Thanks for the note Alan.Certainly an interesting location for those birds to
be, but something about that location I hadn't considered until I thought
about what you noted. But it seems to make sense. And that is that birds hang
out where they are comfortable.Over on the east side people, birders, tend to
spend time in an "oasis" or island of lush green surrounded by dry landscape.
In Oakridge, you spent time in an island of low vegetated landscape (I
presume), surrounded by forest. The birds you mentioned, the Say's Phoebe,
Horned Lark, and Vesper Sparrow prefer the more open places on the eastside
(although I have run across Vespers in Lodgepole stands on the east side). The
point is that the paradigm seems to fit the idea of an oasis in Oakridge,
surrounded by forest. So, I'm wondering Alan, we're you thinking of the
industrial area as an oasis and purposely went there? Would you consider it an
"oasis", a location that would attract birds that favor more open habitat? Ano
ther thing I thought about is route to breeding area. Horned Larks winter by
the thousands in the Klamath Basin. I see variations in plumage, so those
wintering will disperse and scatter to many different locations. The larks you
saw may be moving westward to the valley. The phoebes seem to using the last
open area as they move up slope, and are below the snow. Or were they moving
northward, through the basin on the east side, came to a landscape of just
snow, and headed west to a pass and made it to that area in Oakridge. I think
it is more likely the former scenario, of the Phoebe moving up slope and are
hanging out before pushing onward. If that's the case, I'd think coastal birds
moved north on the coast moved eastward along drainages, into the valley, and
then are headed over the Cascades by using yet another drainage to reach a
pass. It would be interesting to visit that location every year, or several
times a year.Interesting group of birds for Oakridge, and made me think
of a few things.Kevin SpencerKlamath Falls, Oregonrriparia@charter.netSent
from my Verizon LG Smartphone------ Original message------From: Alan
ContrerasDate: Tue, Mar 19, 2019 6:10 PMTo: Oregon Birders On Line;Cc:
lanebirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx;Subject:[obol] Oakridge and Willamette Pass birdsDaniel
Farrar and I decided to do something a little different in today’s good weather
so we birded the morning around Oakridge with Mary Lee Sayre. We then checked
Hills Creek Dam and went up to the Salt Creek-Willamette Pass area. The
morning was great birding. Mary Lee showed us around the city-owned old
industrial park at the east end of Oakridge and it was very birdy. We saw a
remarkable 8 SAY’S Phoebe, five in the industrial park (three together and two
others singing) and three more just below it at the pond by the side of Salmon
Creek at the dead end of Coho Street. That’s easily the most I have ever seen
in one day, let alone a bit over an hour, in western Oregon. There could hav
e been more; 8 is a conservative number.Also at the Industrial Park were two
VESPER Sparrows with one Savannah (an interesting side by side comparison of
color and size) and four HORNED Larks that Mary Lee found a couple of days ago.
I have several photos of the larks to send to lark people. They look very pale
and plain.Also present in those two areas were 7 Western Bluebird, dozens of
swallows (a mix of VG and Tree), one RUFOUS hummer, four Lincoln’s Sparrows at
the creekside area, two Dippers along the creek and a Virginia Rail at the pond
in the industrial park.After lunch we went up the hill. This was generally
slow and we failed to find the Gray Jay and Mountain Chickadee we hoped for.
Along with things starting with “Sage.” Siskins were widespread in small
numbers, otherwise the warm, windy afternoon produced a very thin soup. The
cone crop looks good but there were no crossbills at all. The Salt Creek Falls
road is only open to the ski trail sno-parkIn the late
afternoon we checked the Dexter Reservoir causeway. Most of the winter ducks
are gone; two Eared and one Horned Grebe were highlights. All of them had a
fair bit of spring color.The devastation from recent heavy snowfall is
extraordinary. From Lookout Point Dam to just above Oakridge, hundreds upon
hundreds of trees along the roads have been knocked down and eventually cut
back from the highway. The highway guardrails have been bent nearly flat from
tree impacts in so many places that the torn-up sections were impossible to
count. In some sections ALL of the trees near the highway are flattened. 25
miles of smackdown. I have not seen anything like it before.Daniel can add
anything I forgot.
Alan Contrerasacontrer56@gmail.comEugene,
Oregonwww.alanlcontreras.comhttp://osupress.oregonstate.edu/book/edge-of-awe
