[birding] Coffin Butte & E.E. Wilson: More Solitaries, W-t Sparrow, fledged GHOW

[Joel Geier]

Hi all,

For lunch I checked Coffin Butte and indeed found a warbler fallout,
with good numbers but low diversity: 21+ ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS and 4
BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS. The Orange-crowned Warblers were feeding
both high in the budding oaks and blooming big-leaf maples, and low down
in bushes; two were even on the ground picking through the rock rubble
in the old quarries. No migrant flycatchers or vireos detected, though
not for lack of trying.

I did see an adult GREAT HORNED OWL moving stealthily through the trees,
then later saw a GREAT HORNED OWLET sitting on a branch, staring back me
with that top-of-the-avian-food-chain expression that seems to say, "I
wonder if I could eat something that big."

The wet field in E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area (main tract) across Hwy 99W
from the Coffin Butte trailhead had two more SOLITARY SANDPIPERS, plus a
lone BARN SWALLOW.

A lingering WHITE-THROATED SPARROW was with Golden-crowned and
White-crowned Sparrows along A Street just south of the skeet range. A
bit farther south, a EUROPEAN STARLING was doing a very convincing
Yellow-breasted Chat imitation. This was in exactly the same ash swamp
where one sometimes does a Sora imitation -- must be some sort of swamp
for the gifted & talented.

Happy birding,
Joel

P.S. Speaking of youngsters, some of the CANADA GEESE at E.E. Wilson now
have goslings (as of 16 Apr) and yesterday a MALLARD hen was leading
about 10 ducklings into cover on the Canal Pond.

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis