I've been checking the MOU listserve everyday. Thanks for keeping everyone in touch with the fun sightings you're having!.Speaking of recent migrants, there was an influx of Yellow-rumped Warblers yesterday that just showed up here in Cottage Grove. I can't wait to show all of you my bird photos, so here they are (my typed details of the time spent out here so far are after the photo links). I like to think of my photos as a journal of the beauty I'm seeing out here. I hope you enjoy the photos!
My road trip adventure from Wisconsin to Oregon (birds from the prairies, mountains & forests, amazing scenic views, mammals and more!): http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/roadtrip__heading_to_oregon Ocean photos (birds, mammals, scenic views and more!) http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/pacific_ocean_birdwatching_adventures Inland photos (Saw-whet Owl photos so far, but more to come!) http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/inland_birdwatching_adventures For my job I drive around on the logging roads going to specific locations within the different-aged stands of evergreens and survey for cavity-nesting birds. I found the first recorded active Red-breasted Nuthatch cavity for this study (this is 3rd year/last year) for this study. In addition, I found a Saw-whet Owl cavity 3 weeks ago. I went up to the snag, did the basic inventory (stability, cavity count, etc) and shortly after a little fluffy head popped out and just stared at me! Today there was an influx of Olive-sided Flycatchers and Yellow-breasted Chats throughout the plot... I'm thinking they arrived relatively recently. It's fun learning about the nesting process in cavity-nesting birds, and while doing so I'm also seeing new species too like Red-naped Sapsucker (the most common sapsucker on our plots). The most common birds on our plots are Chestnut-backed Chickadees. These little chickadees are so beautiful, and have a call somewhat reminiscent of those beautiful, northern-dwelling Boreal Chickadees. Wrentits are also very common in some areas, and they're a very tricky bird to find... They sing and sing like an all-day-long thrush (bubbly, but brief song) however they are rarely seen. In my Ocean photo album, I got a good close up of one alongside a ocean-side road with dense flowering bushes on lining the road edges. A few minutes before I took the photo of my first-seen Wrentit, I was treated to another beautiful bird... Golden-crowned Sparrow. They are somewhat similar to White-crowned Sparrows, but have a slightly different posture (still a chunky sparrow) with a beautifully topped-off head of black and sunny yellow. On my weekends I've been going out to the Pacific Ocean and camping out. The air is crisp and pure, the water is vivid in color, the waves calm the senses & spark deep thoughts about stuff, and the wildlife are elegantly beautiful! Watching pelagic birds is such a fun experience. Hawkwatching is my true favorite birdwatching activity that I've ever experienced, however watching a group of Pacific Loons fly by, by the hundreds is also a thing of beauty. Pigeon Guillemots fly by in smaller groups, but they are vocal and are quite distinctive with their all black bodies and wings, except for the white wing markings and cherry-red feet. The dark-bodied Brandt's Cormorants fly by with their neon-blue throat patches shining and white face 'whiskers' blowing in the wind, whereas the slightly smaller Pelagic Cormorants zip on by with white vents lining their hind-quarters. Double-crested Cormorants are also found here as well. Oh and I forgot to mention the gulls... While on my initial trip west, I drove through most of Oregon on the northern side of the state, along the Columbia River. I saw several Olympic Gulls at one of the pulloffs (all of different ages)... and had never seen a Glaucous-winged Gull or Western Gull in my life yet (Olympic Gull is a cross between these two species). It was frustrating at first, looking at the group of gulls and wondering even what to make of these sharp-looking, but not well-defined gulls. With my trips to the ocean coast, I've identified gulls in large numbers on my own. In addition to the wonderful wildlife I've been observing, I have been making some wonderful connections with many people out here (managers of National Wildlife Refuges, trip leaders, and local birdwatching enthusiasts). It's so nice out here, however to be honest, I'm still biased towards the northwoods of WI and MN. Not to say that any place is 'better than another place' by any means, but there's that something about the northwoods back home that is a true home for me... I've established my sense-of-place in the northwoods, but every day I'm learning to identify more plants and birds, and soaking up the beautiful wooded hilly habitats of western OR. One of the interesting things about living here in western OR (about 1 1/2 hours from the coast) is that there is little if any raptor migration that has occurred since I got here back in early April. Some raptors overwinter here (Red-tailed Hawks, some Rough-legged Hawks, and from what I've been told many White-tailed Kites). My trip out west from WI to OR back in late March/early April tallied 179 raptors total, including several Ferrugenous Hawks. The raptors that are found here now will most likely breed in the area, and those raptors consist of Red-tails (uncommon), American Kestrel (I'd say uncommon to rare) and Turkey Vultures (dozens of daily sightings). It's fun to hear how the hawk migration is going throughout the Lake Michigan/Lake Superior area. Just curious, has anybody gone up to Lapham peak to scan for raptors? I hope all of you are doing well. Keep in touch, good birdwatching, and I hope to see you up at Hawk Ridge this fall!! Erik Bruhnke Cottage Grove, OR NATURALLY AVIAN - Bird photography and guided bird hikes www.pbase.com/birdfedr birdf...@gmail.com ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html