[birding] benton county

[rich armstrong]

tristen & i covered a lot of benton county today.
1. in clearcuts south of alsea we did not find any nighthawks (granted we were there at 10 am), but we did find lots of MACGUILLEVRAY'S WARBLERS and other normals.
2. at alsea falls state park AMERICAN DIPPER have again nested. we saw a fledgling on a rock begging for food and an adult nearby.
3. we did not find bittern at the scrape on bruce rd, but there were 2 families of YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS - 2 separate males and at least 4 females, probably more.
4. there were 2 wood duck families at mcfaddin marsh.
5. we did not find cassin's vireo on hq road again and did not find the elusive mockingbird which hq people have not seen. the 1st report was back in early may at old hq, followed by doug robinson hearing it near there on may 12th, followed by a sighting at new hq a few days ago. so maybe there has been 1 hiding mockingbird wandering around finley for 1.5 months?
6. trying to see anything at evergreen wetlands is a complete waste of time. one can barley see any water at all and the foliage is 4-5 feet high.
7. to the north the colony of PURPLE MARTINS is still on tampico rd 2.9 miles nw of soap creek intersection. there were also a couple YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS there as well as many waxwings, goldfinch, and red-breasted sapsucker probably nesting in same dead tree as the martins.
Rich Armstrong
541-753-1978
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