[birding] Giant earthworms and other things that creep along (includes some birds)

[Joel Geier]

Hello folks,

Thanks Lars for mentioning this intriguing creature, which I was not
aware of. I'm sure Mike Denny, if he's paying attention out in Walla
Walla, will sooner or later speak up for the Palouse giant earthworm
which has been in the news more recently:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Palouse_earthworm

It looks like this and the Oregon giant earthworm are closely related
(both in the genus Driloleirus). The Palouse species also burrows to 5 m
depths, in those amazing loess deposits of southeastern Washington.

Speaking of things that creep along, this afternoon I went out on a walk
to the NW side of Coffin Butte, wondering if I could find motorless
species #100 for the year. 

With the GLAUCOUS GULL still being reported around Coffin Butte Landfill
in recent days, I figured that might be the one. I did see a buffy gull
with light primaries hanging with the gull flock way up on the winds
(which were gusting pretty well today), but I couldn't see it well
enough to be sure. At least, there's still a gull around that looks like
a possibility.

Thinking about recent mid-valley reports of Loggerhead Shrike, Say's
Phoebe etc. from habitat similar to the NW side of Coffin Butte, not to
mention last year's report of a Mountain Bluebird from the same place, I
figured one of those possibilities might pan out too. But they didn't,
nor could I spot a Horned Lark along Wiles Rd. even though the habitat
looked suitable.

The Cold Creek hunting club wetlands just across the county line into
Polk Co. had a few AMERICAN WIGEONS among the N. SHOVELERS and N.
PINTAILS, but no Eurasians. There were plenty of cacklers and honkers
but no white geese, or even blue geese.

So I wound up settling for a flock of about 60 DUNLIN as my 100th
motorless species of the year. Now I'm about where Randy Campbell was in
late January -- just took me two and a half times longer. I should catch
up with his 2009 motorless year list by 2012, at this rate.

The most impressive sight was about 2000 AMERICAN ROBINS using the stump
pasture where hybrid poplars were harvested last year. WESTERN BLUEBIRDS
and VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS were here and there along the walk, and a
couple of TURKEY VULTURES were eating something dead in a field.

On the walk back, I saw some of the gull flock soaring off the north end
of Coffin Butte, even ranging a bit over the Polk Co. line. So maybe
there's still hope for Polk Co. birders who are hoping for a few gulls
this winter.

About 60 WILSON'S SNIPE are now camped out around Toketie Marsh
(remedial wetland for the landfill), feeding in the wet area where the
outflow from the upper pond flows into the lower pond right by the
gate. 

An apparent intergrade EURASIAN x AMERICAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL (a drake
with both horizontal and vertical white stripes on the sides) was
hanging out among the regular American Green-winged Teal on the upper
pond -- must be a new guy in the neighborhood, as I've been scanning
these flocks pretty regularly.

Happy birding/worming/whatever,
Joel

On Sun, 15 Mar 2009 Lars Norgren wrote:

>       Within 24hrs of my non-ornithological
> inquiry I had numerous solid contacts for
> Oregon's most intriguing invertebrate. Obol
> subscribers constitute a host of intellectual
> champions.
>      Megascolides was originally described from
> Australian worms (said to reach 11' in length).
> The Oregon worms have been redesignated Driloleirus,
> although they are still assigned to the family
> Megascolidae. Ours is the only area outside the
> Southern Hemisphere to have this family. The Oregon
> Giant Earthworm is Driloleirus macelfreshi, first
> described in the 1930s and known from a total of
> 12 specimens. D. cascadensis is only slightly
> smaller, and more easily found. As its name implies,
> the type specimen is from the Cascades (east of Salem)
> but most specimens have been collected in the Coast Range.
> MacDonald Forest has produced specimens of D. cascadensis.
>       A 52" long worm found dead in Willamette Park
> last(2008) December is surely D. macelfreshi, but
> internal decomposition precluded positive ID, which
> is based on internal organs. 52" would be the largest
> specimen known, but with only a dozen on record, who
> knows what the actual range in size might be. Since my
> initial conversation on Wednesday, I have mentioned
> the topic to every truffle hunter I talk to and they
> all have seen giant worms. Not frequently, maybe not
> even yearly, but repeatedly none the less.
>       Darrel Faxon tells me of seeing giant worms
> repeatedly at the youthful end of his observations
> of nature, but not recently. Perhaps these were
> D. cascadensis, or a yet undescribed  species. The
> current theory attributes the Willamette silts as
> the home of D. macelfreshi, but 12 data points strike
> me as a rather flimsy basis for any theory. It is
> believed to go up to 15 feet deep, by way of permanent
> burrows. The idea of a worm one inch in diameter
> burrowing so deep seems improbable at first blush,
> but my father informs me that nowhere on earth are
> soils more porous at this depth than the Oregon
> Coast Range and the west slope of the Cascades.
> Lars Norgren
> 
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis