[birding] E.E. Wilson birds this morning

[Joel Geier]

Hi folks,

I did about an 8 mile walking loop (5.25 hours birding on foot) around
E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area, up Coffin Butte, and some nearby areas this
morning, as part of the Benton County migration count. Occasional
showers turned to a steady mist as the morning wore on, but a bigger
challenge was keeping ahead of the annual Youth Pheasant Hunt plus the
steady noise of Beavers game-day traffic along Hwy 99W, which seemed
louder than usual due to the wet pavement and low cloud cover.

The numbers are below. Some interesting ones for me were the first
MERLIN, SOOTY FOX SPARROWS and GREEN-WINGED TEAL I've seen this fall. I
heard another lingering YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT (different spot than
yesterday's bird). Otherwise no real surprises, just nice to see the
changing of the seasons and good numbers of LINCOLN'S SPARROWS now here
(one of my favorite birds to see).

An ELK cow was trotting around in the NE part of E.E. Wilson Wildlife
Area, no doubt trying her best to stay ahead of the pre-teen and teenage
shotgun contingent, the same as I was.

Happy birding,
Joel


> Canada Goose                        6
> Wood Duck                           1
> Mallard                            26
> Cinnamon Teal                       4
> Green-Winged Teal                   3
> Ring-necked Duck                    1
> Hooded Merganser                    1
> Great Blue Heron                    3
> Green Heron                         2
> Turkey Vulture                      5
> Red-tailed Hawk                     3
> American Kestrel                    1
> Merlin                              1
> Killdeer                            6
> Greater Yellowlegs                  1
> Western Sandpiper                   6
> Least Sandpiper                     3
> Wilson's Snipe                      2
> Mourning Dove                       1
> Belted Kingfisher                   2
> Downy Woodpecker                    3
> Northern Flicker                   19
> Hutton's Vireo                      1
> Steller's Jay                       4
> Western Scrub-Jay                  24
> American Crow                       2
> Common Raven                       10
> Violet-green Swallow               15
> Barn Swallow                       95
> Black-capped Chickadee             40
> Red-breasted Nuthatch               2
> Winter Wren                         2
> Bewick's Wren                      16
> Marsh Wren                          8
> Swainson's Thrush                  13
> American Robin                     12
> Wrentit                             3
> European Starling                 110
> Cedar Waxwing                      48
> Orange-crowned Warbler              1
> Black-throated Gray Warbler         2
> Common Yellowthroat                20
> Yellow-breasted Chat                1
> Western Tanager                     3
> Spotted Towhee                     27
> Savannah Sparrow                   13
> Sooty Fox Sparrow                   3
> Song Sparrow                       67
> Lincoln's Sparrow                  12
> White-crowned Sparrow               9
> Golden-crowned Sparrow             16
> Dark-eyed Junco                     2
> Red-winged Blackbird               55
> Brewer's Blackbird                455
> House Finch                         1
> Purple Finch                       27
> Lesser Goldfinch                    6
> American Goldfinch                507

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis