Gt Grackle has also bred lately near Grants Pass, I think. The Ontario colony
seems to be year-round and self-sustaining now.
I have not looked at count data but I think both Acorn Woodpecker and WB
Nuthatch are down in Lane County from 1970s levels. Western Bluebirds are way
up in all of western Oregon, owing at least in part to the bluebird trail
projects conducted by Elsie Eltzroth, Hubert Prescott and Al Prigge in the
1970s-80s.
Alan Contreras
acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx
Eugene, Oregon
www.alanlcontreras.com
http://osupress.oregonstate.edu/book/edge-of-awe
On Jan 11, 2019, at 10:06 AM, Wayne Weber <contopus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Oregon birders,
Nearly all the bird species mentioned by Joel and Harry are stereotypical
California species-- species which breed through much or most of California,
and have done at least since the earliest ornithological explorations.
However, one of these, the Great-tailed Grackle, is a newcomer even to
California. The first record of Great-tailed Grackle in California was in the
Colorado River Valley in 1964. When I made my first visit to that part of
California in 1970 (near Imperial Dam), I was highly surprised to find
Great-tailed Grackles there. None of the bird-finding guides or standard
ornithological references indicated that they should be there. This species
has had a much bigger range expansion than the other ones mentioned.
The regular occurrence of Great-tailed Grackles in Oregon is quite
recent—recent enough that I have not yet seen one in Oregon! It appears that
they may be breeding in Malheur County in the southeast as well as in Jackson
County. (Yes, I’ve seen GTGR both in BC and in Washington, but they sure
don’t breed there!) One of my priorities for 2019 is to finally add GTGR to
my Oregon state list.
All this just goes to emphasize how dynamic bird populations are, with
never-ending changes in breeding (and wintering) ranges. There have been some
major range contractions as well, such as Western Bluebird (disappeared from
all of southwestern BC and much of western WA), California Condor, and
Yellow-billed Cuckoo. The longer you watch birds, the more things change.
Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC, Canada
contopus@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:contopus@xxxxxxxxx>
From: obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[mailto:obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ;<mailto:obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>] On
Behalf Of Harry Fuller
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2019 7:57 AM
To: clearwater@xxxxxxxx <mailto:clearwater@xxxxxxxx>
Cc: Midvalley Birding Midvalley; OBOL
Subject: [obol] Re: Nice January walk in California? No, Polk County, Oregon
Other birds coming up from the south: Great-tailed Grackle now nest in
Jackson County as do Mockingbirds and White-tailed Kites. The California
Towhee, Wrentit and Oak Titmouse are well-established there as well as
breeding BG Gnatcatchers...I suspect many of these species move up the coast
first and then follow rivers inland...not coming over the 4300 foot high
Siskiyou Pass...but once in the Rogue or Umpqua or Willamette Valley they
should thrive. Nuttall's may have a harder time because it is highly
dependent on oaks and cottonwoods, not common along the coast or in Siskiyou
and Modoc Counties on the northern Cal border. THere is some suspicion but
no proof yet that Cak Thrashers are also breeding in Jackson County. I am
currently working on an update to a federal publication of 1975, Birds of
Jackson County...two major trends stand out: 1) we know a hell of a lot more
about birds there now (i.e. where the Great Grays and Spotted Owls nest), 2)
several species have moved north and gotten established...I've seen
Red-shouldered Hawks as high as 4500' elevation...Anna's Hummingbird in 1975
was considered a rare summer visitor, now males stay year round along with s
few females who don't migrate out.
In 1975 there had been no record of even a sighting of Red-shoulder or kite
in Jackson County!
On Fri, Jan 11, 2019 at 5:21 AM <clearwater@xxxxxxxx
<mailto:clearwater@xxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Hi all,
Yesterday afternoon I was out for a stroll through vineyards and and oak
woods on a small winery between Dallas and Monmouth, in sunshine and
pleasant 50 F temperatures.
A RED-SHOULDERED HAWK was sneaking around the woods along a small creek.
A BLACK PHOEBE was chirping and catching insects around the barn.
I heard ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRDS grinding away at their song, at three different
spots along the walk.
Two or three decades ago, all three of these species were more associated
with northern California and the southwest corner of Oregon. Now they are
part of our regular local avifauna in the mid-Willamette Valley.
Turkey Vultures have also become a frequent though still uncommon sight on
warm, sunny days in winter, and Acorn Woodpeckers colonies are widespread.
We're still missing Nuttall's Woodpecker, Oak Titmouse, and California
Towhee, at least for the time being.
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
--
Harry Fuller
author of: San Francisco's Natural History: Sand Dunes to Streetcars:
https://ecowise.wordpress.com/2017/04/20/sfnh/ ;
<https://ecowise.wordpress.com/2017/04/20/sfnh/>
author of Great Gray Owls of CA-OR-WA:
https://ecowise.wordpress.com/2015/05/08/the-great-gray-owl-book/ ;
<https://ecowise.wordpress.com/2015/05/08/the-great-gray-owl-book/>
author of Freeway Birding: freewaybirding.com <http://freewaybirding.com/>
birding website: http://www.towhee.net ;<http://www.towhee.net/>
my birding blog: atowhee.wordpress.com <http://atowhee.wordpress.com/>
