Hi all,
I think Mike forgot to mention bean-geese here:
Most visiting birders do not go targeting sapsuckers when they
come to the coast. Heck, most birders only come to the coast for
shorebirds, shearwaters, and ground doves (if we are to believe
eBird).
but otherwise I agree, and I seem to be a case in point.
This topic surprised me as I think of Red-breasted Sapsuckers as a
pretty common bird on the east edge of the Coast Range. But when I
looked in birdnotes.net to see if I'd recorded any in Lincoln County, I
didn't find any.
That surprised me since I've spent 3-4 days per year on average on
family visits to the Lincoln Co. coast, over the past 18+ years. Granted
I've gotten considerably less obsessive-compulsive about recording bird
data in recent years, so I might have left one out. But I can't think of
any offhand, except for possibly the time that Walt Nelson and I covered
the inland sector around Toledo for the Yaquina Bay CBC.
Birdnotes shows only a few reports of Red-breasted Sapsucker, mainly
from Yaquina Bay CBCs (usually just 1 or 2, but 11 in one year) and
three times in Jorrie Ciotti's yard outside of Waldport. There is also
one record from Greg Gillson (that guy again!). One was recorded in 10
hours of effort for the 2005 Spring NAMC.
The concept of a "good bird" certainly varies from birder to birder.
Red-breasted Sapsuckers are always good birds in my view, as they're
fascinating to observe. They're especially "good birds" if you have a
visiting birder in tow, as they're one of our regional specialties.
Like other sapsuckers, they have a knack for disappearing whenever
someone is really hoping to see one, and has limited time to hang
around.
Happy birding,
Joel
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
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