[birding] Soap Creek/Tampico neighborhood: House Sparrows(!) & Chipping Sparrow

[joel]

Hi folks,

Heidi (Aussie shepherd x border collie) and I went out for a walk around
the neighborhood this morning. I was hoping to find Vesper Sparrows or
Grasshopper Sparrows, but couldn't find any despite listening and
scanning lots of habitat. 

There were good numbers of LAZULI BUNTINGS, and one CHIPPING SPARROW was
singing from a wire just outside Soap Creek Ranch.

On the way home, coming through the north end of Adair Village I came
across the first HOUSE SPARROWS that I've seen all year, on motorless
birding forays around the neighborhood. The place at the south end of
Frontage Rd. has quite a bunch of them, including fledglings.

The list for the part of the walk that was in the Soap Creek drainage is
copied below. Nothing rare, but it shows the variety of birds that are
around in mostly upland/riparian habitats.

Native wildflowers blooming along the roadsides included SLIMLEAF ONION,
HYACINTH BRODIAEA, FORK-TOOTHED OOKOW, MENZIE'S LARKSPUR, and OREGON
GERANIUM. Also plenty of Meadow Knapweed, unfortunately.

It was a nice morning for a walk, with not much traffic. I said hi to
some guy on a bicycle as he rode by, and he commented, "You won't get
far without shoes!" since as usual I was barefoot. I told him I'd go 5
or 6 miles, but when I got home & dug out the map I was surprised to see
that it was more like 8 or 9 miles.

Happy birding,
Joel

This report was mailed for Joel Geier by http://birdnotes.net

Date: June 12, 2009
Location: Soap Creek upper drainage, Benton County, Oregon

Birds seen &/or heard on an 8.5 mile walk (6:50 AM to 10:30 AM)
around the neighborhood, starting from Coffin Butte landfill, then up
Wiles Rd. to Military Rd., then SW to Tampico, SE to Soap Creek Rd.
with a detour to the entrance of OSU's Soap Creek Beef Ranch, then
over Tampico Rd. to Hwy 99W at Adair Village and home.

Birds seen (in taxonomic order):

Canada Goose                       15 Two broods at Toketie Marsh, nearly full-grown.
Mallard                             3 Toketie Marsh.
Cinnamon Teal                       1 Toketie Marsh.
Wild Turkey                        15 Not-so-wild flock along Tampico Rd. started to 
                                      follow us down the road.
California Quail                    2
Great Blue Heron                    4 Must be nesting in riparian growth along Soap Creek.
Turkey Vulture                      8
Red-tailed Hawk                     3
American Kestrel                    2
Killdeer                            4
Band-tailed Pigeon                  7
Mourning Dove                       4
Rufous Hummingbird                  6
Red-breasted Sapsucker              1
Downy Woodpecker                    1
Hairy Woodpecker                    1
Northern Flicker                    5
Pileated Woodpecker                 1 Heard calling from McDonald State Forest.
Western Wood-Pewee                 20
Willow Flycatcher                   9 Thick in clearcuts along Soap Creek Rd.
Pacific-slope Flycatcher            5 Big-leaf maples along Soap Creek Rd.
Cassin's Vireo                      2
Hutton's Vireo                      2
Warbling Vireo                      3
Steller's Jay                       4
Western Scrub-Jay                   5
American Crow                      15
Common Raven                        8
Tree Swallow                        4
Violet-green Swallow               25
Cliff Swallow                      12
Barn Swallow                       15
Black-capped Chickadee             10
Bushtit                             5
Red-breasted Nuthatch               2
White-breasted Nuthatch             2
Brown Creeper                       1
Bewick's Wren                      10
House Wren                          2 Clearcuts along Soap Creek Rd.
Western Bluebird                    8
Swainson's Thrush                  20
American Robin                     20
European Starling                  30
Cedar Waxwing                      15
Orange-crowned Warbler             12
Yellow Warbler                      6
Black-throated Gray Warbler         5
Hermit Warbler                      3 Singing in conifers on Coffin Butte land.
MacGillivray's Warbler              1 Heard singing from McDonald State Forest.
Common Yellowthroat                15
Wilson's Warbler                    1 Heard singing from woods along Soap Creek Rd.
Yellow-breasted Chat                6 Also thick in clear cuts along Soap Creek Rd.
Western Tanager                     4
Spotted Towhee                     20
CHIPPING SPARROW                    1 Singing from a utility wire at OSU Soap Creek Beef Ranch.
Savannah Sparrow                   12
Song Sparrow                       25
White-crowned Sparrow              10
Dark-eyed Junco                     2
Black-headed Grosbeak               8
Lazuli Bunting                     15
Red-winged Blackbird               10
Brewer's Blackbird                  4
Brown-headed Cowbird               20
Purple Finch                        6
House Finch                         6
Lesser Goldfinch                    4
American Goldfinch                 25

Total number of species seen: 68