also big thanks to
Laurel Kullerud who coordinated volunteers, and refuge manager Danielle
Fujii-Doe who
The BLUE JAY hanging around Joëlle Fournier's and Zack McCoy's feeder made it
onto the count. The BARRED OWL that Zack photographed last week when it was
grappling with a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in broad daylight, though still
around on Sunday, might not have lasted much longer and was not found on count
day. Several CALIFORNIA SCRUB-JAYS have also been coming to that feeder. Joëlle
is the invasive weeds specialist and Zack is the heavy-equipment operator for
the refuge. It's so awesome to have both of them helping on this count and I
know our volunteers all really appreciated the access to their residence! At
least a couple folks managed to find the Blue Jay on their way out on Thursday.
Two separate AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS were found: one by Craig and Pat at Blue
Sky, and the other along the south edge of Flagstaff Lake by Cindy and Coleen.
My daughter Martha and I had a surprise while driving back up the grade to
headquarters at the end of the day, when about five ROSY-FINCHES (light too dim
to identify to species but they sure looked dark!) flew off a rock face and
down into the canyon below the road. I suspected Black Rosy-Finches since they
looked really dark but we only had a brief view and the light was getting dim,
so we'll be leaving them as "Rosy-Finch sp." for this count. Hoping that folks
who get out there this winter will keep watching for them.
I think those were the main surprises but I might add a bit after I get a good
night's sleep and have more chance to look through the notes.
Happy CBCing,
Joel
--
Joel Geier
Corvallis, Oregon
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