A short bird-sighting story by Priscilla
Although I was recuperating from cholecystectomy surgery and unable
to attend this birding trip, I had an interesting bird sighting from the hospital windows which
relates to the BOGS Riverbend birding trip!
Since my bird-sighting took place at Riverbend and the BOGS group birded Riverbend a week later,
I thought this bird-sighting story would fit right in, especially because Jody looked for a nest
that might have belonged to the bird I saw.
The last morning of my four-day stay at Riverbend hospital, I took a walk at 5am over to the side of the bldg
facing the McKenzie River. I was way high up on the 7th floor and there is a bay window area with a half dozen chairs
there. I got to the bay windows at 5am when the sky had a pretty good pre-dawn glow already. Right away
a large OWL flew by parallel to the bldg wall and only maybe 200 feet from the wall.
I could see it was too large for anything but GHO, Barn, Barred or Great Gray.
The real question in my mind was whether it was GHO or Barn Owl,
though I should not so hastily rule out Barred Owl, I suppose. This bird was very flat-faced
and the "shoulders" where wing emerges from body were really large, muscular, giving the bird
a sort of "hunched shoulder" look while flying. I think it was that hunched look
that left me with the idea of it being a Barn Owl. But now, in retrospect, Barn Owl bodies are not large in diameter
and this bird really was - at the upper chest - quite large in diameter.
By the time I first spotted the bird it was already straight out from me, already slightly past me
so I never got a look at it coming towards me or even right alongside me.
It was a really fun sighting to have happen the moment I arrived at the large bay windows.
RIVERBEND Aug 4, 2016
JODY'S TRIP SUMMARY
We went to Riverbend. Pat found a huge nest which I decided was where your (Priscilla's)
Great Horned Owl raised it's young. The nest didn't show any activity and we didn't see any red tails hanging around.
Janet said you saw a GHH while you were in the hospital which is why I thought the nest
might have been a red tail nest appropriated by the GHH. Since no bird was in sight,
no one disputed my assertion.
It was a good walk.
We saw a MERLIN. We all were puzzling about this weird brown bird since it was facing away from us.
Don got a photo where he turned his head so we could see the merlin head. The swallows were swarming it for a while.
We saw a wrentit! It popped up and was right out in the open.
Don got a good shot of it. Once again we puzzled over what it might be, that that really long scruffy tail
and an eye ring nailed it once we got to the right page in the bird book.
Then we saw western tanagers, cedar waxwings, western wood peewees, osprey, vultures,
common mergansers motorboating, lots of hummingbirds. A rufous showed off his tail.
Don got a photo of a mystery bird. Gray head, black breast band, white underbelly.
None of us came up with a good guess.
Most of the remainder of this trip summary was written by Don Laufer,
accompanied by his excellent photos. Any remarks by others are labeled as such
The August 4th birdwalk was led by Jody. We met at the Campbell Center and decided
that it would be a good day to re-visit Riverbend since it was predicted to be sunny and warm.
Riverbend has also in the past been a good place to see adults feeding fledgling birds.
Stewart Grove next to the hospital was unusually quiet, just a few Robins moving about,
so we quickly moved on to the path along the river.
Priscilla's comment: "What a magnificent wasp nest!"
The cottonwoods along the bank hosted numerous Black-capped Chickadees and Spotted Towhees.
Black-capped Chickadee
When we got to the area where the main river splits in two and part of it spills
into the side channel the number and variety of birds suddenly increased.
While part of the group stopped to look at a vacant nest that could have been a hawk's nest re-purposed
as a Great Horned Owl's nest, the rest of us observed a Spotted Sandpiper moving rapidly along the opposite bank
of the side channel.
A group of Common Mergansers were out in the main channel of the river.
They all looked like females but most of them were probably 1st year birds.
When they weren't diving several of them kept motor-boating, moving rapidly across the surface of the water
and leaving a 'rooster tail' in their wake.
A group of Mallards flew in and a female Belted Kingfisher was seen perched on,
and diving from, the root ball of a large downed snag.
An Osprey and several Turkey Vultures circled lazily overhead.
Along the near bank were added Lesser Goldfinches, a Flicker, Downy or Hairy Woodpecker
and both Anna's and Rufous Hummingbirds.
kingfisher
Rufous Hummingbird
A dark brown bird with long tail held high was observed moving nervously around the undergrowth
and we initially thought it was a Fox Sparrow. After looking at pictures of it
we realized it was a Wrentit, which we felt fortunate to have gotten such an unobstructed,
if too brief, look at.
Spotted Towhee
Osprey
Lesser Goldfinch
When we reached the northern end of the riverside trail on Riverbend property we headed off northwest
across a mown field to see if there were any other kinds of finches out in the un-mown area
but about all we saw were a number of hummingbirds chasing each other around.
We stopped to sample some apples from a lone tree and a flock of Cedar Waxwings flew into it
and then went on to more trees closer to the hospital. We followed along
because there seemed to be a lot of activity there. Besides Lesser Goldfinches and Cedar Waxwings
we soon saw several Western Tanagers, Steller's Jays and a Western Wood Pewee in that group of trees.
Western Wood Pewee
Western Tanager
Most of the larger birds flew off about the same time a Merlin flew in and perched at the top of a fir tree.
Some of the group had never seen a Merlin before so that was a treat.
Jody wrote:
We saw a MERLIN. We all were puzzling about this weird brown bird
since it was facing away from us. Don got a photo where he turned his head so we could see the merlin head.
The swallows were swarming it for a while.
Some remarks by Priscilla:
MERLIN INFORMATION FROM OBOL
Folks;
I posted Don's photos of the suspected Merlin on OBOL (Oregon Birders Online)
and got 100% consensus that it was indeed a Merlin!
That bird was an excellent find!
Good Job Summer BOGS birders!!
In addition, after the experts identified Don's photos as a Merlin,
a discussion ensued on OBOL regarding the finding
of a Merlin in the Willamette Valley during the Summer months.
The discussion centered around just how far south Merlins are breeding in recent years,
including some speculation they may even breed down as far south as Eugene,
or even as Brookings. It would be a real coup for anyone to be able to document that
they breed in Oregon now.
So there's a challenge for you, BOGS members, especially if you like Riverbend birding :)
There was only the one bird seen at Riverbend, so no real reason to think it came from a nest there.
Well, I can suggest one reason, that area is next to a couple mile long and 1/2 mile wide Mckenzie River flood plain.
The land is completely undeveloped, with Riparian habitat, including that island right across
the small side channel along the trail.
Might not quite match a Merlin's feeding preferences, but the seclusion that area provides would appeal to them.
The following are the postings from OBOL regarding Merlin breeding in Western Oregon.
-----------------
Alan Contreras
I think they also breed in the Olympics now. There have been midsummer records in montane areas of e Oregon.
Pretty rare this early in August.
Alan Contreras
Eugene, Oregon
----------------------
Jeff Gilligan wrote:
Yes. The species now nests as far south as Bellingham, WA, maybe further south.
Jeff Gilligan
-----------------
Jim Danzenbaker
Hi All,
Merlins now breed as far south as the Northgate section of Seattle.
Jim Danzenbaker
Battle Ground, WA
========================
DJ Lauten and KACastelein
According to a well respected Falconer I know, along with some others observations,
there is a decent probability that Merlins nest in Oregon, possibly as far south as Bandon.
It would be a very good scoop if someone can prove this definitively......
Cheers
Dave Lauten
=========================
Mike & MerryLynn
Hello All,
We located Merlins during the Oregon Breeding Bird Atlas effort from 1995 through 1999.
We found several in the Blue Mountains above Hells Canyon in Wallowa County. In Grant County
above the middle fork of the John Day river in the Potamus Creek drainage down where all the mountain lions thrive,
and several other blue mountain sites. We have two records from Walla Walla County
during the summer months-one in late June and a second in early August.
So we believe that this falcon does nest in the Blues/wallowas just locating an active nest is a hard bit of work.
Later
Mike Denny
========================
Don's report summary continues:
We returned back along the river to the area by the parking lots south of the hospital
where we've seen a profusion of Goldfinches in the past.
We discovered that the plants that had attracted them had been cut down and no Goldfinches were seen in the area.
We did, however, see more Cedar Waxwings
We also saw a grayish Robin-sized bird with a wide black horizontal band on its upper breast and white below that.
No one could identify the bird although there were a number of different guesses.
Upon looking at the picture of it on a computer it became obvious that it was a Spotted Towhee,
albeit one with an unusually light head.
Questions about BOGS? EMAIL: priscilla@blog.priscillanhk.com
Generally if you want to know what is happening next at BOGS, or want to see the latest photos/reports,
you can find these on the newly designed HOME page:
http://priscillanhk.com/index.html
Enjoy!
Priscilla
