Blue Jay does not surprise me in that location.
Hard to say what the origin of those Bobwhite are but I’m glad they were
counted. The original introductions in the Treasure Valley region were in the
late 1800s and they were abundant in the area in the early 20th C according to
Birds of Oregon (G&J). When I lived in Nyssa 1969-70 Bobwhite were not that
hard to find in northern Malheur County. They apparently didn’t adapt well to
cleaner farming techniques, but there were reports near Ontario as late as 1990
and some may persist there.
I understand that there is still a population on the Idaho side of the river
essentially adjacent to Baker Co., so there may well be a relict population in
Oregon related to the “old” introduced population.
This is very close to Little Lookout Mtn., the last area in Oregon where the
original population of Sharp-tailed Grouse existed in the late 1960s. There
were several reports (no photos or specimens) of ST Grouse at Little Lookout
Mtn. in the 1990s.
This area is isolated and gets little coverage so our knowledge of what is
there is very limited.
Alan Contreras
acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx
On Jan 9, 2016, at 10:25 AM, Don Albright <donalbright@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi OBOL,
I received a report from Margaret Durner, who coordinated the inaugural Pine
Valley CBC on December 29, 2015. The count circle is located in eastern
Baker County, including the towns of Halfway and Richland, as well as a
portion of the Burnt River arm of Brownlee Reservoir. It didn't snow on
count day, but there were two feet of snow on the ground in the Halfway area.
No snow on the ground in the Richland area.
They found what I think is a pretty impressive 60 species on count day. Here
are the ones that caught my eye:
BLUE JAY--One visiting a feeder in the town of Halfway. Margaret says
they're occasional at feeders in town, especially in fall.
COMMON REDPOLL--They recorded 66 on the count. One flock was at relatively
high elevation in the Pine Valley; another flock was near Richland; and a few
other individuals were scattered about.
NORTHERN BOBWHITE--3. I didn't ask her where they were.
No waxwings, buntings, or rosy-finches. Good numbers of raptors.
It sounds like they have a good core of local participants on the count, so
hopefully they'll be able to keep it going many years into the future.
Don Albright
donalbright@xxxxxxxxxxxx
