[birding] Re: birding Digest, Vol 49, Issue 12

[Becky]

Good Afternoon!
I also have breeding plumage CHIPPING SPARROWS - four of them pecking  
around my driveway and occasionally at the feeder - been here about a  
week.  Since I had never seen them before, it took me a bit to id them.

The WESTERN BLUEBIRDS are defending 2 nest boxes from HOUSE SPARROWS,  
although using only one.  They don't seem too concerned about the  
VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS that are swooping around.  This is my third  
year of nesting WESTERN BLUEBIRDS.  Last year, the HOUSE SPARROW  
invaded the nest box and killed all the nestlings.  The bluebirds  
commenced to build another nest and raised a second brood successfully.

This year, I have killed 3 HOUSE SPARROWS and still have one or two  
hanging around.  With all the bird drama going on around here, I was  
nearly late for class the other day!

Is it true that the violet-greens will help the bluebirds raise their  
young or protect the nestbox?  Read that somewhere.....

Other species visiting: WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS, GOLDEN-CROWNED  
SPARROWS, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, and several other more common  
species (robin, for example).

Becky Brenton
SW Corvallis towards Philomath

On Apr 11, 2010, at 12:00 PM, birding-request at midvalleybirding.org  
wrote:

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> Today's Topics:
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>    1. Migrant Chipping Sparrow here too;	McDonald Forest few
>       migrants (Joel Geier)
>    2. fern ridge (rich armstrong)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2010 17:02:15 -0700
> From: Joel Geier <joel.geier at peak.org>
> Subject: [birding] Migrant Chipping Sparrow here too;	McDonald Forest
> 	few migrants
> To: MidValley Birds <birding at midvalleybirding.org>
> Message-ID: <1270944135.27490.2067.camel at clearwater1>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> Hello folks,
>
> Today we had a breeding-plumage CHIPPING SPARROW in our yard, foraging
> briefly alongside the WESTERN BLUEBIRD pair who were defending two
> different nest boxes from the VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS (you'd think  
> they'd
> concentrate on one!). Both Chipping Sparrow and the bluebirds were  
> using
> an area that our sheep have been cropping very intensively, so the  
> grass
> is just a few millimeters high.
>
> Yesterday mid-morning I took a 1/2 mile walk in the Lewisburg Saddle
> area of McDonald State Forest, to check if any migrant warblers or
> Hammond's Flycatchers were showing up yet. I found upward of half a
> dozen ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, but no other recent migrants.
>
> Happy birding,
> Joel
>
> P.S. The calendar of expected migrant arrival dates in the Willamette
> Valley is posted at the following link, thanks to Steve Dougill:
> http://birdingoregon.info/Phenology/tabid/221/Default.aspx
>
> --
> Joel Geier
> Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2010 17:56:53 -0700
> From: "rich armstrong" <richarmstrong at comcast.net>
> Subject: [birding] fern ridge
> To: "corvbird" <birding at midvalleybirding.org>
> Message-ID: <5C2C1D00F4534F0AAEBC02B4C74841BC at armstrong>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> 1. 12 people enjoyed the corvallis audubon 1/2 day field trip to  
> fern ridge this morning.
> 2. becky schweibert found the TUFTED DUCK and all saw it in scopes.
> 3. we also had 6 swallows including a couple PURPLE MARTIN. we had  
> a bush in a scope that had NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED along with tree,  
> cliff, and barn swallows.
> 4. we also managed to see scope views of common yellowthroat and  
> marsh wren and savannah sparrows. also a very close orange-crowned  
> warbler with an orange crown. 2 lincoln's sparrows were not so  
> cooperative.
> 5. there were a few REDHEADS with the normal ducks - decent numbers  
> of gadwall, ruddy, bufflehead, lesser scaup, and ring-necked.
> 6. there was no shorebird habitat at all. there were a few BLACK- 
> NECKED STILTS witht the white pelicans.
> 7. also 1 ring-billed gull, 1 glaucous-winged gull, an immature  
> bald eagle, 1 osprey.
> 8. off 126 we had a very close clark's grebe that everyone saw in a  
> scope.
> 8. although quite cold it did not rain a drop!!!!
> Rich Armstrong
> 541-753-1978
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> End of birding Digest, Vol 49, Issue 12
> ***************************************