Yesterday Laura and I drove the Siletz-Logsden Road for a good distance east
from Siletz. Not long after passing the fifteen mile marker I noticed two
locations on the south side of the road which looked to me like the best
Yellow-breasted Chat habitat I have ever seen in Lincoln County. These spots
were only about six air miles from some quite similar habitat along the
Summit-Hoskins Road in extreme western Benton County where chat is known to
breed. Even though the habitat in those locations looks favorable, whether or
not chat might be found there is questionable. They are over the Coast Range
divide on the headwaters of the Siletz River, rather than on the headwaters of
Mary's River as is the location close to Summit, so the spread of the species
to them might be limited more by ecological barriers than distance.
Nevertheless, for anyone wandering the back roads in that section of the state
during May-July it might prove interesting to check out the area. The two
locations were about 1/4 of a mile apart at approximately mp15.3 and 15.6. They
consist of a growth of low brush and scattered trees along a creek, just the
kind of stuff chats like.
Darrel
