Bill Tice called me yesterday but I could not get away.
I went to BSNWR this morning, hoping it would have stayed the night. It did
not.
It was a very good time anyway. I got to see and walk with Owen Schmidt, I
have not seen him in a decade or more. Many people were there.
We did spread out, and many returned later after not seeing it anywhere. This
is in the nature of vagrants this time of year. I talked with other birders I
had not seen for awhile. Ken Chamberlain and I went and found CHIPPING SPARROW
along Farmer Rd, a bird that can be a little hard to find in this part of the
mid-Willamette Valley, in a filbert orchard, as you might expect.
We saw LESSER YELLOWLEGS in two spots, SEMI-PLOVERS at the Narrows.
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS are back, and I had a brief glimpse of a WILSON'S
PHALAROPE in the relatively new wetland at the junction of Hwy 99 and Coville
Rd. I spoke with a refuge employee twice during the day, it had not not seen
today at all by any of them at that time. There were up to a half dozen
BLACK-NECKED STILTS at the Narrows.
Roy Gerig, Salem OR
