I left early Sunday morning to look for shorebirds in Reedsport and
experienced a part of the Spring Migration phenomenon.
I started scoping just before dawn in front of the Coast Guard Tower and
noticed some sandpipers roosting on the ropes between the oyster barrels in
the Triangle Jetty. There were also some pipits on the Jetty itself.
As the sun rose a warbler, probably a Wilson's, flew straight east from
offshore, barely keeping above the water, and launched up and over the dune
and into the long grass. A lost bird who was blown off course and found
land?
Then the numbers picked up and I witnessed a spectacle I have never seen.
Shorebird flocks in the 20s to 80s started flying across the Triangle
Jetty, very very close to where I was standing, in fact, too close to use
my scope. I would hear them from several hundred yards away and then would
see their flashing wings, and track them until they flew right by.
I then started hearing some Greater Yellowlegs and Short-Billed Dowitchers
mixed in with the Dunlin and Semipalmated Plovers. I heard mostly Westerns
but a few Least as well.
I heard two mystery birds at really busy times, when there were too many
birds to get a lock on. One bird called several times in a two-note
separate downward tone. Another time I swore I heard the end of the Willet
call repeated several times. Does any other shorebird have a call that is
somewhat similar?
Near the peak of this event a group of almost only Dunlin flew very close
by, and right in the middle a different bird stood out; a Ruddy Turnstone!
The back and facial pattern were unmistakable, and I matched a
different-sounding call to the call on my Sibley app. I was expecting at
least a Whimbrel that day, which would still be a county bird, but I will
take what I can get =)
I also saw some Black Turnstones and a few Surfbirds on the North Jetty,
the Surfbird was also a county bird for me.
Overall I counted over 3,000 peeps migrating by over the course of 3 hours.
The amazing thing, to me, is that I only counted birds that were seen
between me and the first set of barrels, which isn't very far out. Most of
those birds were just outside the water, and since it was high tide, they
were very close, usually within 100 feet. I don't know if this is normal
for Spring but it was one of the unforgettable birding moments of my life.
Lets hope it's still hot next weekend,
Jimmy
--
James Billstine
http://wingsaroundtheumpqua.blogspot.com/
