[birding] Camp Adair update (lone gull, no longspurs today)

[Joel Geier]

Hello folks,

Upon stopping by the recycling place at Coffin Butte landfill this
morning, I saw a lone gull standing on the ice of the upper remediation
pond. It turned out to be a RING-BILLED GULL. After going home to take
care of a few chores I went out on a walk, hoping to finally add this
species to my motorless year list. 

But by the time I got back to the landfill, there was just a bit of gull
poop where the gull had been standing. So, I now have Ring-billed Gull
poop but still no Ring-billed Gull on my motorless list.

Along the way I checked for yesterday's longspurs. Today a small wren
fluttered weakly away from the same spot, flying very low over the
grass, and landed a short distance away. I got excited about the
possibility of Sedge Wren, but it turned out to be a MARSH WREN once I
tracked it down.

I also checked the same patch on the return trip (after checking the
side roads west and north of Coffin Butte), and I ran across a fellow
named Alex who had just searched the area too. Neither one of us had any
luck.

Otherwise it was a beautiful morning for a walk, with clear views of Mt.
Hood & Mt. Jefferson. If we get temperatures this warm on next
Thursday's Hart Mountain CBC, I'll be happy! The word from Hart Mtn
refuge headquarters is that it was -13 F there this morning. Our morning
low temperature of +14 F seems positively balmy by comparison!

That said, the prolonged freezing weather is really concentrating the
birds around anyplace with a bit of open water. WILSON'S SNIPE and
KILLDEER were having to compete with starlings for thawed swales in the
fields, and another Killdeer was walking around on the ice on one of the
marshes in E.E. Wilson.

Howard Bruner mentioned scarcity of RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS this year. I'd
agree that numbers seem a bit low, though I did see a few with sparrow
flocks which were likewise concentrated along a few wet ditches and
streams. 

LINCOLN'S SPARROWS seemed more conspicuous than usual; I saw about 10
just walking along Coffin Butte Road for a half mile. Er, that was me
walking, not the sparrows! But I did also see two SONG SPARROWS just
standing in the middle of a gravel driveway, as if they weren't really
sure what to do in this weather. 

As much as I'd like to see another week or so of this weather so that I
can finally get some use out my old long-distance ice skates, for the
sake of the semi-hardy birds it's just as well that things are supposed
to get back to normal in a couple of days. Meanwhile, it's a great time
to be out birding -- lots of sunshine and no hunters to watch out for!

Happy birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis