Hi Tori, Lars & all,
This seems to be shaping up as a good winter for Varied Thrush sightings
on the Willamette Valley floor. There seem to be a couple around every
fifth apple tree on E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area at this point in the
season (which adds up to a lot of Varied Thrushes, since there are lots
of apple trees out there with windfall fruit).
I haven't kept close count but numbers have been around 10 to 20 on
recent dog walks -- the length of which tends to vary depending on how
far the dog wants to go before I get tired of catering to her whims.
E.E. Wilson in this season is one place where you don't need to pack a
lunch, when you go birding, since you can just munch on apples if you
get hungry. Some of the apple trees are better than others, but there
are lots to choose from. A recently departed graduate of the OSU
Extension Master Gardener program once told me that there are more than
100 heirloom varieties of apple trees on the wildlife area.
Apple trees with lots of windfall fruit can also be good to watch for
Harris's Sparrows as the season progresses.
Happy birding (& apple munching),
Joel
On 11/14/2015 2:55 PM, Lars Norgren wrote:
At least one is calling here in west Corvallis on Saturday
afternoon after a hiatus of over a month. Lars
On 11/14/2015 11:57 AM, Tori Morgan wrote:
I have 5 Varied Thrushes (4 M, 1 F) eating from my
mixed-seed/cracked-corn ground spread right now (and 2
previous days). I'll be expecting a high count of around
20 by mid-winter.
Tori Morgan
OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol
Manage your account or unsubscribe: //www.freelists.org/list/obol
Contact moderators: obol-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
