[birding] Yard birds: Rufous Hummingbird & north-bound Rough-legged hawk

[Joel Geier]

Hi folks,

Early this morning after letting out the sheep, I heard that
unmistakable "zzzing" of a male RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, who turned out to be
working the red-flowering currants in our yard. We always seem to get
them a little later than most people in the area -- guess we're not on
the same hummingbird flyway as Bill & Lena Proebsting, who always seem
to get the first ones at their place on Oak Creek!

A bit later while shoveling compost in our garden, I saw a buteo flying
low along the edge of the ridge behind us (Tampico Ridge -- our part of
the ridge was named "Poison Oak Hill" for obvious reasons by the GIs who
trained here during WW II). At first I thought it was just one of the
usual pair of Red-tailed Hawks that have been doing courtship flights
lately, but it was more floppy-looking, and then I picked up dark carpal
patches & a white base on the tail -- enough to see that it was a
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK even without binoculars. The hawk seemed to be trying
to catch thermals along the ridge, though the thermals must have been
weak since it was barely staying above the trees. It was heading
decidedly north; I lost sight of it as it cleared the north end of the
ridge and continued on toward Coffin Butte.

Less exciting but equally unusual for our yard, today we had a pair of
HOUSE SPARROWS checking out a nest box, much to the consternation of the
pair of VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS who seem to be settling in. As usual, I
discouraged them to the best of my abilities.

Finally, I appreciated Lisa Millbank's column about COUGARS in today's
Corvallis Gazette-Times. We've been living in close proximity to a
cougar for the past half year at least, and so far the only casualties
have been a few lost feathers by one of our Buff Orpington hens (Buffy
or Buffy-Bot, we're never sure which one it is). Occasionally -- most
recently last week -- our neighbors' horses pick up the scent, and one
time we heard it pull down a deer. Indeed, the best indication as to
when the cougar's around is that the resident BLACK-TAILED DEER are much
less casual in their movements. 

Now that we're tuned into the indications, we realize that it ranges
close to our yard a lot more often than we find sign. But aside from the
one chicken incident (which was when Buffy/Buffy-Bot strayed practically
up into Wrentit territory),  it hasn't bothered our sheep, our other
chickens, or any of the neighborhood house cats. I kind of like the idea
of knowing it's out there ... though you can bet I'm on my toes a little
more than usual, when I go out in the back yard for a bit of owling in
the middle of the night.

Happy birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis