Hi Nathan
Townsend’s Solitaries normally do occur sparingly in Portland from late fall
through about early May. Along the coast I have seen them from early winter
into late April. (with the April being the best month to see them on the coast)
In my experience they are always worth a second or third look at lowland
locations. Birds in the Portland area and along the coast are often at
non-native berries, such as ivy, holly, or pyracantha.
Jeff
On Sep 8, 2017, at 12:51 PM, Nathaniel Wander <nw105@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Fire-driven is the only thing that makes sense. I've found a few reports on
line--mostly from 1920s--of solitaires turning up in PDX or SFO, but only in
winter.
Nathaniel Wander
Portland, OR
"Don't work towards freedom. Make the work the freedom."
From: Jeff Gilligan <jeffgilligan10@xxxxxxxxx>
To: nw105@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: OBOL Birders Online <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, September 7, 2017 11:28 PM
Subject: Re: [obol] ?? Townsend's Solitaires in downtown Portland??
They may be there due to the fires.
On Sep 7, 2017, at 11:26 PM, Nathaniel Wander <nw105@xxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:nw105@xxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
This will sound mad, but I believe there were two Townsend's Solitaire's in
the courtyard of my Pearl District building about 4PM today (Thursday).
I kept hearing a very distinct, high-pitched <ik> that I didn't immediately
recognize. I live on the third story of a four story building that
completely encloses a courtyard densely planted in trees, bushy plants and
wildflowers. Looking across the courtyard, I briefly saw a slender, grayish
bird perched upright on the opposite rooftop, but it flew off above the
roofs to the west.
The calls persisted though and soon a similar bird flew to about the same
perch. As it lighted I was able to get binoculars on it, but the view,
through a somewhat ashy screen wasn't very good. It was smaller and
slenderer than the scrub jays that typically haunt this courtyard, very
upright and it appeared to have a lighter patch on its wing, though it
seemed whitish rather than buffy. It too flew on to the west, though I
continued to hear the <ik> call for at least another five minutes: I judged
it might be on the west-side roof out of my line of vision.
I heard the call perhaps 10-12 times more after I went down into the
courtyard, but never got a sight of the caller. When it no longer repeated,
I went out to Jamison Square, west of my building across NW10th Avenue. I
never heard the call again and the only birds in the park were House
Sparrows and Rock Pigeons.
If these were solitaire's, the only possibility I can imagine is that they
were driven down by the fires in the Gorge . Our courtyard might pass for a
small pocket canyon to a couple of disoriented thrushes. The trees are all
deciduous, though, so they mightn't stick around long.
Nathaniel Wander
Portland, OR
"Don't work towards freedom. Make the work the freedom."
