Last year in Portland I had lunch at a bunch of food carts in the vicinity of
Mall 205, a paved wasteland between the eponymous freeway and a fairly dense
neighborhood. Two Brewer’s hopped up on my picnic table and were very willing
to come in close looking for a sample of my lunch. This was all fine, but these
birds had the most pitiful assortment of avian pox sores on the feet and legs
that I have ever seen. Their feet were fairly destroyed, with some toes just
stubs.
Pamela Johnston
From: DJ Lauten and KACastelein
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2016 3:10 PM
To: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [obol] Re: a (very) local rarity
Lars
If you had Fred Meyer parking lot in your area on the Coos Bay CBC, you'd have
Brewer's every year. Seems like this species loves parking lots, especially
at big stores and fast food joints. The only place I see them where I suspect
they breed in somewhat natural conditions is at Bandon Beach, where they appear
to nest somewhere back along the creek that runs behind the dunes. We see
them on the beach at this site, but I do not see them elsewhere.
Cheers
Dave Lauten
On 5/16/2016 10:52 AM, Lars Per Norgren wrote:
These are the postings that fascinate me most. The Little Stint is for
chasers. I've done many a CBC on the Oregon coast and don't think I've counted
a Brewer's Blackbird yet. Lars
On May 16, 2016, at 10:06 AM, 5hats@xxxxxxxx wrote:
This probably sounds ridiculous to everybody else, but I just now have a
very rare sighting in my back yard: a pair of Brewer's Blackbirds. During my
childhood, there was a sizeable colony of them here on the farm in Lincoln
County, but it disappeared about 1959. Since then the species has been very
rare at this location. I think this is the first time I have seen a pair of
them in close to fifty years, maybe longer.
Darrel..
