[birding] Benton Co. NAMC results summary

[Marcia F. Cutler]

The preliminary species total for Benton Co. NAMC which was held on  
Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009 is 113 species.  The day started off damp  
with counters running into heavy drizzle during the morning hours.   
Clearing skies raised hopes for better birding in the afternoon, but  
strong cold winds may have kept birds down.  While the county was  
birded from north to south, areas west of Bellfountain Rd. were not  
covered - in other words, little mountain or coastal range birding was  
done.

Noteworthy are the debut of EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES (5) to the tally  
and a rare (audio) appearance by a RUFFED GROUSE at Peavy Arboretum.

Here are some highlights:

Redhead - 2 at Philomath Sewage Ponds (PSP)
Common Merganser - 6 where the Long Tom meets the Willamette River
Eared Grebe - 2 PSP
White Pelican - at least 33 at Cabell Marsh, Finley NWR (FNWR)
Double-crested Cormorant - 1 FNWR
Black-crowned Night-Heron - 1 immature FNWR
Osprey - 2 (Adair ODF&W pond, Willamette Park)
White-tailed Kite - 1 FNWR
Bald Eagle - 2
Red-shoulder Hawk - 5
Merlin -1  EE Wilson (EEW)
Peregrine Falcon - 1 FNWR and a possible second one observed during  
the football game at Reser Stadium
Greater Yellowlegs - 7 FNWR EEW
Western Sandpiper - 10 FNWR & EEW
Least Sandpiper - 9 FNWR & EEW
Pectoral Sandpiper - 2 FNWR & PSP
Long-billed Dowitchers - 57 FNWR and 1 at PSP
Red-necked Phalaropes - 17 PSP and 1 at FNWR
Purple Martin - 1 FNWR
Cliff Swallow - 3 FNWR
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 2
Swainson's Thrush - 26
Wrentit - 4 EEW & FNWR
American Pipit - 42 FNWR
Orange-crowned Warbler - 2
Yellow Warbler - 1
Black-throated Gray Warbler - 6
Townsend's Warbler - 1
Common Yellowthroat - 55
Wilson's Warbler - 1
Yellow-breasted Chat - 1 EEW
Western Tanager - 7
Chipping Sparrow - 1
Lincoln Sparrow - 19
Golden-crowned Sparrow - 16 EEW
Black-headed Grosbeak - 1
Brown-headed Cowbird - 1
Evening Grosbeak - 7

I also saw a probable PRAIRIE FALCON on Rifle Range Rd a bit south of  
the Rifle Range facility.  However, this was during one of those  
periods of heavy drizzle and I wasn't able to confirm the ID.

Lowlights include a bad miss - Chestnut-backed Chickadee, and a good  
miss - House Sparrow.

I'd like to conclude with an interesting observation of Vaux's Swift  
behavior by Susan Brown,

The highlight was watching Vaux Swifts at the chimney behind Wiegand  
Hall at 30th and Campus Way. It was just before the rain began [which  
she said was 7:10 a.m.] and it appeared they were gathering and  
swirling "down" into the chimney.  When I first saw them, there were  
about 50, but more kept arriving and when I left to continue my walk  
west, there were at least several hundred in view, with many having  
already gone in.  I was questioning the gathering into the chimney in  
the morning, but I watched carefully, and was fully convinced they  
were going in.  Might they have been seeking shelter before the rain?

Marcia F. Cutler
Corvallis