Dear Dave,
I have done a fair bit of birding in Lincoln County over the years,
primarily during May on Big Days, Portland Audubon Birdathons, and scouting
trips. From my perspective, Red-breasted Sapsucker is an uncommon but
certainly not rare species in Lincoln County. One location in the county
where I found them with consistent reliability over the years is along
Shotpouch Creek just south of Burnt Woods.
Sincerely,
Tim Janzen
From: obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of David Irons
Sent: Friday, October 30, 2015 11:33 PM
To: OBOL Oregon Birders Online
Subject: [obol] Status of Red-Breasted Sapsucker in Lincoln County?
Greetings All,
In a post earlier today, Darrel Faxon was cited as saying that Red-breasted
Sapsucker is "a good bird in Lincoln County." This comment caught my
attention, as I think of Red-breasted Sapsucker as being a common to
uncommon species almost anywhere in northwest Oregon (west of the crest of
the Cascades), with perhaps more modest numbers on the coastal slope of the
Coast Range and outer coast and greatest densities in the lower foothills of
the west slope of the Cascades and the east slope of the Coast Range.
I would be curious as to how some of these folks would characterize the
status of Red-breasted Sapsucker in Lincoln County. Perhaps this is no more
than a difference in what Darrel and I would call a "good bird" (a vague and
subjective notion at best). If a species is known to be resident and a
breeder in the county, I would call it expected, uncommon, or perhaps
locally uncommon even if that species might be missed during several visits
to appropriate habitat. In my view, a "good bird" is one that even a
resident birder would get excited about finding...a species that one might
expect to encounter only once or twice every few years of active birding.
Dave Irons
Portland, OR
