[birding] Corvallis Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

[willwright26 at q.com]

Doug Robinson and myself relocated Rich's gnatcatcher this morning around 
7:30.  Very near Rich's balloon, except on the west side of the trail.  It 
was chasing a jay in the crown of an oak.  Not singing, but mewing.

---Will Wright

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Rich Hoyer" <calliope at theriver.com>
Sent: Friday, May 15, 2009 5:25 PM
To: "OBOL" <obol at oregonbirdwatch.org>; "Mid-Valley Birding List birding" 
<list at midvalleybirding.org>
Subject: [birding] Corvallis Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

> Friday, May 15
>
> I just returned from a jog up the Dixon Creek trail in northern  Corvallis 
> where I found a BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER. It was calling on its  own, but I 
> pished and whistled to get a visual on it in case my ears  were fooling 
> me. Incidentally, a Western Screech-Owl started calling  back almost 
> instantaneously. The gnatcatcher popped into sight within  a few seconds, 
> so I was able to continue on my jog. Blue-gray  Gnatcatcher was unrecorded 
> in Benton County as of 1999 (that's the  latest edition of Birds of Benton 
> County I have). Does anyone know of  records since then?
>
> The trail begins as a very wide sidewalk on the east side of the 
> Timberhill Athletic Center, and where the pavement ends, the trail 
> crosses Dixon Creek over a nice bridge. The bird was about 750 yards  up 
> the trail beyond the end of the paved portion. The first part of  the 
> trail is rather wet and muddy in a couple of spots but soon turns  to very 
> nice gravel and then is tarp-lined. Beyond that it becomes  dirt. The 
> trail crosses the the first side creek, then a smaller wet  ditch, and 
> then the gnatcatcher was calling about 20 yards above this  second ditch 
> and about 30 yards off to the east.
>
> I created a Google map with a blue marker where the bird was.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/pvl5zc
>
>
> Good Birding,
>
> Rich
> ---
> Rich Hoyer
> Tucson, Arizona
>
> Senior Leader for WINGS
> http://wingsbirds.com
> ---
>
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