[birding] Willow Flycatchers at EE Wilson

[joel]

Hi All,

If any of you haven't heard Don's imitation of Wrentits you just haven't
lived -- I think he has it down to subspecies, gender, and Wrentit mood
of the day.

The tail end of the group missed a few of the birds that Don mentioned
but we did see an OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER. It might have been Randy & Pam
Comeleo who spotted it first. I learned from them that the call that the
Oregon version of this species makes isn't "Quick, free beer!," it's
"McMinnville!"

So far as I know, the EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES that Don heard, then
pointed out for the group near HQ were the first on record for E.E.
Wilson Wildlife Area. Thanks to Don, I also had to confess that I heard
one calling from the ridge SW of our yard yesterday morning, though I
didn't recognize it at the time. They must really be surging in our
area, within the week or so -- yesterday morning was the first time I
heard that call.

As Don notes, YELLOW WARBLERS were common yesterday, though far more
were heard than seen. It seems like numbers on the wildlife area are
really high this year -- perhaps because the willows etc. are really
growing in around the newer wetlands.

Happy birding,
Joel

On Mon, 2009-05-25 at 08:35 -0700, Don Boucher wrote:
> Lisa and I, with help from Joel Geier, led the year's first Bicycle
> Birding at EE Wilson Wildlife Area on Sunday 5-24. There were about 20
> bicycle-birders and everybody got to see a lot of birds. Near the HQ
> was a pair of Eurasian Collared-Doves and one was calling. Most of us
> got to see a Green Heron fly by. We had several good looks at male
> Rufous Hummingbirds with their twinkling, red throat sequins. A pair
> Northern Harriers was harassing a Great Blue Heron and then a
> Red-winged Blackbird joined the taunting. All the poor heron could do
> was croak and squawk about it. Near the HQ was a Red-breasted
> Sapsucker hammering (rat, ti-tat ti-tat) on a metal water tank. We
> encountered two Willow Flycatchers one near the marsh by the fishing
> pond and one at the marsh at the northeast end. It was a
> first-of-the-year, and motorless Willow Flycatcher for Lisa and me.
> Several Warbling Vireos were heard and a Hutton's Vireo was heard and
> briefly seen. This was the "Chat-O-Rama" trip and we did get some
> looks at Yellow-breasted Chats.Yellow Warblers were common but only
> seen once briefly.
>  
> Don Boucher
> Corvallis, OR
> www.Neighborhood-Naturalist.com
>  
>  
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