The 18th Christmas Bird Count for the Coquille
Valley drew 33 birders to work the circle throughout a sunny January 2nd
Saturday and an additional 10 people to track the birds in their yard and
feeders. Preliminary results show that over 67,000 birds were counted and 146
different species identified.
The highlight was the first record of an overwintering
Mabled Godwit in the history of the count Harv Schubothe with his team of Kent
Hall, Bev
Minn and Susan Clifford first observed a Marbled Godwit Bandon Marsh and then
encountered another on the South Jetty.
Alan Contreras and Tristen Hynes discovered a Northern
Fulmer in their sea watch. It was the third time in the history of the count
that a Northern Fulmer was seen and the first time since 1999.
Feeder/yard counter Katty Acree of Coquille had Band- tailed
pigeons for the second year in a row. This was the third time they have been
encountered in the Coquille Valley count.
Five bird species were encountered for the 5th
time in the count. A Rough-legged Hawk made an appearance at our countdown at
the Bandon Marsh headquarters on the Niles’tun unit, the first encountered
since 1999. Joe Metzler found a Prairie Falcon and four Tree Swallows at Arago
Loops. Tim Rodenkirk had a Say’s Phoebe in Norway as did the South Bandon team
(Dave and Diane Bilderback, Neil Holcomb, Nancy Treneman and Dulce Havill).
Finally, Turkey Vultures no longer seem to be rare as our interior valley teams
witnessed them for the fourth year in a row.
Other highlights include a Black Scoter, seen for the third
time since 2000 by Kent Hall and the rest of Harv Schubothe’s team. Harv
SchubotheCompiler
