A good example Matt of how habitat change even within a short distance can
harbor different birds. Those blackberries and thick woods explains my
Hermit Thrush, though it has been brave and out in the open some of late.
Does this mean you are going to start incorporating your back 5 acres more
into your checklists 😉!
Stacy Burleigh
Melrose
On Tue, Jan 12, 2016 at 4:09 PM, Matthew G Hunter <matthewghunter@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
We've been here--Cleveland Hill Road in Melrose area--about 3 years, and
I've birded the place for almost 4 years (working on the house before we
moved in). I have recorded birds on 1,045 checklists over that time in
eBird (www.ebird.org). Last summer I was looking through the list of
birds I had recorded on our property, their seasonal occurrence, and
pondering what might be the next new bird. I was shocked to realize that I
had not recorded a Hermit Thrush on our place. Hermit Thrushes are not
common in the central lowlands in summer--they breed sparsely in the Coast
Range and more commonly in the Cascades--but in winter, they are pretty
regular in woodlands and edges with thick brush (e.g. usually
blackberries), all the way to the valley floor all over central Douglas
County. I wondered why I hadn't had one yet. Well, right around our house,
where I do most of my bird-looking, there is only one small patch of
blackberrries and most of the trees nearby are pretty open underneath; not
great Hermit Thrush habitat. But the back 5 acres has great Hermit Thrush
habitat: lots of blackberries and thicker woods. So I planned, and I
waited. I had tried one previous time this winter without luck. Today,
however, I walked back to the best looking habitat and began to make some
interesting noises designed to make any birds in the area curious. In just
a few minutes, I could hear a Hermit Thrush calling, and it finally popped
into view for a few photos.
Birds really do like their particular type of habitat, and for secretive
birds like the Hermit Thrush, 600 feet (to the proper habitat) and the
right time of year can mean the difference between finding one and not.
Matt Hunter
Melrose
