[obol] Sidewalk Pipits and other Eugene Snow Birds
- From: Thomas Meinzen <thomasmeinzen@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2013 17:46:00 -0800
The half foot plus of snow the last couple days produced some interesting
activity in our Eugene yard, including a sudden proliferation of Fox
Sparrows in the yard, with high counts of 6, 8 and 9 individuals. We've
never before hosted more than 3 here. With the Fox Sparrows has been a
contingent of Golden-crowned Sparrows and juncos, and one each Song
Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, and Spotted Towhee. Fun to have so many
ground-dwelling birds about in these snowy days! We had a HERMIT THRUSH in
the yard on Thursday for the first time in 4 years.
Today I attempted a bike ride/walk to see if the snow might produce some
interesting bird behavior elsewhere. Most notable were two AMERICAN PIPITS
walking along the sidewalk of a nearby street, Maxwell Rd., a rather busy
3-lane street far from any kind of pipit habitat or open space. The two
pipits casually walked along the sidewalk in front of me, peering into
hedges and hopping through chain-link fences - definitely pipit behavior
I've never observed before! Another pipit was crawling through piles of
leaves on the banks of the Willamette River, looking lost. A few stray
Killdeer were about, and a Red-tailed Hawk swooped at one of them, on the
banks of the Willamette near the Owosso Bridge. Both looked quite hungry!
Happy snow birding!
Thomas Meinzen
Eugene
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