On the south coast around mid-March if you see a shrike it could be either
species. Before that time they are ysually Northerns and after that date
often Loggerheads. That said, I have heard of Northerns into early April.
Tim R
Coos Bay
On Wed, Mar 27, 2019 at 10:42 AM Tom McNamara <tmcmac67@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Jay,
Really fun, as always, reading your reports. Sounds like you had an
amazing day for "good" birds out at Sandy River Delta and Troutagonia-- (by
the way, there are whispers that this is going to be renamed Colby Neumann
GBA -- Good Bird Area --in honor of the legendary finder of a whole pile of
these birds).
Anyway, about those shrikes: my memory is that it wasn't *that* long ago
(read within the last decade or so) that some shrikes were being found in
that east-of-Portland area and, I believe, John Fitchen wrote on OBOL that
he was surprised and excited to know about a Loggerhead being found as, of
course, Northerns are the species that overwinter around here. But then, if
I recall correctly, Dave Helzer, who was working as a wildlife tech at the
airport time, chimed in to say that actually Loggerheads were more
frequently seen then Northerns ...(and I think all this was around this
time of year). John was probably not the only one who was surprised by
this intel.
Unlike you, I have not delved at all into eBird data, so I don't know if
or when at some point there's an abrupt, short, temporal switch (a window)
to where one species is more expected. ?? (And as regards historical eBird
data --stuff, say, entered after the fact of sightings 20 years or more
ago, one might possibly have to be cautious about inferring correct ID).
Good birding, Tom
On Wed, Mar 27, 2019, 8:41 AM Jay Withgott <withgott@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I had a lovely jog through Sandy River Delta yesterday morning, 26 March.
Highlights included the following:
* Three (3) LOGGERHEAD SHRIKES. Definitely 3; each was hunting in a
focused manner in different widely-spaced areas and seen within a short
space of time.
* 2 VESPER SPARROWS, in far eastern portion of area.
* 3 Say’s Phoebes
* 1 Common Yellowthroat, FOY
* 37 Western Meadowlarks
Checklist here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S54248888
I then took a spin through the Swigert PseudoSage and other Troutagonia
spots, but found only a Say’s Phoebe, 15 more Meadowlarks, and a
Two-wheeled T. andersoni. Together we walked across the Amazon parking lot
to the spot where folks had photographed a window-striking Burrowing Owl
the other day. An Amazon employee came running out the door to ask what was
up with all the people with binoculars swarming around lately. We told her
about the owl and had a friendly chat, but I couldn’t resist telling her
how great a birding area this “USED to be before it was developed.” To me
the Troutagonia area is a good example of the phenomenon whereby
biodiversity declines get masked by more-intense coverage of smaller and
smaller habitat islands. The great community of terrific birders in the
Portland area continues to find rare birds by combing through this area,
giving the likely false impression that bird numbers are doing OK. And of
course the birds of most interest in the Feb-to-April window are those
East-side semi-vagrants that spill over through the Columbia Gorge, which
would arrive here regardless of the size of the habitat areas available.
Which brings me back to Loggerhead Shrikes. This must be a record year
for them in the Portland region and the Gorge. So far in the past week or
so, judging by eBird reports, there have been records of what have likely
been 8 birds in the Portland & Gorge area of Oregon, 5 more on the
Washington side, and 3 more further N or S in WA & OR. The Portland-area
records include the following:
1 at Powell Butte, 3/22
1 in Gresham, 3/23
1 at Sundial Rd., 3/20, 3/26
1 at Swigert Rd., 3/20
1 at Troutdale WWTP, 3/20
1, 2, then 3 at Sandy River Delta, 3/18-3/26
The “invasion” is likely not over yet.
Jay Withgott
Portland
