[birding] E.E. Wilson short-billed dowicher

[rich armstrong]

1. after joel's post at 128 nanette & i were out at e e wilson at 2 and out 
to the marsh area by 230.
2. our recent excellent luck continued as the closest dowicher to us was a 
SHORT-BILLED DOWICHER. we saw 2, but not the 1 joel saw with a very short 
bill. thanks to joel geier for another benton county bird that has eluded us 
quite a few times!
3. also saw a LESSER YELLOWLEGS, but no greaters. and we did not see the 
solitary that austin booth saw this morning.
4. we had very little time as nanette needed to be at osu by 4 so we did not 
study the entire flock.
5. on our forced march back to the car we heard 2 YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS 
along with black-headed grosbeak and common yellowthroats.
6. although not an easy marsh are to view, and of course it is at the far 
end of e e wilson, it seems like a lot of mud that shorebirds should like. i 
hope others can check it out.
Rich Armstrong
541-753-1978
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joel Geier" <joel.geier at peak.org>
To: "MidValley Birds" <birding at midvalleybirding.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2010 1:31 PM
Subject: [birding] E.E. Wilson NW marsh shorebirds, rails, o-s flycatcher


> Hi all,
>
> On a late morning walk through the north part of E.E. Wilson Wildlife
> Area on this beautiful day, I checked for the Townsend's Solitaire that
> Bill Proebsting found yesterday, but couldn't find it. Presumably it
> moved on, as migrant solitaires in our area usually do.
>
> The marsh in the northwest corner of the wildlife area had good numbers
> of shorebirds today, after not much yesterday. Most of them were
> dowitchers, including 52 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS and 3 SHORT-BILLED
> DOWITCHERS. The latter were foraging alongside of, but slightly apart
> from the rest, and were distinguishable by their somewhat brighter backs
> and whitish bellies. One of them had a noticeably shorter bill than any
> of the nearby Long-billed Dowitchers, but the other two would have been
> hard to sort out on the basis of bill length.
>
> 55 dowitchers just might be a record for E.E. Wilson; usually it's good
> luck to find a half dozen. While I was enjoying the chance to study them
> through the scope, they were joined by three yellowlegs that flew in.
> Two of these were GREATER YELLOWLEGS that proceeded to chase each other
> noisily around the wetland for the next five minutes, but the other was
> a LESSER YELLOWLEGS that foraged daintily by picking at the surface of
> the water.
>
> Also present were two SPOTTED SANDPIPERS and about five LEAST
> SANDPIPERS, plus the usual KILLDEER.
>
> SORAS and VIRGINIA RAILS were calling from all around. When I walked in
> about 30 ft along the grassy trail along the berm at the north end of
> the road that runs north from HQ, I heard two squeaks and stood still
> for a couple of minutes until a pair of VIRGINIA RAILS came into view in
> the small puddle with rushes on the east side of the berm, first
> swimming on the puddle, and then probing in the mud for food (which they
> seemed to be finding with good frequency, though I couldn't tell exactly
> what it was). Usually I only hear these birds, or see them dashing away,
> so it was fun to watch them under more relaxed conditions. When I
> finally moved a couple of steps to go, they gave alarm calls.
>
> In the same location, an OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER was flycatching from a
> dead snag out in the marsh.
>
> Happy birding,
> Joel
>
> --
> Joel Geier
> Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> birding mailing list
> birding at midvalleybirding.org
> http://midvalleybirding.org/mailman/listinfo/birding
> http://oregonbirdwatch.org/pipermail/obol/
>