oregon birds · 2018-10-07 · oregon birds 26(2):149, summer 2000 . oregon birds . oregon field...

Vol. 26, No. 2, Summer 2000 The quarterly journal of Oregon field ornithology Oregon Birds

The Flesh-footed Shearwater (Puffinus carneipes) in Oregon ......................................................... 150 Greg Gillson

The value of the short note in ornithological liter-ature ................................................................. 154 Dave Irons

First Northern Mockingbird nest for Oregon ... 155 Fred Zeillemaker

An inland June record of Pomarine Jaeger ...... 157 Michael Hammar

An at-sea observation of a dark-morph Wedge-tailed Shearwater (Puffinus pacificus) in Oregon waters ............................................................... 158 Matthew Hunter

An unusual Cassin’s Finch (Carpodacus cassini) from Cabin Lake Ranger Station, Lake County, Oregon ............................................................. 160 Stephen Dowlan

Marion County’s first record for Sage Sparrow ............................................................ 162 Stephen Dowlan

An American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) with a broken maxilla from Waldport, Lincoln County, Oregon................................................ 162 Stephen Dowlan

An albinistic Oregon (Dark-eyed) Junco from West Salem, Polk County, Oregon .................. 163 Stephen Dowlan

Birding Oregon Canyon, Oregon Canyon Moun-tains, Malheur County, Oregon ........................ 164 Mike Denny

FIELD NOTES: Eastern Oregon, Fall 1999 .... 167 Paul Sullivan

FIELD NOTES: Western Oregon, Fall 1999 ... 172 Jeff Gilligan

Announcements ............................................... 174 -Joint Shorebird Festival/OFO Annual Meeting -Page numbering in Oregon Birds volume 26

CENTER: 1999 listing results; OFO bookcase and membership form; summary of 1999 OFO birding weekends; 2000 schedule for OFO birding weekends.

Northern Saw-whet Owl perched in Russian olive. Image electronically trans-formed from photo to give hand-rendered effect. See original photo on page 170.

Oregon Birds 26(2):149, Summer 2000

Oregon Birds

Oregon Field Ornithologists P.O. Box 10373, Eugene, OR 97440

www.oregonbirds.org

The mission of Oregon Field Ornithologists is to further the knowledge, education, enjoyment and science of birds and birding in Oregon

Officers and Board of Directors President Ray Korpi, Portland (2000), 503-289-1676, [email protected] Secretary Mary Anne Sohlstrom, Salem (2000), [email protected] Treasurer Reid Freeman, Eugene (2000), 541-343-7488, [email protected] Directors Vjera Arnold, Springfield (2000), [email protected]

Tom Winters, John Day (2001), [email protected] Steve Dowlan, Mehama (2001), [email protected] Dennis Vroman, Grants Pass (2001), [email protected] Committees of Oregon Field Ornithologists

Publications Ray Korpi, [email protected] Archivist Paul T. Sullivan, [email protected]

OFO Bookcase Lucy Biggs, [email protected] OFO Birding Weekends Paul T. Sullivan, 4470 SW Murray Blvd. #26, Beaverton, OR 97005, 503-646-7889,

[email protected] Oregon Bird Records Committee Secretary, Harry B. Nehls, 2736 SE 20th Ave, Portland, OR 97202, 503-233-3976,

[email protected] Oregon Birds

Editor, Graphic Design Matt Hunter, 232 NE Azalea Dr., Corvallis, OR 97330, 541-745-5199, [email protected] NOTE: This issue is Matt’s last issue as Editor. Contact OFO President Ray Korpi or see the OFO website (info above) for up-to-date information on how and where to submit material for publication in Oregon Birds.

Board of Editors Steve Dowlan, Matt Hunter, Dave Irons, Gary Ivey, Ray Korpi, Terrie Murray Submitting material to Oregon Birds Send all material to the Editor. Oregon Birds publishes articles and short notes on the

following topics as they relate to Oregon’s birds: bird status, distribution, occurrence, and life histories; bird identification and taxonomy; short notes on unusual observa-tions; birding skills and techniques; bird-finding guides for particular species; site guides to birding a particular location; biographies, interviews, history and memoria; field notes; book and media reviews; news briefs; and other similar topics of interest to the readership. Submissions are preferred in electronic form, via e-mail, or sent as four paper copies, double-spaced throughout; send photos via ground mail, or contact the Editor for specifications on scanning images. Be sure all materials are labeled with or accompanied by your name, address, phone number, and e-mail if available. See the OFO web site (url above), or contact the Editor for expanded instructions and tips on preparing material for submission to Oregon Birds.

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The Flesh-footed Shearwater (Puffinus carneipes) in Oregon Greg Gillson, 299 S. 19th Avenue, Cornelius, OR 97113, 503-992-2100, [email protected]

he Flesh-footed Shearwater is the rarest of Oregon’s annually de-

tected seabirds. First recorded in Ore-gon in 1965, there are now approxi-mately 31 records totaling 43 birds (Table 1). Most birds have been found in late summer and fall, the traditional pelagic birding season. Analysis of the records, however, indicates that peak abundance occurs later in the year and perhaps farther offshore than many pelagic birding trips. In addition, Flesh-footed Shearwaters have been rec-orded a few times at other seasons, indicating we have more to learn about the sta-tus of this species in Ore-gon. This article presents and summarizes the spatial and temporal distribution of all known records of Flesh-footed Shearwater in Ore-gon, makes some compari-sons with status and distri-bution in California and Washington, and discusses the best strategy for finding this species in Oregon wa-ters.

Flesh-footed Shearwaters breed off Australia and New Zealand in the Austral summer, laying eggs in No-vember and December (Harrison 1983). In April and May most disperse northward into the western Pacific Ocean, past Japan, to their wintering grounds. Small numbers roam July-December into the eastern Pacific Ocean and down the west coast of North America, from British Co-lumbia to California (Harrison 1983). Small numbers of birds are found off the West Coast in spring; these may be non-breeding birds, or birds that flew up the eastern Pacific from their breed-ing grounds.

Harry Nehls (pers. comm.) identified the first Flesh-footed Shearwater in Oregon. He observed a bird among a

huge flock of Sooty Shearwaters mill-ing around in the mouth of the Colum-bia River on 12 September 1965. It, or another, was seen one week later on the Washington side of the Columbia River at Cape Disappointment (Baldridge and Crowell 1966). Michael Scott recorded the next two sightings.

He and unnamed others saw one on a trip 13-16 July 1973 about 20-40 miles off Newport (Crowell and Nehls 1973). The next year he, William Elliot, Fred Ramsey, and David Manuwal made the third observation of this species—a single bird on 21 July 1974 about 25 miles off Newport (Crowell and Nehls 1974).

When the Oregon Bird Records Committee (OBRC) was formed in the late 1970s this species was considered

a rare bird and placed on the initial Review List. No one submitted reports of these first 3 observations to the OBRC, so the committee did not re-view them. Documented sightings in September 1978, 1979, and 1980, and in August, September, and October 1981 were accepted by the OBRC

(Watson 1989). Thereafter the species was removed from the Review List as “The committee felt there was sufficient evidence that the species is regular in Oregon. The relatively small number of Oregon sightings stems from limited offshore investigation” (Irons and Watson 1985). These few records, though, don’t give a thorough pic-ture of this bird’s status within the state. A complete list of known observations is given in Table 1. Most records (35 of 43) for this shearwater in Oregon have occurred between 27 Au-gust and 31 October (Figure 1). The median date for fall migration (July-October) is 29 September. Records out-side the late August through October time period are 1 bird 9 April 1995 about 30 miles off Yaquina Bay (Lil-lie 1995); 2 birds 28 April 1985 about 30 miles off Lincoln City (Evanich 1986); the two July sight-ings by Scott above; 1 bird 4 December 1983 about 19 miles off Cape Blanco

(Mattocks 1984); 1 bird 18 December 1983 near shore off Charleston (McGie 1984); and most unseasonable, 1 bird 18 February 1988 off Coos Co. (Con-treras 1998). It is regularly found earli-er in summer off both California and Washington where significantly more pelagic trips have been conducted. As in Oregon, it is most numerous off Washington in October, averaging 1.3 birds per trip (Table 2).

T

Flesh-footed Shearwater 30 October 1993 off Garibaldi, Tillamook Co. Photo/Skip Russell.


Table 1. Complete list of known Flesh-footed Shearwater sightings in Oregon.

Date(s) Location Source 12 Sep 1965 Mouth of Columbia River H. Nehls pers. comm. 13-16 Jul 1973 20-40 mi off Newport Crowell and Nehls 1973 21 Jul 1974 25 mi off Newport Crowell and Nehls 1974 30 Sep 1978 2 birds 15 mi W of Yaquina Head Watson 1989 29 Sep 1979 2 birds, 10-15 mi and 28 mi off Newport Watson 1979, 1989 20 Sep 1980 10 mi off Brookings Watson 1980, 1989 28 Aug 1981 14 mi NW of Brookings Watson 1981a, 1989 30 Sep 1981 Off Newport Watson 1981b, 1989 3 Oct 1981 Off Newport Watson 1982, 1989 17 Oct 1982 5 mi W of Charleston Evanich 1983; not accepted by OBRC 27 Aug 1983 20 mi off Newport Irons 1984 27 Aug 1983 From Cape Meares Evanich and Fix 1983 3 Sep 1983 Off Tillamook Co. Evanich and Fix 1983 4 Dec 1983 30 km (19 mi) off Cape Blanco Mattocks 1984 18 Dec 1983 Near shore off Charleston McGie 1984 22 Sep 1984 60 mi W of Newport Fix 1985a 28 Apr 1985 2 birds 30 mi off Lincoln City Fix 1985b, Evanich 1986 31 Oct 1986 From Cape Meares Fix 1987 10 Oct 1987 Off Garibaldi Heinl 1988 18 Feb 1988 Coos Co. Contreras 1998 20 Oct 1990 Off Garibaldi Fix 1991 31 Oct 1990 From Rocky Cr. Viewpoint, Lincoln Co. Fix 1991 26 Aug 1991 Off Tillamook Gilligan 1992 24 Oct 1992 2 birds 30 mi off Newport Gilligan 1993 30 Oct 1993 Off Garibaldi Gilligan 1994 22 Oct 1994 Off Garibaldi Johnson 1995 9 Apr 1995 30 mi off Yaquina Bay Lillie 1995 21 Sep 1996 3 birds 18 mi off Garibaldi Gilligan 1997 5 Oct 1996 4 birds 30 mi off Yachats, Lincoln Co. Gilligan 1997 18 Oct 1997 3 birds 30 mi off Depoe Bay G. Gillson pers. notes 12 Sep 1998 2 birds 15 mi off Newport G. Gillson pers. notes

JUL

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SE

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-31

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2

3

4

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ivid

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One-third Month Interval

Figure 1. Total number of Flesh-footed Shearwaters detected during fall months, in one-third month intervals (note the dis-play shows total individuals recorded for all time, not on a per trip or per effort basis).


The majority of sightings (23 of 31) have been of single birds mixed in with flocks of other shearwaters. The high-est number of individuals seen on a single day was 4 birds on 5 October 1996 about 32 miles offshore of Lin-coln Co. near Heceta Bank (Gilligan 1997). Three birds were seen 21 Sep-tember 1996 about 18 miles off Gari-baldi (Gilligan 1997) and 3 were ob-served 18 October 1997 about 30 miles off Depoe Bay (author’s notes).

This species has been recorded in Oregon every year since 1978, except 1989 and 1999. Numbers in Washing-ton fluctuate from year to year (Wahl 1975). There were no fall sightings off Washington in 1983 or 1993 (T. R. Wahl pers. comm.). Birds were record-ed in Oregon in both those years, how-ever. In fact, 1983 saw 5 records—more than any other year, and more than the usual 1 or 2 records. Numbers in 1999 were considered high in Wash-ington, while Oregon had no records on 7 trips. These birds were noted to be absent during years of cold water anomalies in California (Ainley 1976). In 1999, a cold water year, no Flesh-footed Shearwaters appeared off Monterey until early September when warm water appeared

within 25 miles of shore. After this it was reported regularly and commonly through the remainder of October (Shearwater Journeys data fide J. Dan-zenbaker pers. comm.). These observa-tions suggest that fluctuations in num-bers may be more local than general.

For 29 birds observed at sea where distance was recorded, birds ranged from 5-60 nautical miles from shore. The median distance of these sightings was 28 nautical miles, corresponding to a depth of about 300 meters off Newport and 500 meters off Garibal-di—the locations of the vast majority of sightings. In Washington, 98% of Flesh-footed Shearwaters were en-countered in water depths of 200-1000 meters (T. R. Wahl pers. comm.). Birds off Bodega Bay, California, were evenly distributed from 5-70 miles off shore (J. Danzenbaker pers. comm.). Of 21 birds sighted off Lincoln Co., Oregon, 13 were at 30 miles. Rather than indicating a preference for this distance, it may be that this was simply the endpoint of the trips where the boat stops and chums. These birds are rather

hard to identify while the boat is mov-ing, and are aggressively attracted to chum, thus most easily identified when the boat stops and birds are attracted to the boat.

There have been 4 sightings of this species from shore. Single birds were seen 27 August 1983 from Cape Meares (Evanich and Fix 1983), 12 September 1965 from the mouth of the Columbia River (Harry Nehls pers. comm.), 31 October 1986 from Cape Meares (Fix 1987), and 31 October 1990 from Rocky Creek Viewpoint, Lincoln Co. (Fix 1991).

A large percentage of Oregon records of Flesh-footed Shearwaters are from Lincoln and Tillamook Cos. because of the distribution of ports for making pelagic trips. There are 15 sightings from Lincoln, 9 from Tillamook, 3 from Coos (including 1 which was probably correctly identified but was not accepted by the OBRC on a split 5-4 vote), 3 from Curry, and 1 from Clatsop Cos. There are no known sightings off Lane or Douglas Cos. and no at-sea sightings from Clatsop Co.,

reflecting the fewer number of pelagic ven-tures off those counties.

It is interest-ing to note that of about 30 pelagic trips

Table 2. Washington monthly distribution: 1971-1998 (provided by T. R. Wahl)

May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

# of birds 68* 2 22 45 41 44 1 Birds per trip 1.9* 0.3 0.6 0.6 0.5 1.3 0.5

* Greatly influenced by large numbers on 2 trips in the 1970s.

Flesh-footed Shearwater 30 October 1993 off Garibaldi, Tillamook Co. Photo/Skip Russell


from Coos Bay conducted from 1979-1999 in early to mid-September as part of the Oregon Shorebird Festival, there are no records of Flesh-footed Shear-waters. During essentially this same period of time (27 August to 13 Sep-tember 1979-1999) in Lincoln and Tillamook Cos. there were 4 sightings on only 12 trips. The pelagic trips sponsored by the Shorebird Festival are attended and led by many highly skilled birders looking for this species. Birds are chummed to the boat where they remain for nearly an hour. Thus, even though this species is difficult to identify at a distance, it seems unlikely that it is being overlooked on a regular basis. Wahl (unpub. data) notes that almost 70% of all Flesh-footed Shear-water records off Washington occurred in proximity to active fishing vessels—especially shrimp trawlers. These ves-sels, operating over the outer shelf, 20-40 miles offshore, seem to define the distribution of this species off Wash-ington. The same is probably true for Oregon, as well. The Shorebird Festi-val trips are scheduled for only 6 or 7 hours, reach offshore less than 20 miles, and do not regularly meet up with commercial fishing vessels. This may best explain why no Flesh-footed Shearwaters have yet been seen on these trips.

The current authority on Oregon's birds (Gilligan et al. 1994) simply sums up the status of Flesh-footed Shearwater by saying "Rare offshore from May through October." This may prove to be true. However, at present, no May or June records exist for Ore-gon, and few records have occurred before late August. Sightings are most frequent from late September through October. While birds can be found near shore, most records have been about 30 miles off Lincoln Co. where commer-cial draggers are encountered more frequently. Commercial fishing boats are common off Tillamook Co., but charter boats there are very slow, rare-ly getting out to the commercial boats. Likewise, shorter trips off Coos Co. rarely encounter fishing vessels, thus have not recorded Flesh-footed Shear-waters. Finding these commercial draggers (not salmon or tuna trawlers) will continue to be a key requisite for

regularly encountering this rare Oregon seabird. Acknowledgments

Harry Nehls offered details on the OBRC reports. Terry R. Wahl made extensive comments on an early draft and added insights concerning this species off Washington. Jim Danzen-baker also reviewed an early draft and explained status off central California, including providing a summary of 1999 data from Shearwater Journeys' pelagic trips. Matt Hunter helped with extensive edits to the document. References Ainley, D. G. 1976. The occurrence of

seabirds in the coastal region of Cali-fornia. Western Birds 7:33-68.

Baldridge, A., and J. Crowell. 1966. Northern Pacific coast region. Ameri-can Birds 20:82.

Contreras, A. 1998. Birds of Coos Coun-ty. Cape Arago Audubon Society and Oregon Field Ornithologists. OFO Special Publication No. 12.

Crowell, J. B., Jr., and H. B. Nehls. 1973. Northern Pacific coast region. Ameri-can Birds 27:908, 910.

Crowell, J. B., Jr., and H. B. Nehls. 1974. Northern Pacific coast region. Ameri-can Birds 28:938, 941.

Evanich, J. E., Jr. 1983. Highlights from the field notes: winter 1982-1983. Or-egon Birds 9(1):3.

Evanich, J. E., Jr. 1986. Results of a spring pelagic trip. Oregon Birds 12(1):36.

Evanich, J. E., Jr., and D. Fix. 1983. Highlights from the field notes: sum-mer 1983. Oregon Birds 9(3):91.

Fix, D. 1985a. Field notes: western Ore-gon: fall 1984. Oregon Birds 11(1):3.

Fix, D. 1985b. Field notes: western Ore-gon: spring 1985. Oregon Birds 11(4):197.

Fix, D. 1987. Field notes: western Ore-gon: fall 1986. Oregon Birds 13(2):228.

Fix, D. 1991. Field notes: western Ore-gon: fall 1990. Oregon Birds 17(2):55.

Gilligan, J. 1992. Field notes: western Oregon: fall 1991. Oregon Birds 18(2):62.




Gilligan, J., M. Smith, D. Rogers, and A. Contreras. 1994. Birds of Oregon: sta-tus and distribution. Cinclus Press, McMinnvillle, Oregon.

Harrison, P. 1983. Seabirds: an identifi-cation guide. Croom Helm Ltd., London.

Heinl, S. 1988. Field notes: western Ore-gon: August-November 1987. Oregon Birds 14(3):284.

Irons, D. 1984. Highlights from the field notes: fall 1983. Oregon Birds 10(1):2.

Irons, D., and C. Watson. 1985. OBRC Report: committee actions 1978-1983. Oregon Birds 11(1):18-68.

Johnson, J. 1995. Highlights from the field notes: fall 1994. Oregon Birds 21(2):64.

Lillie, G. 1995. Field notes: western Or-egon: spring 1995. Oregon Birds 21(4):129.

Mattocks, P. W., Jr. 1984. Northern Pa-cific coast region. American Birds 38(3):349.

McGie, A. 1984. Field notes. Tattler 8(1): 9. Cape Arago Audubon Society.

Wahl, T. R. 1975. Seabirds in Washing-ton's offshore zone. Western Birds 6:117-134.

Watson, C. 1979. Highlights from the field notes: summer 1979. Oregon Birds 5(5):14.

Watson, C. 1980. Highlights from the field notes: summer 1980. Oregon Birds 6(4):189.

Watson, C. 1981a. Highlights from the field notes: late spring/fall 1981. Ore-gon Birds 7(3):114.

Watson, C. 1981b. Oregon Bird Records Committee report: April 1980-June 1981. Oregon Birds 7(2):75.

Watson, C. 1982. Oregon Bird Records Committee report: 1981. Oregon Birds 8(3):102.

Watson, C. 1989. The records of the Bird Records Committee. pp. 37-145. in Rare Birds of Oregon. O. Schmidt, Ed. Oregon Field Ornith. Spec. Pub. No. 5.


The Value of the Short Note in Ornithological Literature Dave Irons, PMB 242 65-1 Division Ave., Eugene, OR 97404, 541-607-2751

hroughout ornithological history the amateur naturalist has played a

significant role in chronicling what we know about birds today. For the most part this information has been assembled in the form of short notes contributed to various

professional and amateur journals. By definition a field ornithologist is one who studies birds in the field or in their natural environment. The 'field' is a vast, dynamic and ever-changing outdoor laboratory. For the professional or amateur field ornithol-ogist alike there is really no "control" group of data as one might expect to find in a true laboratory situation. In truth the only definitive constants are the passage of time and the certain geographic bound-aries where the study occurs. Everything else changes.

With birds, several external factors are subject to change: climate, habitat, preda-tor populations, food sources, water levels of streams, ponds and lakes and any num-ber of human impacts. Within bird popu-lations we can expect internal changes in population, distribution, seasonal abun-dance, breeding status and reproductive success. The short note is an ideal vehicle for tracking incremental changes as they occur.

In essence a "short note"' is no more than a brief description of a particular observation or set of observations. Un-like most contributions to science, short notes are most often contributed by ama-teur rather than professional observers. A short note may be no more than a para-graph or two in length and does not re-quire a scientific background to write. It describes the circumstances of an observa-tion along with historical perspective.

Individually, few short notes are earth-shattering in significance. Collectively, they paint a picture of what has occurred over time by linking scattered records into long-term trends (such as the sticks in the eagle’s nest to the left). Countless citations of such short notes can be found in the bibliographies of state bird books. Inclu-sion of short notes strengthens these works because the observations have come from more than a single source.

In the opinion of this author, the short note has lost its place in amateur ornithol-ogy in recent decades. Too often the pages of local ornithological journals are domi-nated by site guides, travelogues and re-ports of the "big shocker." Although this is entertaining fare and attracts readership, many locally significant records slip through the cracks. Many new locality

records, breeding records, early and late migrants and first winter or summer rec-ords don't even make it into the local field notes. In addition to status and distribution reports, other opportunities for short notes include odd behavior, predation, or atypi-cal nest sites.

An example of a short note might be the recent first records for Clackamas County. Despite proximity to a large population of birders, the county has been relatively under-birded until just the past few years. Within the last year, first county records of Black-chinned Sparrow, American Tree Sparrow and Black Phoebe have been found. Each of these sightings is a potential short note or perhaps a collective note entitled "Recent New Bird Records for Clackamas County."

Casual observations of Oregon Field Ornithologists' members should be pub-lished whenever appropriate. Since Ore-gon Birds is its official publication, it should be the repository of all short notes relating to Oregon. No other group or publication is better able to accumulate and maintain the collective record of field observations that occur within our state. [With that, …on the following pages are some fine examples! --Editor]

T

Golden Eagle on huge nest near Malheur NWR, May 1999. Photo/Linda Gilbert

Notes and sketches of a Gyrfalcon at Finley NWR, 7 January 1995. /Matt Hunter


First Northern Mockingbird Nest for Oregon Fred Zeillemaker, 33495 Third Fork Road, Ola, ID 83657

hile participating in the Ore-gon Breeding Bird Atlas Pro-

ject on 23 June 1999, my wife Melly and I bounced along a rough unpaved Bureau of Land Management (BLM) road passing through hilly open brush-land in northern Malheur County. Our

objective was the remote northwest edge of our assigned hexagon. The setting sun gradually rendered our for-ward visibility so poor that Melly was concerned that I would drive into a ditch or even off a cliff. Just short of our objective, I turned back toward camp at Bully Creek Reservoir. Along the way, Melly spotted a patch of sagebrush mariposa lilies (Calochortus

macrocarpus) near the road. I stopped and Melly exited our pickup to admire the flowers. For some reason I re-mained inside the vehicle and viewed the lilies through the windshield. While doing so, I sensed a distant white flash over my left shoulder off the opposite side of the road. I grabbed my binocu-lars and observed a Northern Mock-ingbird that was flying repeatedly from a bush to the ground, picking up dead twigs, and carrying certain twigs to a specific spot within a solitary bush. The bird was surely building a nest, but

we wondered why we couldn't find a second bird.

Could this be another first for Ore-gon? We could hardly believe our luck. Because it was becoming dark, I did not attempt to cross a narrow ravine across loose soil to confirm the pres-ence of a nest. We marked the site with a rock cairn at the edge of the road and reluctantly departed toward camp.

We returned to the site at first light the next morning. A lone Mockingbird was still there. After relocating the bush, I managed to find a route across the ravine to the scraggly six-foot plant. About three feet above ground level, well hidden by vegetation, I lo-cated a nest. Incredibly, while I was

briefly viewing and noting details of the nest (having been caught without my camera again), the adult bird pa-tiently perched in a nearby bush and then visited the nest after I had backed away several yards. Because there was more of the hexagon to cover that day, we departed.

The specific nest location was on BLM land along BLM Road “7361-0-00” (in T08N R42W Section 36) about 0.5 mile northwest of Bully Creek Road at a point about 7.25 miles west-northwest of the Bully Creek Reservoir

campground entrance. The road is not indicated in the DeLorme Oregon At-las and Gazetteer (it should have been on page 83 grid D-6), but is shown on the BLM's Vale District Recreation Guide.

While I was reporting our find to the appropriate Oregon birders over the next few days, Harry Nehls told me that, although the Northern Mocking-bird was long suspected of breeding in the state, he was not aware of a com-pletely documented nesting record for Oregon. He also encouraged me to follow up our initial observations if at all possible.

After referring to Baicich and Harri-son’s A Guide to the Nests, Eggs, and

W

Adult in flight near nest, 1 July 1999. Pho-to/Fred Zeillemaker

Habitat in vicinity of nest, 1 July 1999. Thin dark nest bush located just right of center. Photo/Fred Zeillemaker

Nest bush, 1 July 1999. Direction of view is 90 degrees right of landscape shot. Pho-to/Fred Zeillemaker


Nestlings of North American Birds (Second Edition), I estimated when to return to the site and possibly observe eggs in the nest. On 1 July we trekked the 100 plus miles to the site from our west-central Idaho home to see what we could find. Excitingly, both adults were present upon our arrival, one even showing a "brood patch." I thor-oughly photographed both birds as I approached the nest site. Once at the bush I also photographed the nest. It contained four eggs!

After further reference to Baicich and Harrison, we returned to the site one additional time to hopefully observe nestlings on 21 July. At least one adult was present upon our arrival, a hopeful sign. More photographs were taken of the adult(s). When I arrived at the nest, there was a nestling in it! There was also a single unhatched egg present. Photographs were taken of the nest with nestling. The one thing I departed not sure of was the identity of the nes-tling. Although no Cowbirds were ob-served in the area during our four vis-its, I couldn't help but wonder if the

dark looking nestling was indeed a Cowbird. Although the nestling’s long beak looked like a mockingbird to me, I may never be sure of the bird’s iden-tity. But it was definitely a nestling, and it was definitely in a Northern Mockingbird nest. While juvenile mockingbirds in their spotted plumage have been observed in Oregon (Gabri-elson and Jewett 1940, Birds of Ore-gon; Dennis Vroman pers. comm.), this is the first nest to be documented for Oregon.

Nest with 4 eggs 1 July 1999. Photo/Fred Zeillemaker

Nest with young, 21 July 1999. Photo/Fred Zeillemaker

Adult near nest, 1 July 1999. Photo/Fred Zeillemaker


An Inland June Record of Pomarine Jaeger Michael Hammar, 36086 McFadden Lane, Halfway, Oregon 97834, 541-742-7155, [email protected]

n the evening of 28 June 1999, my wife, Donna, found a stranded bird

on McFadden Lane, four miles north of the town of Halfway, Baker County, Ore-gon. When Donna approached, the bird flew weakly for a few feet, then allowed itself to be picked up. Donna brought it to our property at the end of McFadden Lane, and placed it in an enclosed chicken yard. The bird was able to walk around, and did not seem to have any broken ap-pendages or obvious wounds. We later gave it some scraps of beef, which it ate, but then refused more. It drank a lot of

water. We put it in a wading pool, and it swam feebly. On the morning of 30 June, we found the bird dead beside the pool. I took more photos of it, and wrapped it and placed it in our freezer. I reported the find to Harry Nehls via e-mail, and he referred me to Greg Gillson, who in turn referred me to Pepper Trail of the USFWS foren-sic lab in Ashland, where the bird is now located. The bird appeared to be a sub-adult Pomarine Jaeger. I tried to look at the undersurface of the wings to see if they were barred, but this is not an easy thing to do with a frozen bird carcass. The central tail feathers protrude an inch and a half, and had some degree of twist to them. Pepper Trail provided the following measurements: culmen = 39.2 mm; wing

chord = 36.4 cm; tarsus = 62.8 mm; cen-tral tail feathers = 16.7 cm. Matt Hunter provided the following commentary on the age of the bird, primarily based on Olsen and Larsson's "Skuas and Jaegers: A guide to the Skuas and Jaegers of the World", which I did not have: The nearly full adult plumage on head body, upper-wings, and presence of tail streamers, combined with a mix of adult (plain) and juvenile-like (barred) underwing coverts, and the relative shortness of the tail pro-jections, indicates this is probably a 3rd-summer bird. There are very few (<5) previous reports of Pomarine Jaeger in June for Oregon; unfortunately the details of these reports have been too difficult to track down to present here. This is also the 4th inland record for Oregon at any season; previous records being one 2 Sep 1985 at McNary Dam; one 10 Nov 1975 at Fern Ridge Reservoir (Tice, B, 1997, Coastal birds inland, OB 23[2]:48-52); and a dark-phased adult photographed at Summer Lake during a fall date in the 1980s (Matt Hunter pers. comm.). [A 5th record is in this issue’s field notes—Ed.] To my knowledge this is the first inland spring or summer record for Pomarine Jaeger in Oregon.

O

Deceased bird at forensics lab. Note extensive breastband, barred sides, pale bases to pri-maries, and protruding, rounded central tail feathers. Photo/Pepper Trail

Pomarine Jaeger, alive 29 June 1999, in a wading pool. Note pale base of bill, dark helmet extending well below gape, and mottley broad breast band. Photo/Michael Hammar

Deceased bird at forensics lab. Note heavily barred sides and mix of solid and barred un-derwing coverts. Photo/Pepper Trail


An at-sea Observation of a Dark-morph Wedge-tailed Shearwater (Puffinus pacificus) in Oregon Waters Matthew G. Hunter, 232 NE Azalea Dr., Corvallis, OR 97330, 541-745-5199, [email protected]

ollowing is an account of my observation of a dark phase

Wedge-tailed Shearwater (Puffinus pacificus), 2 October 1999, approxi-mately 25 miles west of Depoe Bay, Oregon (approximately 5 miles west of 44o 47.39' N, 124o 40.88' W).

I was co-leading a Bird Guide, Inc., pelagic trip on the "Kadaho," a 50-ft charter vessel from Depoe Bay. At approximately 13:22, we were headed east at approximately 8 kts, with wind at about 10-20 kts from the north. Swells were 3-8 ft, from the north, and wind waves 1-2 ft. At this time I saw a brown gull/shearwater/fulmar-like bird (in size range of Sooty Shearwater, Northern Ful-mar, or Cali-fornia Gull) coming up be-hind the boat, probably 500 yards back, slowly criss-crossing the trail behind the boat, and gain-ing on us. This is a typical approach of a Northern Fulmar, but when I put my bins (8x40 Leitz) on the bird, it was obviously a shearwater of some sort, rather than a fulmar, because of the relatively small-headed and small-billed shape, more pointed wings and slender body and it wasn't flapping. As it approached closer, continuing its "soaring" flight over the water, it would sometimes lift up somewhat quickly, then glide down slowly (much less steeply) to one side of our trail or the other. When the bird lifted up, it was horizontal, or nearly so, and typi-cally only banked left or right briefly on the descent. When it lifted up (typ-ically 8-20 ft), I could see the under-wings and underside of the bird, which were medium brown, like the up-

perparts, but perhaps slightly lighter. And when it turned to one side or the other, I could see a somewhat scaly pattern on the upperparts (wing cov-erts). Before really processing what I was seeing I continued through my steps of considering which "regular" bird it was (trying to fit in into a "regu-lar bird" box). Seeing the plain brown underwings, I thought then perhaps it was a Short-tailed Shearwater, as they often follow and approach boats more frequently than Sooties. However, Short-taileds are definitely flappers,

particularly in a low to moderate wind situation as it was at the time, and this bird's flight was more like a Buller's Shearwater or (nonflapping) gull than a Sooty or Short-tailed Shearwater, i.e. more buoyant, and not covering as much ground (or sea) in a slicing streak like Sooty or Short-tailed, and rarely flapping. Then I noticed more clearly the bowed wings, held forward and crooked, small head, thin dark bill, and a long body and tail behind. At that time I asked the skipper (over the headphones that Greg Gillson and Tim Shelmerdine and I used) to hold the boat, and (I think) told Greg and Tim that I might have a Wedge-tailed Shearwater. The whole sequence de-scribed above took about 1 minute, and by this time the bird had reached about

150 ft behind the boat. The bird turned to the south, and I turned to get more folks from up front of the boat to come back and look at the bird. A number of folks got on the bird, and some did not, or got on another bird. I watched the bird continue south, and then possibly east, and then out of sight, for another minute or two of observation at a dis-tance of 300 to 500+ yards. When the bird was headed south, it was crossing perpendicular to the swells, going with the wind, and seemed to lift up higher (perhaps to 30 ft on occasion) than

when it was coming up be-hind the boat. Characters that I heard inde-pendently de-scribed by oth-ers were slow, buoyant flight, rarely flapping, bowed/crooked

wings, long tail, all brown,

Buller's-like lifting up at horizontal or nearly horizon-tally held wings, then

gliding down (up and down, up and down on its way south), but in a slow leisurely fashion. I'm not aware that anyone observed the feet, including myself.

Most other species were eliminated through the explanation of my thought process above, and I consider the only reasonable candidates to be Sooty and Short-tailed Shearwaters, and Flesh-footed Shearwater; but I'll discuss these and others here. A medium- or dark-phase Northern Fulmar is a much chunkier bird, with a large head, thick pale bill, and rapid flapping with broad, straight, stiff wings. Sooty and Short-tailed Shearwaters have more rapid flight, stiff, narrower wings, rap-id wing-beats, in this low to moderate wind situation, and when banking as

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high up as this bird, typically have their body at a steep angle (i.e. wings stretching upward and downward) ra-ther than closer to horizontal, and have a much shorter trailing body/tail, and the Sooty typically having white un-derwing linings. Sooties and Short-tails rarely have anything that resem-bles a clean, neatly scaled appearance to the upperwing coverts, while worn, molting birds have a more mottled appearance. On both Sooty and Short-tailed Shearwater, wings are located and held relatively central on the body, versus being held forward as in Wedge-tailed. None of the above ful-mar or shearwaters show the non-flapping, lifting, rising approach from behind the boat that the Wedge-tailed did. Instead these birds have more direct flight, with regular intervals of flapping and gliding, and if "hovering" do so briefly while flapping like mad in the wind conditions present at the time. Heermann's Gull immature would be flapping almost constantly, would have a more gull-like vs. shear-water shape (larger head and body compared to wings), and would have a thicker, bicolored bill. Flesh-footed Shearwater would be a more full-winged heavier bird, more straight-winged rather than bowed and crooked, larger headed with bicolored bill, and thicker body and shorter tail, rather then slender, extended body/tail, and would have flapping and interspersed gliding and longer distance between ascents and descents. A dark jaeger, such as a Parasitic, could have dis-played a couple characters similar to this bird, namely an occasional rising up, catching a bit of air, then gliding down at a more gentle angle. Howev-er, a jaeger typically would have cov-ered much more ground (sea) than this bird did, with a fair amount of flap-ping. When jaegers engage in near-surface flight (versus alternative high flight), they do not sustain an up and down pattern, going well above the wave crests, arcing like shearwaters; rather their up and down movement typically is constrained to just getting over the wave crests; their flight being more direct, and their flapping deliber-ate. A dark Parasitic Jaeger has more pointy wings, and a chunkier rear body and tail area, versus the somewhat

rounder wings and long rear body and tail of the Wedge-tailed Shearwater. A dark Pomarine Jaeger would be no-ticably larger and chunkier, with a thick rear end, while a dark Long-tailed Jaeger much smaller and with a thin rear end, but still not as graduated to almost pointed as in Wedge-tailed Shearwater; but both jaegers with more pointy wings and more deliberate wing beats, and all dark jaegers with no-ticable pale primary shafts against the dark primaries. Also, all the "dark" phase jaegers are actually very dark, not medium brown as in this bird. Of the gadfly petrels, I have only seen Black-capped (in the Atlantic). The flight of that bird covered lots of ground (sea) in a short period of time, with noticeable flapping prior to the ascent, and high arcing with wings attaining nearly vertical. The most reported large, dark petrels in the Pa-cific—Murphy's, Great-winged, and Solander's—typically have white at the bases of the primaries, and/or some white around the face, are more chunky bodied birds, with thick bills, and supposedly have more swift, arc-ing flight (I have not seen them). I would expect buoyant flight to be pret-ty unusual for a gadfly petrel.

Having watched thousands of Soot-ies, hundreds of Short-taileds, 10-15 Flesh-footed, plenty of gulls, jaegers, etc. over the years (approximately 400+ at-sea birding hours), and having recently studied thousands of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters in Hawaii from boat and land, I am confident that the bird was a dark phase Wedge-tailed Shear-water. I was quite nervous and tenta-tive at the time of the sighting, given the rarity of the bird, and the cryptic nature of an unusual "brown" tubenose, but as can be seen above, I saw the bird well, and saw nearly everything I could have wanted to see, save the feet and toenail color.

Details in the above account and sketches included here were taken from my field notes which I took a few minutes after the sighting while on the boat. I did not consult any field guide at the time, and did not consult any references which might have biased my description during preparation of this report. This report has been submitted to the Oregon Bird Records Committee. Ore-gon’s first report of this species was a beached specimen found 26 March 1999 (OB 25[4]:96).


An Unusual Cassin’s Finch (Carpodacus cassini) from Cabin Lake Ranger Station, Lake County, Oregon Stephen Dowlan, P.O. Box 267, Mehama, Oregon 97384, [email protected]

hile returning from a very long day trip to Summer Lake on 15

September, 1998, I stopped at the Cab-in Lake hides (observation blinds) to introduce a friend to this delightful spot and to photograph some pine for-est birds. After about 45 minutes at the upper hide, a very plump-looking finch appeared which had very pure white greater coverts. There were Cassin's Finches of both sexes, a female Lazuli Bunting, and several Red Crossbills present at the time. Other striking fea-tures of the bird when it first landed were the very stark white breast and belly, sparsely marked with heavy black chevron-shaped streaks, and the very thick blue-colored bill. The bird appeared to be more robust than the nearby Cassin's Finches, and it had a different “jizz,” though the thought occurred to me that I could still be looking at an aberrant Cassin's Finch.

I was able to take 3 photos in less than 2 minutes before a Clark's Nut-cracker frightened all of the smaller birds away. I had no time to write any notes, or even think about it much be-fore the bird was gone. Neither of my two birding companions was present in the hide at the time, and neither saw anything like this bird at the other hide. It did not reappear in the next hour. I left the site uncertain of the identifica-tion of the bird, but based on gross field marks, I could not eliminate Lark Bunting (Calamospiza melanocorys) as a possibility. I had seen (and photo-graphed) my first Oregon Lark Bunting only the day before in Newport, and though this bird was different in sever-al ways from that bird, it certainly re-sembled the first-winter male Lark Bunting on plate 17 of the Byers, Cur-son and Olson Sparrow and Finch guide.

I inspected the color photos that I re-trieved from the lab on the following day, and became convinced that the bird was most likely a Lark Bunting. In the photo, the greater coverts appeared to be pure white, with the exception of one covert toward the distal end of that

course of feathers which appeared to be partly or entirely black. It appeared as if there might be black spots on the median coverts, though these were not easy to separate on the photo, as well as a line of black feathers above the greater coverts on another photo. The

folded tertials appeared to be black with pale edging. The folded primaries appeared to be black with whitish cen-ters. The primary coverts appeared to be entirely black.

The dorsum of the bird was pale grayish-brown from the forehead to the

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Aberrant Cassin’s Finch, Cabin Lake Ranger Station, Lake County, 15 September 1998. Female Lazuli Bunting in foreground. Photo/Steve Dowlan

Typical ASY female/HY male Cassin’s Finch from Cabin Lake Ranger Station one week after the aberrant bird was photographed. Red Crossbills to right and behind finch. Pho-to/Steve Dowlan


upper tail coverts. The crown was fine-ly streaked with rows of blackish-tipped feathers, and the back was simi-larly marked with bolder black streaks. Fine streaks could be seen below the chin. The chevron-shaped breast spots began high on the upper breast, but were broadly spaced, clean, and quite bold, and did not line up to form neat streaks. The flanks appeared to be mostly clean of spots. The tail ap-peared to be blackish, and whitish ter-minal spots could be seen.

The chin and forehead were free of streaks, which gave the base of the bill a narrow but rough white border. A streaky blackish malar stripe was clear-ly visible, and above this a white submoustachial stripe contained a few black spots. This submoustachial stripe appeared to be somewhat broad and diffuse below the eye. The ear coverts were the same grayish-brown as the dorsum. A clear, thin white eye-stripe extended well behind the eye, but did not join with the sub-moustachial stripe to form any kind of "auricular frame". The sides of the neck were also gray-brown and appeared to be finely streaked.

The bird was by no means a “perfect” Lark Bunting of the appropriate plumage for any age or sex for the sea-son, but neither did the combination of features make much sense for an albinistic Cassin’s Finch. I had seen a number of albinistic North American passerines by then in my long birding career, but none which displayed what could only be described as such “patchy” and local albinism. Because of the very bluish bill, the more boldly contrasting markings, and the white wing bars, and the very gray back-ground color of the dorsum, I became convinced that it was not simply an aberrant Cassin's Finch.

I attempted to support the contention that the bird was indeed a first-winter male Lark Bunting by posting photo-graphs and notes to the electronic fo-rum “ID Frontiers,” as well as “Oregon Birders On-line,” and by displaying the photos at Portland Birders Night. I also inspected skins at the Oregon State University collection, none of which closely resembled the bird in the photo. Although a few experienced birders seriously entertained the possibility that the bird was a Lark Bunting, the majority weighed in with “aberrant Cassin’s Finch.” An inspection of other photos of Cassin’s Finch from the site around the same period indicated that

some Cassin’s Finches do in fact dis-play a slightly (though less intensely colored) bluish bill, and the markings, especially around the face, were in fact much more similar to that species than to Lark Bunting. It was later suggested to me that if some or most of the great-er coverts can lack pigment, it may be logical to allow that some of the breast feathers might also lack pigment, thus eliminating a number of the streaks and

resulting in a breast which looks more sparsely marked and paler.

Though this bird is superficially similar in some features to an imma-ture male Lark Bunting in plumage for the season, it must certainly be an aber-rant hatch-year male or female Cas-sin’s Finch. Hatch-year Cassin’s Finch typically complete a first prebasic molt in September, which includes all of the median coverts and up to half of the greater coverts. Adult prebasic molt also occurs through September on the breeding grounds, and is complete. A bird of either age might appear to be in very fresh plumage at this time. I have not found any reference in (a very brief

search of) literature which describes a similarly marked Cassin’s Finch, nor do standard references con-cerning variations of albin-istic features fit the odd plumage of this bird. For that reason, I refer to it as “aberrant”, though it may indeed be “albinistic.”

The lesson from this exer-cise is that it is best to make every attempt to make the obvious identification first before attempting to identi-fy a sighting as a rare bird. Cassin’s Finch is one of the most common species in Ponderosa Pine forests, and is abundant at this site. A longer observation might have produced vocaliza-tions or behavioral clues, which, I suspect, would have confirmed the identifi-

cation as Cassin’s Finch. I am grateful for the serious consideration given to the photos and to my hypotheses by the birding community at large, and for the process by which ideas are proposed, evaluated and eventually rejected in a considerate manner by this very di-verse group of enthusiasts.

[Note: ASY=after second year, HY=hatch year—Ed.]

Typical ASY female/HY male Cassin’s Finch from Cabin Lake Ranger Station one week after the aberrant bird was photographed. Photo/Steve Dowlan


Marion County’s First Record for Sage Sparrow Stephen Dowlan, P.O. Box 267, Mehama, Oregon 97384, [email protected]

etroit Flats has produced a num-ber of first county records, per-

haps more than any other single location in Marion County. This unique point of open habitat offers an oasis for birds in northbound migration which are not adapted for feeding in coniferous forest (e.g. Irons, D. 1999. Finding the oasis. OB 25[4]:97-98). Most birders visit the site during spring migration, between mid-April and mid-June, though many sparrows congregate at the site in March, and several records for Logger-head Shrike and Say’s Phoebe have been procured in mid-March and early April. In 1998, I began to make regular visits to the site beginning in late March, hoping to expand upon the rec-ords for early migrants at the site, and continued this effort in 1999.

I had already found a Say’s Phoebe there on 18 March, and on 20 March, 2 Say’s Phoebe, a White-throated Spar-row, a Mountain Bluebird and a Brew-er’s Sparrow (erroneously reported as 30 March in OB 25[4]:112) were pre-sent, the county’s fourth record for this species, and unusually early for any-where in the state. Savannah Sparrows were numerous, though numbers for this species usually increases dramatically through mid-April. Song, Lincoln’s, Sooty Fox, Vesper, White-crowned, and Golden crowned Sparrows rounded out

the sparrow list, as well as numerous Oregon Juncos and a few Spotted Tow-hees.

I made the third visit for the month on 26 March. Intermittent snow fell, mixed with rain, though bird activity was not entirely suppressed. Sparrows were the conspicuous passerines around the flats, including 2 Vesper Sparrows and most of the other sparrows present on the previous visit. A large area at the end of

Patton Street, just to the south of Detroit School, is used to concentrate large drift logs, limbs and other debris from the reservoir, and is often used by sparrows for cover and forage. As I began to care-fully pick my way through the slick woody debris, a sparrow hopped on top of a log in plain site less than 10 feet away, and it was immediately obvious that it was a Sage Sparrow. The bird continued work its way through the debris field, searching for food and ap-pearing to be unalarmed by my pres-ence. Though I had mist nets and band-ing apparatus with me, the bird pro-ceeded into the open grassy flat where no net concealment (or shelter from wind and snow) was possible.

I am unaware of any other attempts to locate this bird, and it was apparently not present when I next visited the site on 2 April. No other Sage Sparrows were reported from western Oregon during spring 1999. This date coincides with the normal peak for spring migra-tion for this species east of the Cascades (Gilligan et al. 1994. Birds of Oregon: status and distribution). The most recent previous record for Sage Sparrow in western Oregon was on 15 February 1998 at the delta of the Sandy River, Multnomah County.

An American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) with a Broken Maxilla from Waldport, Lincoln County, Oregon Stephen Dowlan, P.O. Box 267, Mehama, Oregon 97384, [email protected]

hile visiting the parking area adjacent to the crabbing dock

at Waldport, Lincoln County, Oregon, on 18 February 2000, I noticed an American Crow with an odd-looking bill. Closer inspection revealed that the bird was missing at least half of its maxilla (upper mandible). The bird did not appear to be otherwise injured, and did not seem to be emaciated. It was with 8 to 10 other crows, and seemed to interact normally with them. When

offered popcorn, it was no less aggres-sive than the others, and appeared to have no problem picking up multiple kernels of popcorn at a time. The fairly small size of the bird relative to the other crows suggested that the bird was probably a female, though there is overlap in morphometrics between males and females of this species. The subspecies for the Pacific Coast is B. c. hesperis.

At least one other report of a crow with a broken maxilla was received (D. Boucher, pers. comm.) in response to a note on "Oregon Birders On-line," the electronic bulletin board for Oregon bird sightings. Mr. Boucher reports that he has observed a bird in Corval-lis, Oregon, for over a year that it is missing "most of its upper mandible." No photographs are available for this bird.

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Sage Sparrow at Detroit Flats, 26 March 1999. Photos/Steve Dowlan


An Albinistic Oregon (Dark-eyed) Junco from West Salem, Polk County, Oregon Stephen Dowlan, P.O. Box 267, Mehama, Oregon 97384, [email protected]

hile banding in my backyard in West Salem, Polk County,

Oregon, on 27 February 1999, I cap-tured an unusual Oregon Junco. Based on plumage characteristics, feather wear, and eye color, the bird appeared to be an after-second-year (ASY) male, and was exceptional only in the color of the plumage on the face and the bill. The bird’s face looked as if it had been dipped in bleach; pure white feathers appeared in non-equilateral patches on the lores, forehead and auriculars. The bill, though pinkish, was paler than that of other juncos captured at the loca-tion. The bird appeared to be in good condition, with no detectable deformi-ties, old injuries or other aberrant char-acteristics.

I had not seen the bird at my feeder prior to capturing it, and I neither saw it nor captured it again. This apparent example of “partial albinism” is the commonest of four widely accepted degrees of albinism proposed by Mul-ler and Hutt in 1941 and adopted by later investigators (Terres 1980). This form of albinism may be symmetrical, though it may also appear to be ex-tremely irregular and affect only an individual feather or courses of feath-ers. Patches of abnormally colored feathers may also be caused by a wide

variety of temporary conditions or events, including, physiological disor-ders, injury, and dietary and circulatory deficiencies (Gross 1965). Shock due to extreme fright has also been ob-served to result in a complete molt to white feathers (Sage 1962), and some birds become white with age, just as human hair might turn white as a result of age.

As of April, 1965, albinism had been reported in 1,847 birds of 304 North American species (Terres 1980), num-bers which have surely increased con-siderably since then. Long-term annual banding records from individual sites

suggest that the frequency of albinism of any degree in North American bird populations may be no more than one-half of one percent. American Robins and House Sparrows top the list for frequency of albinism (Gross 1965), and species with dark-colored plumage (brown or black) are subject to this condition much frequently than species with red or yellow plumage. Terres (1980) specifically refers to 3 instances of albinism for Oregon Junco, two of which were from northwest Oregon. One was a complete albino, killed (without reference to cause) on Sauvie Island (Phelps 1968). References: Gross, A. 1965. The incidence of albi-

nism in North American birds. Bird-banding, 36(2):67-71

Phelps, Jr., J.H. 1968. Oregon junco. In Life histories of North America car-dinals, grosbeaks, buntings, towhees, finches, sparrows, and allies, comp. A.C. Bent et al., ed. O. L. Austin , Jr. U.S. Nat. Mus. Bull. No. 237, pt. 2, Washington, D.C.

Sage, B.L., 1962. Albinism and mela-nism in birds. Brit. Birds, 55(6):201-202.

Terres, J.K. 1980. Audubon Encyclo-pedia of North American Birds. Al-fred A. Knopf, New York, N.Y.

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Albinistic Oregon Junco,27 February 1999, West Salem, Polk County, Oregon. Photos/Steve Dowlan


Birding Oregon Canyon, Oregon Canyon Mountains, Malheur County, Oregon Mike Denny, 323 Scenic View Dr., College Place, Washington 99324, (509) 529-0080

n 21 June 1999 we found our-selves slowly climbing up a nar-

row one-lane dirt and rock track, high onto the southern end of the Oregon Canyon Mountains just north of the Nevada state line, in Malheur County,

Oregon. This was our second season atop this isolated desert range working on the Oregon Breeding Bird Atlas Project in search of rare and little known Oregon birds. Out in front of us, as far as we could see rolled the sage interspersed with loose clumps of curl-leaf mountain mahogany. The sage filled and dominated every vista and view imprinting on the mind its scent, color and rugged, gnarled beau-ty. To the west of us, just in front of

the setting sun, rose the blue, snow-splattered Trout Creek Mountains.

With a dusky purple-blue haze filter-ing the remaining light, we arrived at our previous year’s campsite and quickly removed all the cow chips to

set up the tent. Brewers Sparrows filled the cool evening air with numerous songs, interrupted here and there by the louder Sage Thrashers. We camped at the head of Oregon Canyon, just above the west fork of Oregon Creek, beside Fifteenmile Reservoir Road at about 7600 feet elevation.

On 22 June 1999 we left our camp on foot and proceeded north to the edge of Oregon Canyon. Down below us were dense groves of mahogany and large stands of aspen interspersed with

bunchgrass, stiff sage and currants. This canyon’s topography is interesting as the side walls are very steep and the floor of the canyon is layered with flat areas with the three main forks of Ore-gon Creek cutting down through these

layers. Birding here in this isolated and outstandingly beautiful canyon is like pioneering a completely unknown area, at least it was for MerryLynn and I. The methods we used to bird these aspen and mahogany groves was to work our way slowly down from the upper edge of the stand and zigzag our way through the grove, stopping every few yards to watch and listen. Birds were abundant as we worked our way from one grove to another and on down the west fork of Oregon Creek.

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Looking directly south from the confluence of the mainstem and a small fork near the headwaters of Oregon Canyon, 22 June 1999. Pho-to/Mike Denny


At the confluence of the west and mid-dle forks we began to search the east side of the canyon down stream to the junction of the east fork, where we again birded the east wall groves. We did not go up stream into the east fork basin and its large aspen stand, so it still needs to be birded! The birds we discovered nesting in this canyon were unexpected and in some cases new to Malheur County. Visit this area and discover for yourself the birds of this spectacular canyon.

Directions: (All directions are taken from the Oregon DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteer, pages 74 & 75) From McDermitt, Humbolt County, Nevada, drive west on Disaster Peak Road (Disaster Peak is the southern terminus of the Trout Creek Mountains, and is in Nevada). Twenty kilometers west along this dirt road you will come to the Zimmerman Ranch Rd., go to the right at this fork and after 5 km you

will come to the Turner Ranch Rd.; veer left and go another 5 km. Here you must NOT turn left or south, in-stead proceed on what has now become Trout Creek Rd. Follow this northwest and then east until you come to a fork in the road. Turn east or right at this fork; you are now on Fifteenmile Res. Rd. and headed generally east. Stay on this one lane track and you will twist and climb up past Log Spring and up onto the top of the plateau of the Ore-gon Canyon Mountains. About 17 km east from the last fork in the track you will come to a T, with a single lane road running strait north from Fif-teenmile Res. Rd. This single lane rock and dirt track goes north towards the Twin Buttes, between the Whitehorse Creek drainage and the west fork of Oregon Creek. This road is not on the DeLorme Atlas. Our campsite is a quarter mile east of this T. You are now 550 feet south of the head of Ore-

gon Canyon. This entire mountain range is managed by the Vale District BLM Office in Vale, Oregon. Please let the BLM personnel know your plans if you are birding alone.

To reach this site, please consider the following: DO NOT try to drive up onto this range of mountains much before the 15th of June due to steep and deep snow drifts across the track, un-less you have consulted the Vale Dis-trict BLM road map and visited with the BLM personnel about road condi-tions. A 4X4 is required, as is plenty of food and water, a shovel, hat and sun-glasses. Be prepared for sudden weath-er changes. In June 1998 we spent 4 days up here and met no one, so if medical problems should arise you will have to depend on yourself for help, that is why a two-way radio or cell-phone would be comforting. Last but not least are your tires, a minimum of 6-ply is a must!

List of all species discovered by us in Oregon Creek Canyon as we searched for nests while working on the atlas project. Green-tailed Towhee 11 pair White-crowned Sparrow 10 pair Dusky Flycatcher 5 pair Mountain Bluebird 10 pair Warbling Vireo 15 pair Golden Eagle 1 pair Fox Sparrow 8 pair Rock Wren 4 pair Northern Flicker 9 birds House Wren 17 birds Violet-green Swallow 6 pair Brown-headed Cowbird 1 bird American Robin 5 pair Yellow Warbler 3 pair Brewer’s Sparrow 5 pair (in canyon) Red-naped Sapsucker 5 pair Common Raven 4 birds Downy Woodpecker 2 birds Yellow-rumped Warbler 7 birds-1 female was a

myrtle race

*Song Sparrow 1 bird Cassin’s Finch 10 birds Black-throated Gray Warbler 2 birds European Starling 1 pair Western Tanager 5 pair Mountain Chickadee 1 bird Chipping Sparrow 1 bird Bushtit 1 pair Hermit Thrush 1 bird Northern Goshawk 2 birds Swainson’s Thrush 2 birds Gray-headed Junco 5 pair, 1 chick Orange-crowned Warbler 2 birds American Kestrel 1 bird Red-tailed Hawk 2 birds *Rufous Hummingbird 1 bird Nashville Warbler

1 bird

*=Nesting evidence was found in the canyon for all but these two species on 22 June 1999.

1999 Oregon Listing Results Jamie Simmons, 1430 NW Terracegreen Place, Corvallis, OR 97330, [email protected] A big thanks to Jim Johnson for his past efforts in compiling the listing results. And thanks to those of you who sent me your 1999 results. Notable milestones of 1999:

• The latest to top 400 for their Oregon life list was Tom Mickel. • The 200 county life list barrier was broken in Gilliam County by both Craig and Judy Corder, leaving only Josephine

with no one at or above 200. • County year list records were shattered in Curry (Don Munson), Linn (Roy Gerig) and Wallowa (Frank Conley)

Counties. Tim Rodenkirk tied his Coos County record of 1998. Previous county year list records were also exceeded in Linn County by Mark Nikas and in Wallowa County by Sue Conley.

Four category titles have been altered slightly as a result of the suggestions of an astute participant. Changed titles now better describe the categories and make all titles more consistent. Totals marked with an asterisk (*) are previously submitted totals as an updated total was not received this year. Only totals of 390 or more for the Oregon life list are carried through without an updated list. (Note: The state automatic carryover threshold will change from 390 to 400 for the year 2000.) County totals are carried through from year to year only if they are still leading in a county. Names marked with (‡) symbol honor deceased birders. Oregon Life List (300) 461 Jeff Gilligan 444* Tom Crabtree 431* Jim Johnson 427 Gerard Lillie 426* Richard Smith 422* Sheran Wright 419* Owen Schmidt 416 Alan Contreras 414* Donna Lusthoff 411 Paul Sullivan 408 Skip Russell 408 Tim Janzen 406* Linda Weiland 404 Tom Mickel 402 Craig Miller 402 Jim Carlson 401* Steve Summers 400* Dave Irons 397 Gerald B. Smith 397 Alan McGie 397* Patrick Muller 396* Rick Krabbe 396* David Bailey 395* Larry Thornburgh 394 Paul Sherrell 394 Joe Evanich (‡) 393 Allison Mickel 393* Phillip Pickering 391 Hendrik Herlyn 390 Tim Shelmerdine 388 Barbara Combs 387 Walt Yungen 387 Jan Krabbe (‡) 386 Bill Tice 386 Tom Love 386 Stephen Dowlan 386 David Copeland 383 Craig Corder 382 Kamal Islam 381 Mike Patterson

375 John Lundsten 375 Martha Sawyer (‡) 374 Reid Freeman 372 Ron Maertz 371 Greg Gillson 368 Alice Parker 367 Merry Lynn & Mike

Denny 364 Ulo Kiigemagi 360 Elzy Eltzroth 359 Roger Robb 359 Diane Pettey 359 Dan Heyerly 359 Elsie Eltzroth 359 Judy Corder 358 Jamie Simmons 355 Marion Corder (‡) 354 Sylvia Maulding 352 Tim Rodenkirk 348 Paul Osburn 348 Mark Nikas 347 Don Munson 346 Ray Korpi 342 Henry Gilmore 340 Stuart Sparkman 340 Jim Rogers 339 Karen Sparkman 331 Fred Zeillemaker 330 Karen Theodore 329 Lewis Rems 327 Darlene Philpott 326 Paula Vanderheul 321 Todd Thornton 320 Michael Nomina 318 Fred Parker (‡) 316 Jeff Harding 315 Marcia F. Cutler 310 Karl Fairchild 308 James L. Davis 304 Elmer Specht 303 Marilyn Miller 300 Anne Esche

1999 Oregon Year List (250) 330 Tim Rodenkirk 327 Paul Sullivan 325 Skip Russell 323 Darlene Philpott 306 Reid Freeman 291 Walt Yungen 291 Tim Shelmerdine 291 Craig Miller 291 Sylvia Maulding 291 Ulo Kiigemagi 290 Paul Sherrell 289 Diane Pettey 289 Marilyn Miller 286 Tim Janzen 285 Greg Gillson 284 Dan Heyerly 280 Todd Thornton 279 Anne Esche 276 Ray Korpi 274 Mark Nikas 265 Roger Robb 265 Mike Patterson 263 Alice Parker 262 Michael Nomina 259 Henry Gilmore 259 Don DeWitt 258 Paula Vanderheul 254 Hendrik Herlyn 251 Merry Lynn & Mike

Denny 251 Marcia F. Cutler Top Ten Oregon Year Lists 355 Phillip Pickering

(1986) 351 Tim Janzen (1996) 345 Donna Lusthoff (1987) 345 Skip Russell (1992)

344 Jeff Gilligan (1981) 339 Linda Weiland (1985) 338 Stephen Dowlan(1996) 336 Skip Russell (1994) 334 Richard Smith (1981) 333 Jim Johnson (1989) County Life Lists (100) Baker 231* Ann Ward 220 Craig Corder 203 Paul Sullivan 153 Merry Lynn & Mike

Denny 141 Judy Corder 137 Walt Yungen 127 David Copeland 113 Jamie Simmons 112 Wayne Weber 109 Barbara Combs Benton 229* Anthony Floyd 228 Jan Krabbe (‡) 224 Hendrik Herlyn 223 Elzy Eltzroth 219 Elsie Eltzroth 217 Jamie Simmons 215 Alan McGie 204 Ulo Kiigemagi 194 David Copeland 193 Roy Gerig 192 Fred Zeillemaker 187 Paula Vanderheul 178 Greg Gillson 160 Craig Corder 160 Barbara Combs 158 Walt Yungen 157 Roger Robb 156 Paul Sullivan 151 Karen Sparkman

146 Mark Nikas 146 Stephen Dowlan 145 Stuart Sparkman 144 Mike Patterson 144 Sylvia Maulding 142 Jim Carlson 141 Jeff Harding 139 Tim Shelmerdine 134 Judy Corder 114 Dan Heyerly 113 Reid Freeman 106 Paul Sherrell 105 Tom Love Clackamas 236* Elmer Specht 233 Tim Janzen 202 Stephen Dowlan 200 Tim Shelmerdine 198 Darlene Philpott 181 Paul Sullivan 180 David Copeland 146 Walt Yungen 142 Tom Love 133 Skip Russell 117 Barbara Combs 101 Greg Gillson 100 Craig Corder Clatsop 301 Mike Patterson 249 Todd Thornton 230 Henry Gilmore 221 Paul Sullivan 215 David Copeland 209 Skip Russell 209 Greg Gillson 207 Stephen H. Warner 207 Tim Shelmerdine 190 Rick Sanders 187 Tom Love 183 Walt Yungen

171 Craig Corder 166 Barbara Combs 151 Wayne Weber 144 Hendrik Herlyn 140 Craig Miller 137 Jim Carlson 125 Fred Zeillemaker 123 Stuart Sparkman 120 Ray Korpi 119 Ulo Kiigemagi 118 Karen Sparkman 114 Judy Corder 113 Don Munson 107 Jan Krabbe (‡) 101 Reid Freeman 101 Elzy Eltzroth 101 Elsie Eltzroth 100 Roger Robb Columbia 214* Phillip Pickering 167 Skip Russell 162 Paul Sullivan 159 David Copeland 151 Ray Korpi 144 Tim Shelmerdine 130 Greg Gillson 128 Tom Love 117 Craig Corder 116 Walt Yungen 111 Henry Gilmore 108 Barbara Combs 103 Mike Patterson 102 Ulo Kiigemagi Coos 301* Larry Thornburgh 290 Alan McGie 279 Tim Rodenkirk 247 Alan Contreras 245 Paul Sullivan 232 Don Munson 231 Mike Wihler 228 Hendrik Herlyn 227 Jim Rogers 227 Alice Parker 220 David Copeland 211 Walt Yungen 206 Ulo Kiigemagi 203 Ron Maertz 196 Roger Robb 195 Skip Russell 194 Jim Carlson 193 Jan Krabbe (‡) 190 Colin Dillingham 184 Barbara Combs 180 Paul Sherrell 177 Stephen Dowlan 174 Sylvia Maulding 170 Dan Heyerly 165 Craig Miller 162 Greg Gillson 161 Mike Patterson 159 Merry Lynn & Mike

Denny 151 Tim Shelmerdine 149 Elzy Eltzroth 148 Elsie Eltzroth 146 Craig Corder 144 Mark Nikas 141 Jamie Simmons 139 Reid Freeman 135 Judy Corder 123 Stuart Sparkman

106 Karen Sparkman 102 Wayne Weber 102 Anne Esche Crook 241 Lewis Rems 224 Charles R. Gates 216 Craig Miller 190 Paul Sullivan 181 Karen Theodore 154 John Lundsten 153 Walt Yungen 149 David Copeland 134 Craig Corder 123 Roger Robb 121 Ulo Kiigemagi 121 Barbara Combs 118 Hendrik Herlyn 117 Judy Corder 115 Greg Gillson 114 Jan Krabbe (‡) 104 Tim Shelmerdine 100 Tom Love Curry 309 Jim Rogers 307 Colin Dillingham 294 Don Munson 256 Buzz Stewart 225 Ken Goldwater 220 Tim Rodenkirk 214 Paul Sullivan 206 Jim Carlson 162 Alice Parker 159 David Copeland 152 Skip Russell 151 Walt Yungen 141 Jan Krabbe (‡) 140 Barbara Combs 139 Merry Lynn & Mike

Denny 128 Roger Robb 127 Jamie Simmons 125 Craig Corder 124 Tim Shelmerdine 120 Alan McGie 118 Ron Maertz 102 Judy Corder 101 Mike Patterson Deschutes 288* Tom Crabtree 267 Craig Miller 248 Lewis Rems 225 Karen Theodore 225 Paul Sullivan 199 Skip Russell 189 Greg Gillson 184 Ulo Kiigemagi 179 Walt Yungen 173 Jan Krabbe (‡) 172 Jim Carlson 170 Roger Robb 168 David Copeland 166 Alice Parker 165 Hendrik Herlyn 150 Tom Love 148 Barbara Combs 147 Alan McGie 146 Marilyn Miller 145 Craig Corder 143 Tim Shelmerdine 142 Ray Korpi 141 Stephen Dowlan

138 Marion Corder (‡) 136 Jamie Simmons 133 Paul Sherrell 130 Stuart Sparkman 126 Henry Gilmore 125 Sylvia Maulding 124 Karen Sparkman 121 Judy Corder 120 Fred Zeillemaker 119 Don Munson 116 Elsie Eltzroth 116 Elzy Eltzroth 115 Mike Patterson 115 Dan Heyerly 110 Reid Freeman Douglas 295 Ron Maertz 292 Martha Sawyer (‡) 283 Alice Parker 238 Fred Parker (‡) 220 Paul Sullivan 193 Don Munson 165 Jim Carlson 163 Barbara Combs 160 Walt Yungen 156 Paul Sherrell 152 Stephen Dowlan 151 David Copeland 147 Tim Shelmerdine 142 Roger Robb 140 Ulo Kiigemagi 132 Mike Patterson 127 Reid Freeman 123 Hendrik Herlyn 121 Sylvia Maulding 115 Skip Russell 112 Craig Miller 101 Craig Corder Gilliam 202 Craig Corder 201 Judy Corder 161 Roy Gerig 157 Paul Sullivan 151 Marion Corder (‡) 140 David Copeland 133 Tim Shelmerdine 115 Walt Yungen 104 Barbara Combs 103 Ray Korpi Grant 208 Paul Sullivan 186 Merry Lynn & Mike

Denny 172 Walt Yungen 149 John Lundsten 145 Jan Krabbe (‡) 139 Craig Corder 131 Ulo Kiigemagi 128 David Copeland 124 Tim Shelmerdine 122 Barbara Combs 117 Jamie Simmons 116 Greg Gillson 115 Hendrik Herlyn 113 Paul Sherrell 112 Wayne Weber 112 Alan McGie 112 Roy Gerig 112 Jim Carlson 109 Tom Love 108 Judy Corder

Harney 291* Jeff Gilligan 262 Craig Miller 260 Jim Carlson 255 Merry Lynn & Mike

Denny 250 Paul Sullivan 246 Hendrik Herlyn 245 Alan McGie 232 Craig Corder 226 Ulo Kiigemagi 220 Judy Corder 219 Barbara Combs 218 Greg Gillson 217 Alice Parker 216 Skip Russell 216 David Copeland 213 Tom Love 211 Jan Krabbe (‡) 210 Paul Sherrell 210 Stephen Dowlan 209 Walt Yungen 205 Karen Theodore 201 Fred Zeillemaker 199 Henry Gilmore 198 Jamie Simmons 197 Roy Gerig 187 Tim Shelmerdine 182 Ron Maertz 181 Mark Nikas 181 Stuart Sparkman 178 Mike Patterson 177 Reid Freeman 176 Karen Sparkman 173 Elzy Eltzroth 173 Elsie Eltzroth 171 Sylvia Maulding 168 Vjera Arnold 166 Paula Vanderheul 161 Ray Korpi 153 Marilyn Miller 148 Dan Heyerly 147 Wayne Weber 145 Roger Robb 143 Rick Maulding 138 Todd Thornton 133 Jeff Harding 121 Don Munson Hood River 221* David Anderson 160 Paul Sullivan 152 David Copeland 147 Tim Shelmerdine 130 Walt Yungen 125 Barbara Combs 116 Craig Corder 115 Tom Love 109 Skip Russell 101 Ron Maertz 101 Ulo Kiigemagi Jackson 281 Marjorie H. Moore 193 Paul Sullivan 191 Don Munson 180 Paul Sherrell 173 David Copeland 163 Colin Dillingham 160 Barbara Combs 149 Jan Krabbe (‡) 148 Walt Yungen 145 Roger Robb

140 Skip Russell 132 Ulo Kiigemagi 127 Alice Parker 124 Sylvia Maulding 124 Tom Love 119 Elsie Eltzroth 119 Elzy Eltzroth 114 Stuart Sparkman 114 Tim Shelmerdine 114 Craig Corder 114 Jim Carlson 111 Henry Gilmore 110 Stephen Dowlan 107 Dan Heyerly 100 Judy Corder Jefferson 243 Lewis Rems 215 Craig Miller 204 Paul Sullivan 175 Roy Gerig 172 John Lundsten 168 David Copeland 143 Walt Yungen 134 Stephen Dowlan 128 Skip Russell 127 Karen Theodore 122 Tim Shelmerdine 112 Barbara Combs 109 Tom Love 103 Greg Gillson 102 Craig Corder Josephine 198 Dennis Vroman 198* Steve Summers 192 Don Munson 167 Paul Sullivan 146 Colin Dillingham 136 Walt Yungen 115 David Copeland 108 Tim Shelmerdine 106 Barbara Combs Klamath 291* Steve Summers 275 Kevin Spencer 256 Jim Carlson 248 Frank Mayer 242 Paul Sullivan 220 Paul Sherrell 207 Don Munson 204 David Copeland 201 Ron Maertz 199 Ulo Kiigemagi 195 Roger Robb 190 Walt Yungen 189 Merry Lynn & Mike

Denny 188 Jan Krabbe (‡) 188 Barbara Combs 176 Skip Russell 175 Hendrik Herlyn 168 Ray Korpi 167 Alan McGie 167 Dan Heyerly 166 Craig Corder 162 Greg Gillson 160 Tim Shelmerdine 158 Marion Corder(‡) 157 Karen Sparkman 156 Lewis Rems 155 Stuart Sparkman 149 Craig Miller

143 Alice Parker 139 Mike Patterson 137 John Lundsten 135 Jim Rogers 131 Wayne Weber 126 Jamie Simmons 121 Fred Zeillemaker 118 Sylvia Maulding 118 Tom Love 114 Henry Gilmore 109 Michael Nomina 108 Reid Freeman 105 Judy Corder Lake 278 Craig Miller 238 Karen Theodore 234 Roy Gerig 230 Paul Sullivan 229 Lewis Rems 226 Jim Carlson 222 Marilyn Miller 211 David Copeland 204 John Lundsten 191 Ulo Kiigemagi 186 Paul Sherrell 182 Tim Rodenkirk 181 Skip Russell 177 Walt Yungen 174 Tim Shelmerdine 164 Greg Gillson 160 Barbara Combs 157 Alan McGie 157 Craig Corder 156 Judy Corder 154 Don Munson 150 Jan Krabbe (‡) 150 Henry Gilmore 149 Sylvia Maulding 148 Tom Love 148 Merry Lynn & Mike

Denny 147 Fred Zeillemaker 146 Dan Heyerly 144 Jamie Simmons 143 Hendrik Herlyn 143 Stephen Dowlan 140 Ray Korpi 139 Ron Maertz 134 Elzy Eltzroth 132 Roger Robb 131 Vjera Arnold 130 Reid Freeman 114 Karen Sparkman 104 Stuart Sparkman Lane 333 Tom Mickel 326 Paul Sherrell 325 Jim Carlson 318 Allison Mickel 305 Barbara Combs 303 Alan Contreras 278 Roger Robb 278 Dan Heyerly 263 Reid Freeman 261 Sylvia Maulding 256 Mark Nikas 253 Don DeWitt 252 Jan Krabbe (‡) 248 Mike Patterson 241 Diane Pettey 240 Hendrik Herlyn 235 Paul Sullivan

230 Ulo Kiigemagi 226 Walt Yungen 211 Vjera Arnold 204 Rick Maulding 196 Anne Esche 192 David Copeland 191 Ron Maertz 189 Craig Miller 181 Elzy Eltzroth 181 Elsie Eltzroth 177 Tim Shelmerdine 177 Alice Parker 174 Stephen Dowlan 173 Skip Russell 173 Greg Gillson 170 Don Munson 155 Karen Sparkman 152 Marilyn Miller 140 Jamie Simmons 134 Stuart Sparkman 123 Tom Love 122 Michael Nomina 113 Craig Corder 109 Alan McGie 100 Jim Rogers 100 Henry Gilmore Note from Editor: To the right is a semi-historical artifact from the collection of the Editor. It is page 13 out of “Field Checklists of the Birds of Oregon,” prepared by Steve Gordon in 1981, as OFO Special Publ. No. 2, which has been out of print for a number of years. Three of these 12-column checklists (total 36 counties) were used with great fervor back when the Editor kept track of county tallies. Ahhh, what memories. Bring back the 12-column checklists! Lincoln 252 Jan Krabbe (‡) 244 Paul Sullivan 242 Jamie Simmons 242 Greg Gillson 240 David Copeland 238 Roy Gerig 236 Walt Yungen 235 Hendrik Herlyn 235 Stephen Dowlan 222 Ulo Kiigemagi 220 Skip Russell 218 Barbara Combs 215 Tim Shelmerdine 209 Jim Carlson 200 John Lundsten 193 Tom Love 182 Elsie Eltzroth 182 Elzy Eltzroth 181 Roger Robb 177 Mark Nikas

177 Craig Miller 176 Don Munson 176 Merry Lynn & Mike

Denny 175 Sylvia Maulding 173 Craig Corder 165 Karen Sparkman 164 Alan McGie 157 Stuart Sparkman 156 Ray Korpi 148 Reid Freeman 144 Mike Patterson 141 Paul Sherrell 140 Dan Heyerly 134 Henry Gilmore 129 Fred Zeillemaker 123 Judy Corder 119 Ron Maertz 117 Wayne Weber 113 Michael Nomina

Linn 216 Roy Gerig 207 Mark Nikas 207 Jeff Harding 196 Greg Gillson 179 David Copeland 171 Jan Krabbe (‡) 170 Ulo Kiigemagi 170 Stephen Dowlan 169 Hendrik Herlyn 168 Barbara Combs 166 Paula Vanderheul 162 Jamie Simmons 161 Roger Robb 160 Walt Yungen 160 Paul Sullivan 152 Sylvia Maulding 152 Dan Heyerly 144 Alan McGie

143 Elzy Eltzroth 141 Karen Sparkman 138 Elsie Eltzroth 136 Craig Corder 131 Skip Russell 125 Tim Shelmerdine 122 Paul Sherrell 121 Stuart Sparkman 120 Judy Corder 117 Jim Carlson 110 Tom Love 105 Reid Freeman Malheur 230* John Gatchet 216 Craig Corder 210 Paul Sullivan 206 Marion Corder (‡) 185 Merry Lynn & Mike

Denny

164 Alan Contreras 132 David Copeland 130 Hendrik Herlyn 129 Jamie Simmons 126 Fred Zeillemaker 124 Barbara Combs 122 Paul Sherrell 119 Walt Yungen 118 Reid Freeman 115 Wayne Weber 111 Judy Corder Marion 261 John Lundsten 248 Stephen Dowlan 247 David Copeland 230 Walt Yungen 218 Paul Sullivan 215 Roy Gerig 212 Stuart Sparkman

208 Karen Sparkman 173 Tim Shelmerdine 149 Barbara Combs 145 Greg Gillson 144 Skip Russell 137 Roger Robb 134 Jamie Simmons 129 Sylvia Maulding 125 Tom Love 119 Reid Freeman 118 Alan McGie 118 Ulo Kiigemagi 116 Mike Patterson 114 Hendrik Herlyn 112 Craig Corder 107 Don Munson 102 Judy Corder Morrow 238 Craig Corder 219 Judy Corder 219 Marion Corder (‡) 205 Paul Sullivan 201 Jamie Simmons 160 Merry Lynn & Mike

Denny 135 Karen Sparkman 135 David Copeland 120 Walt Yungen 116 Tim Shelmerdine 108 Barbara Combs 106 Stuart Sparkman Multnomah 244* Jeff Gilligan 221 Tom Love 207 Paul Osburn 202 Skip Russell 187 Ray Korpi 184 Paul Sullivan 172 Tim Shelmerdine 161 Michael Nomina 160 Greg Gillson 156 Henry Gilmore 153 Mike Patterson 153 David Copeland 149 Stephen Dowlan 141 Craig Corder 138 Walt Yungen 119 Ulo Kiigemagi 118 Reid Freeman 117 Barbara Combs 106 Fred Zeillemaker 106 Wayne Weber 106 Marion Corder (‡) 106 Judy Corder 104 Karen Sparkman 102 Hendrik Herlyn Polk 259 Roy Gerig 252 Bill Tice 226 Walt Yungen 220 Stephen Dowlan 212 David Copeland 190 John Lundsten 177 Karen Sparkman 175 Paul Sullivan 163 Stuart Sparkman 149 Alan McGie 146 Barbara Combs 145 Tom Love 138 Tim Shelmerdine 137 Roger Robb

131 Jan Krabbe (‡) 129 Hendrik Herlyn 127 Fred Zeillemaker 126 Greg Gillson 125 Jamie Simmons 125 Skip Russell 119 Sylvia Maulding 110 Ulo Kiigemagi 106 Mike Patterson 103 Elzy Eltzroth 100 Craig Corder 100 Judy Corder Sherman 201 Lewis Rems 178 Roy Gerig 167 Paul Sullivan 164 Craig Miller 144 David Copeland 135 Craig Corder 131 Skip Russell 129 Walt Yungen 129 Tim Shelmerdine 121 Judy Corder 100 Barbara Combs Tillamook 279* Jeff Gilligan 247 Jan Krabbe (‡) 232 Paul Sullivan 231 Tim Shelmerdine 229 Skip Russell 227 Greg Gillson 227 Roy Gerig 225 Walt Yungen 221 David Copeland 218 Tom Love 216 Mike Patterson 208 John Lundsten 208 Stephen Dowlan 202 Barbara Combs 192 Craig Corder 191 Craig Miller 185 Ulo Kiigemagi 185 Hendrik Herlyn 168 Ray Korpi 167 Stuart Sparkman 167 Karen Sparkman 158 Elzy Eltzroth 158 Elsie Eltzroth 157 Todd Thornton 157 Don Munson 153 Judy Corder 147 Jim Carlson 146 Marion Corder (‡) 143 Henry Gilmore 140 Alan McGie 139 Wayne Weber 137 Jeff Harding 136 Jamie Simmons 136 Roger Robb 134 Alice Parker 120 Merry Lynn & Mike

Denny 114 Fred Zeillemaker Umatilla 273 Craig Corder 257 Marion Corder (‡) 255 Judy Corder

253 Merry Lynn & Mike Denny

225 Paul Sullivan 166 Skip Russell 166 Jan Krabbe (‡) 162 Jamie Simmons 149 Jim Carlson 133 David Copeland 125 Walt Yungen 121 Henry Gilmore 116 Tim Shelmerdine 108 Wayne Weber 106 Alice Parker 106 Barbara Combs Union 254 Joe Evanich (‡) 214 Paul Sullivan 204 Craig Corder 164 Marion Corder (‡) 164 Judy Corder 161 Skip Russell 154 David Copeland 153 Jan Krabbe (‡) 149 Walt Yungen 143 Barbara Combs 141 Henry Gilmore 138 Merry Lynn & Mike

Denny 137 Paul Sherrell 132 Ulo Kiigemagi 130 Tim Shelmerdine 130 Tom Love 127 Wayne Weber 127 Jim Rogers 127 Jim Carlson 126 Hendrik Herlyn 116 Jamie Simmons 109 Karen Sparkman 109 Elsie Eltzroth 109 Elzy Eltzroth 107 Stuart Sparkman 106 Alice Parker 101 Ray Korpi 100 Colin Dillingham Wallowa 267 Frank Conley 251 Sue Conley 227 Paul Sullivan 210 Craig Corder 208 Judy Corder 172 Colin Dillingham 168 Merry Lynn & Mike

Denny 157 David Copeland 153 Marion Corder (‡) 131 Walt Yungen 128 Jamie Simmons 111 Wayne Weber 110 Barbara Combs 104 Hendrik Herlyn 102 Jim Carlson 101 Henry Gilmore Wasco 254* Donna Lusthoff 219 David Copeland 214 Craig Corder 207 Marion Corder (‡) 188 Paul Sullivan

166 Walt Yungen 166 Roy Gerig 144 Tim Shelmerdine 143 Skip Russell 136 Judy Corder 116 Barbara Combs 112 Henry Gilmore 107 Tom Love Washington 234 Joe Evanich (‡) 209 Greg Gillson 196 Paul Sullivan 193 Skip Russell 193 Tom Love 167 David Copeland 157 Ray Korpi 154 Walt Yungen 132 Craig Corder 131 Tim Shelmerdine 130 Todd Thornton 118 Michael Nomina 116 Henry Gilmore 109 Barbara Combs 101 Mike Patterson Wheeler 216* Donna Lusthoff 211 Lewis Rems 202 Paul Sullivan 200 Judy Corder 200 Craig Corder 171 Craig Miller 169 David Copeland 122 Walt Yungen 106 Karen Theodore 103 Barbara Combs Yamhill 213 Tom Love 188 Roy Gerig 187 David Copeland 170 Walt Yungen 164 Paul Sullivan 133 Greg Gillson 129 Stephen Dowlan 119 Skip Russell 114 Barbara Combs 113 Tim Shelmerdine 101 Judy Corder 101 Craig Corder 1999 County Year Lists (150) Baker Benton 152 Marcia F. Cutler Clackamas 179 Elmer Specht Clatsop 229 Todd Thornton 221 Mike Patterson 183 Stephen H. Warner Coos 259 Tim Rodenkirk 185 Colin Dillingham Crook 209 Lewis Rems 204 Charles R. Gates

Curry 269 Don Munson 217 Colin Dillingham 210 Tim Rodenkirk 183 Buzz Stewart Deschutes Douglas 195 Ron Maertz 191 Alice Parker Gilliam Harney 159 Craig Miller Jackson Jefferson 164 John Lundsten Josephine Klamath 234 Frank Mayer 230 Kevin Spencer Lake 203 Craig Miller 174 Tim Rodenkirk Lane 231 Paul Sherrell 222 Don DeWitt 211 Roger Robb 202 Sylvia Maulding 199 Dan Heyerly 191 Reid Freeman 184 Diane Pettey 178 Mark Nikas 154 Vjera Arnold Lincoln Linn 200 Roy Gerig 194 Mark Nikas 174 Jeff Harding 151 Greg Gillson Malheur Marion Morrow Multnomah 151 Ray Korpi Polk Sherman Tillamook Wallowa 217 Frank Conley 215 Sue Conley Wasco Washington Wheeler Yamhill All-time County Year List Records Baker 204 Craig Corder (1988) Benton 192 Anthony Floyd (1997) Clackamas 209 Tim Janzen (1995) Clatsop 232 Mike Patterson (1990) Columbia 196 Phillip Pickering

(1988) Coos 259 Tim Rodenkirk (1998

& 1999)

Crook 210 Lewis Rems (1998) Curry 269 Don Munson (1999) Deschutes 219 Dean Hale (1998) Douglas 247 Martha Sawyer (‡)

(1983) Gilliam 183 Craig Corder & Judy

Stevens (1994) Grant 185 Paul Sullivan (1988) Harney 237 Phillip Pickering

(1986) Hood River 170 David Anderson (1989) Jackson 233 Dick Cronberg (1992) Jefferson 209 Lewis Rems (1992) Josephine 175 Dick Cronberg (1992) Klamath 236 Kevin Spencer (1996) Lake 241 Steve Summers (1991) Lane 257 Steve Heinl (1985) Lincoln 241 Phillip Pickering

(1986) Linn 200 Roy Gerig (1999) Malheur 224 John Gatchet (1995) Marion 220 John Lundsten (1995) Morrow 224 Craig Corder (1990) Multnomah 200 Joe Evanich (‡) (1988) Polk 209 Bill Tice (1998) Sherman 181 Phillip Pickering

(1989)/Lewis Rems (1997)

Tillamook 234 Phillip Pickering

(1985) Umatilla 242 Craig Corder & Judy

Stevens (1992) Union 207 Joe Evanich (‡) (1983) Wallowa 217 Frank Conley (1999) Wasco 211 Donna Lusthoff (1992) Washington 188 John F. Gatchet (1984) Wheeler 196 Craig Corder & Judy

Stevens (1996) Yamhill 172 Floyd Schrock(1998)

OFO Bookcase For OB 26(2), Summer 2000 Oregon Field Ornithologists’ Publications: Special Publication No. 1 $3.00

Bibliography of Oregon Ornithology: An Updating for the Years 1971-1977, With a Revised Cross-Referenced List of the Birds of Oregon. 1980. Mark Egger.

$_____

Special Publication No. 3 $3.00 Index to Oregon Bird Reports in Audubon Field Notes and American Birds 1947-1981. 1982. Clarice Watson.

$_____

Special Publication No. 4 $4.00 A Bibliography of Bird Identification Articles in Five Journals, with Cross-References to a List of Over 580 Species. 1987. Clarice Watson.

$_____

Special Publication No. 6 $5.00 Birds of Northeast Oregon: An Annotated Checklist for Union and Wallowa Counties. Second Edition (Rev’d). 1992. Joe Evanich.

$_____

Special Publication No. 8 $12.00 Birds of Malheur County, Oregon. 1996. Alan Contreras and Robert R. Kindschy, illustrated by Ramiel Papish.

$_____

Special Publication No. 10 $5.50 Cumulative Index to Oregon Birds, Vol. 1-22, 1998. Alan Contreras.

$_____

Special Publication No. 11 $7.50 A Guide to Birds and other Wildlife of the Columbia River Estuary. 1998. Mike Patterson.

$_____

Special Publication No. 12 $16.00 Birds of Coos County, Oregon: status and distribution. 1998. Alan Contreras.

$_____

Special Publication No. 13 $6.00 A Pocket Guide to Oregon Birds. Second Edition, 1999. Alan Contreras.

$_____

Other Publications: Northwest Birds in Winter $17.95

Alan Contreras. Oregon State University Press, 1997, 264 pp., softcover.

$_____

Annotated Bibliography of Oregon Bird Literature

Published Before 1935 $45.00 George A. Jobanek. Oregon State University Press, 1997, 496 pp., hardcover.

$_____

Birds of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge $18.95 C.D. Littlefield. 1990. 294 pp., 2nd printing.

$_____

A Birder’s Guide to the Klamath Basin $10.00 Steve Summers. 1993, 85 pp.

$_____

Birds of Oregon: Status and Distribution $20.00 Jeff Gilligan et al. 1994, 330 pp., softcover.

$_____

Birding the Southern Oregon Coast $10.00 Cape Arago Audubon Society, 1996, 96 pp., softcover.

$_____

A Birder’s Guide to the Sewage Ponds of Oregon $12.00 or Creatures from the Brown Lagoons. By William Tice. A guide to Oregon sewage ponds with maps, directions, etiquette and birds of interest at each site.

$_____

OFO Birder Card $2.50 Packet of 50

$_____

Checklist of Oregon birds (field checking card fits into field guide)

Single $1.00 Pack of 10 $6.00

$_____ $_____

OFO Lapel Pin $7.00 1-inch, OFO logo

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OFO T-Shirt Specify S, M, L, and XL $14.00 XXL only $16.00

$_____ $_____

OFO Window Decal $2.30 4-inch, OFO logo

$_____

Oregon Birds back issues $__.__ Volumes 5-24. Price varies; write for availability and prices.

$_____

OFO Bookcase continues on reverse…

-------------------------------------------------------------- OFO Membership Form Membership in Oregon Field Ornithologists brings you… • Oregon Birds—OFO’s quarterly

journal with news briefs, status and identification of Oregon’s birds, bird-finding guides to Oregon’s better birding spots and rarer species.

• Proceedings of the Oregon Bird Records Committee—Stay current on the rare birds in Oregon.

• Annual meetings—Participate in OFO’s birding meetings, held at some of Oregon’s top birding spots.

• Publications—OFO publishes an authoritative and useful checklist accurate according to the results of the Oregon Bird Records Committee. The Special Publication series brings titles of particular interest to Oregon’s birders.

• OFO Birding Weekends—Premiere birding trips led by experienced birders to Oregon’s top birding spots.

1. ρ $25.00 Individual 2. ρ Renewal ρ $30.00 Family ρ New Member ρ $50.00 Sustaining ρ $14.00 Students (Grades K-12) ρ $100.00 OFO Patron ρ $_____ Tax-deductible contribution ρ $_____ Oregon Fund for Ornithology 3. ρ Do NOT put my name and phone

number in OFO Directory ρ Do NOT sell or pass along my name

from the OFO mailing list 4. Make check payable to Oregon Field

Ornithologists or OFO

________________________________________________ Your name

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Mail OFO Membership form to:

OFO c/o Treasurer P.O. Box 10373 Eugene, OR 97440

Eleanor Pugh’s Natural Sound Cassettes: CASSETTES WITH VOCAL IDENTIFICATION AND/OR NARRATIVE

Mountain Forest Birds ............................................................................................................................................................................. 10.00 Seventy-two species of western birds and a few small squirrels that may sound like birds. This cassette compliments the next one listed to cover almost all birds to be generally found in wooded habitats. 90 min.

$_____

Birds of Foothill Woodland ..................................................................................................................................................................... 10.00 Newly revised. 75 species of the more common lowland birds. Songs and calls in a format that is easy to use for reference and familiarity. 90 min.

$_____

Birds of the Wetlands ............................................................................................................................................................................... 10.00 Songs and calls from lakes, marshes, and streams. Covers loon, grebes, herons, waterfowl, shorebirds, and riparian species etc. 58 species, and marsh choruses to practice identification. 90 min.

$_____

Birds of the High Desert ............................................................................................................................................................................ 9.00 Calls and songs of the birds east of the mountains in the Great Basin and northern high desert, arranged according to the special favored habitats of desert fauna. 60 min.

$_____

Birds of the Southwestern Low Desert ..................................................................................................................................................... 9.00 Calls, songs, and other sounds of 42 species of the Sonoran Desert primarily. 60 min.

$_____

Backyard Bird Songs ................................................................................................................................................................................. 9.00 Songs and calls of 28 species of birds that generally come to landscaped backyards and feeding stations. In-depth samples of the variety of sounds in their musical language. 60 min.

$_____

Wintering Birds of the Rogue Valley ...................................................................................................................................................... 10.00 Eighty-two species, with calls. Includes grebes, ducks, and others commonly found over the winter. 90 min.

$_____

Learn to Identify Birds by Ear (Western) .............................................................................................................................................. 10.00 A self-guided workshop with hands-on practice, back-to-back comparisons of confusing species; generous samples of recordings, including an easy quiz to review species you already know. 68 species. 90 min.

$_____

Learn to Identify Birds by Ear (Eastern) ............................................................................................................................................... 10.00 Same as above, using 47 eastern species; calls and songs. 90 min.

$_____

Confusing Species ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 10.00 Back-to-back comparisons of the calls and songs of 56 species, including some shorebirds and visually confusing birds, with tips on distinguishing each by ear. 90 min.

$_____

Night-Birding: Owls and Others ............................................................................................................................................................... 9.00 Seven species of owls and 12 other species of birds that call and sing in the dark. 60 min.

$_____

Warblers of the West ............................................................................................................................................................................... 10.00 This is the same as Warblers I and Warblers II. Twenty species, with in-depth comparisons of variations, and tips to identification, especially of, “those confusing spring warbler songs,” and call notes. 60 min.

$_____

Shorebirds and Rails ................................................................................................................................................................................ 10.00 Various sounds of these birds of the wind and water as they are found in the 3 contiguous western states. 25 species of shorebirds, 3 species of rails.

$_____

Wildlife Voices by Family (choose any 2 per cassette) ............................................................................................................................. 10.00 Owls, Woodpeckers, Flycatchers, 4 difficult Flycatchers, Wrens, Thrushes, Finches, Sparrows I (humid), Sparrows II (arid), Warblers I, Warblers II, Swallows & Swifts, Mammals, Pacific Coastlands, Fall Comes to NW, Shorebirds and Rails (both sides)

$_____

FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Games—Wildlife by Ear .......................................................................................................................................................................... 13.00 A special cassette of the sounds of familiar native animals are identified on one side. On the other side, the animals are mixed up and unidentified, in order to play at least five different games. Instructions and a pack of special cards are included. 60 min.

$_____

Did You Ever Hear?................................................................................................................................................................................. 17.50 A cassette designed to encourage all ages to LISTEN, learn, and explore natural sounds in many habitats. Calls of 47 animals, birds, and insects are arranged in short sections, by habitat. A LISTENER’S GUIDE contains many suggestions, activities, study questions, and information. Excellent illustrations suitable for realistic coloring are included. 60 min.

$_____

CASSETTES WITH NO VOCAL NARRATIVE, FOR UNDISTRACTED LISTENING

Beautiful Bird Songs of the West .............................................................................................................................................................. 9.00 Twenty-six species; generous selections of pleasant songs, as heard in the wild. Enclosure; 60 min.

$_____

An Almanac of Western Habitats, Volume I. Northwestern ................................................................................................................. 10.00 A series of “sound walks” in various habitats, throughout the year. Enclosure describes events and lists species for each walk. 90 min.

$_____

Pacific Tidelands/Fall Comes to the Northwest ....................................................................................................................................... 9.00 Special sounds along the Pacific Ocean shore and coastal forest-land. Includes shorebirds and bugling elk. Enclosure describes events. 60 min.

$_____

Write for a complete list. Recorded, edited, and produced by Eleanor A. Pugh. High quality normal bias ferric oxide tape will be sent unless high bias tape is specified. Please check your tape player for a “High Bias” switch to be sure.

$

TOTAL All items postage paid. Make checks payable to Oregon Field Ornithologists or OFO.

__________________________________________________ Your name

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Mail OFO Bookcase to:

OFO Publications c/o Lucy Biggs 25977 Clay Drive Veneta, OR 97487

[email protected]

Summary of OFO Birding Weekends, 1999 Paul T. Sullivan, 4470 SW Murray Blvd. #26, Beaverton OR 97005

Nine OFO Birding Weekends in 1999 drew 105 participants to a variety of birding locations in Oregon and collectively

found 254 species. Unfortunately, the late April trip to Lincoln County and the August trip to southern Lake county fell through. The remaining trips usually began at dawn Saturday and ended on Sunday afternoon.

The January 23-24 trip to Union County drew 4 participants. We were joined by a local newspaper reporter, who subsequently wrote a very flattering article for the LaGrande Observer. Among the 51 species seen, the highlights were an American Tree Sparrow, Bohemian Waxwings, an out-of-season Lewis' Woodpecker, Barn Owl, Gray Partridge, and a great gathering of Wild Turkeys at a farm orchard.

On February 27-28 we visited Willamette Valley sites and found 72 species. Highlights seen by the 6 participants included a Western Grebe at Baskett Slough NWR, Eurasian Widgeon at Ankeny NWR, Barn Owl at Tualatin River NWR, Long-billed Curlew and Snow Bunting along Sevenmile Rd. SE of Albany.

March 20-21 took 11 participants to Coos County, where we were joined by several local birders. We tallied 102 species, including American Bittern, Harlequin Duck, Long-tailed Duck (Oldsquaw), White-tailed Kite, Peregrine Falcon, nesting Black Phoebes, a surprising Townsend's Solitaire, and Swamp Sparrow. Unfortunately, the Eastern Phoebe which had been near the Coquille River on North Bank Road was not found.

The May 1-2 trip to Josephine County drew only 2 participants in addition to trip leaders Don Munson & Dennis Vroman. However, this small size allowed the four of us to do a record-setting big day in Josephine county, finding 103 species. The next day we added more birds to bring our total to 115 species. Highlights included a number of White-tailed Kites, surprising sightings of Solitary Sandpiper and Short-billed Dowitcher, the Costa's Hummingbird in Grants Pass, Black Phoebe, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Wrentit, and California Towhee. The best bird of the weekend, however, was the singing male Lark Bunting near the Medford airport.

Our July 10-11 trip to Grant County drew 16 participants to follow leader Tom Winters in search of the Upland Sandpiper, and we were not disappointed. Other highlights among the 107 species tallied were Sage Grouse, Sandhill Cranes, Long-billed Curlew, Red-naped Sapsucker, Lewis' and White-headed Woodpeckers, nesting Pileated Woodpeckers, nesting Gray Flycatcher, all three nuthatches in one tree, Bobolink, and a Rose-breasted Grosbeak seen by Ray Korpi. On the trip homeward we added White-throated Swift at Goose Rock in Grant county, then Ash-throated Flycatcher, Barn Owl, and Lesser Goldfinches in Wheeler county.

A record 28 participants joined leader Tim Janzen for our September 25-26 trip to Malheur NWR. We enjoyed good company, a trip up Steens Mountain, and a fine supper in Frenchglen. Highlights included Clark's Grebe, American Bittern, Barn Owl, Swainson's Thrush, White-throated Sparrow, and the prize of 70 Black Rosy Finches atop Steens Mountain. Our total was 111 species.

The October 9-10 trip brought 15 participants to the Central Cascades south of Bend. Again we were joined by local birders. The intrepid few who went up above Todd Lake on Saturday night were treated to the scold of a Boreal Owl responding to our tape. Outside our cabins at Twin Lakes resort we enjoyed close looks at Williamson's Sapsucker. We also found Pacific Loon and Bonaparte's Gull on Wickiup Reservoir, both Black-backed and Three Toed Woodpeckers at the Elk Lake burn, and a Dipper in the Deschutes River. Our total was 97 species. Our effort to find the White-winged Crossbills near McKenzie Pass on the way home was not successful.

The November 13-14 trip to the Klamath Basin drew 17 participants. Aided by local birders Kevin Spencer and Frank Mayer we found 98 species. We missed the Red-throated Loon that had been present a couple days before, but we found Pacific Loons in two locations, Clark's Grebes, a female Red-breasted Merganser, both Goldeneyes, a very cooperative Pygmy Owl and Oak Titmice in Moore Park, and, of course, many Bald Eagles. Down near the state line we studied the blackbirds in a feedlot and sorted out Redwing, Brewer's, Yellow-headed, and Tricolored, as well as Brown-headed Cowbird.

Finally, the December 11-12 trip to Wallowa County drew 6 hardy participants to look for winter specialties of NE Oregon. We found both Goldeneyes, Wild Turkeys, Gray Partridge, Bohemian Waxwings, a large flock of Common Redpolls, and Gray-crowned Rosy Finches, but missed American Tree Sparrows and Snow Buntings. We ended the weekend with 60 species.

Costs of lodging, transportation, and food on these weekend trips are up to the individual participants. Registration for OFO Birding Weekends is $15 per person for each weekend. Of this, $5 goes to OFO, and pays the

organization's liability insurance premium for the year. This year the income from the 105 participants brought in $525 to OFO. The remaining $10 of the registration fee goes to the trip leaders. This year it amounted to $1040. After sharing proceeds with other trip leaders and covering my expenses (total $1038.14) I took home a net $1.86. It was a good year of birding.

SEE OTHER SIDE FOR SCHEDULE OF REMAINING TRIPS FOR 2000!!!

Oregon Field Ornithologists Birding Weekends 2000

OFO Birding Weekends for 2000 are coordinated and principally guided by Paul Sullivan. They normally begin at dawn Saturday and end early Sunday afternoon, with Friday and Saturday nights based in the same city. Costs of lodging, transportation (car pooling), and food are up to the individual participants. Most of our travel is by private cars on public roads with some walks on trails. We usually eat supper together on Saturday night and have a “countdown” of species seen.

Registration is $15 per person (membership in OFO not required) per weekend (K-12 Student price $10), and is required by the Tuesday before the weekend you plan to attend. Participants are sent a packet in

advance of each weekend, suggesting lodging, meeting place, and other details.

Local trip leaders provide recommendations on lodging and guidance to the birding sites and bird species of the area. The $15 fee is split between OFO and the trip leaders: $5 for OFO, and $10 for the leader, who bears the costs of advance preparations, as well as his/her own expenses on the trip.

Events marked with asterisks (*), such as the fall North American Migration Count and Christmas Bird Counts, are not OFO Birding Weekends and require separate registration. To participate, contact your local county coordinator.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 24 June-4 July Churchill, Manitoba Oregon Field Ornithologists will be going to Churchill, Manitoba! Nesting birds expected include Ross’ Gull, Parasitic Jaeger, Hawk Owl, Willow Ptarmigan, Smith’s Longspur, both redpolls and much more! 22-23 July Crook County We will visit the reservoirs of Crook county looking for migrant shorebirds, marsh birds, and waterfowl. We will visit the forests for Veerys, Pygmy Nuthatches, woodpeckers, and warblers. Leader for this trip will be Chuck Gates. Base: Prineville. 26-27 August Mouth of the Columbia River The south jetty of the Columbia River, Astoria, and Seaside all offer possible interesting shorebirds, seabirds, and migrant passerines. Base: Astoria. 16 September Fall N. American Migration Count * 23-24 September Malheur NWR Come enjoy the crisp air at Malheur NWR and look for fall migrants. This is a prime time of year for unusual vagrants. Leader for this trip will be Tim Janzen. Base: Malheur Field Station.

14-15 October Central Cascades We will search for that "most wanted" Boreal Owl, for Black-backed and Three-toed Woodpeckers, as well as fall waterfowl at Crane Prairie, Wickiup Reservoir, and other lakes. Base: Bend. 11-12 November Columbia River We will check out the fall migrants on the Columbia River from above the John Day dam to Hood River. This is the time of year to hope for unusual loons, scoters, etc. Base: Arlington. 9-10 December Wallowa County We will look for winter species: Bohemian Waxwings, Snow Buntings, etc., and Gray Partridge, various raptors, and waterfowl, and enjoy the beauty of the Wallowas. Base: Enterprise. December Christmas Bird Counts * Don't miss out on this special annual birding event.

Send registrations to: Paul T. Sullivan, 4470 SW Murray Blvd. #26, Beaverton, OR 97005 Questions? Call (503) 646-7889

Please make a separate copy of this form for each weekend you plan to attend.

NAME _________________________________________________________________________________________

ADDRESS ______________________________ CITY, STATE, ZIP _________________________________________

PHONE _________________________________________ EMAIL _________________________________________

TRIP YOU PLAN TO JOIN _____________ NUMBER OF PEOPLE _________________________________________

AMOUNT ENCLOSED ($15 PER PARTICIPANT) $ ___________ Make checks payable to Oregon Field Ornithologists.


FIELDNOTES Oregon Birds and North American Birds* have synchronized report-ing areas, periods, and deadlines. Field reports for eastern and western Oregon are due to the OB Regional Editor and NAB Region-al Editor at the same time. Season Months To Editor To OB Spring March-May 10 June 20 October Summer June-July 10 August 20 January Fall August-November 10 December 20 April Winter December-February 10 March 20 July

Oregon Birds Regional Editors Western Oregon Jeff Gilligan 26 N.E. 32nd Avenue Fall 503-231-0971 Portland, OR 97232 Western Oregon Gerard Lillie 329 S.E. Gilham Spring 503-257-9344 Portland, OR 97215 Western Oregon Bill Tice 750 Wood Street Winter/Summer 503-787-3436 Falls City, OR 97344 Eastern Oregon Paul T. Sullivan 4470 S.W. Murray Blvd. #26 Fall/Spring 503-646-7889 Beaverton, OR 97203 Eastern Oregon Ray Korpi 9112 N. Tyler Winter 503-289-1676 Portland, OR 97203 Eastern Oregon Kevin Spencer P.O. Box 353 Summer 916-667-4644 Tulelake, CA 96134 North American Birds* Regional Editor All of Oregon Steve Mlodinow 4819 Gardner Avenue 425-514-5874 Everett WA 98203 North American Birds* Sub-Regional Editors Western Oregon Harry Nehls 2736 S.E. 20th

503-233-3976 Portland, OR 97202 Rogue Valley Howard Sands 10655 Agate Road

541-826-5246 Eagle Point, OR 97524 *Note: The American Birding Association changed the name of Audubon Field Notes to North American Birds effective with Volume 53.

Oregon Field Ornithologists members bird all over the state, and often find birds that are of interest to local birders. OFO supports publication of local field notes and encourages OFO members to contact local newsletter publishers or field notes editors whenever birding in or near the Oregon locations listed below. If you would like to add a local newsletter or revise any of the information below, please contact the Editor, Oregon Birds, Box 10373, Eugene, OR 97440.

Area Publication Publisher Address Field Notes Editor Phone Bend Eagle Eye Central Oregon

Audubon Society P.O. Box 565 Bend, OR 97709

Craig Miller [email protected]

541-389-9115

Coos Bay The Tattler Cape Arago Audu-bon Society

P.O. Box 381 North Bend, OR 97459

Inactive 541-267-7208

Corvallis The Chat Audubon Society of Corvallis

P.O. Box 148 Corvallis, OR 97339

Lorn Fitts [email protected]

541-753-6077

Eugene The Quail Lane County Audubon Society

P.O. Box 5086 Eugene, OR 97405

Allison Mickel 541-485-7112

Grants Pass The Siskin Siskiyou Audubon Society

P.O. Box 2223 Grants Pass, OR 97528

Eleanor Pugh 541-866-2665

Hood River Columbia Gorge Audubon Society

P.O. Box 512 Hood River, Or 97031

John Day The Upland Sandpiper Grant County Bird Club

P.O. Box 111 Canyon City, OR 97820

Tom Winters 541-542-2006 (h) 541-575-2570 (w)

Klamath Falls The Grebe Klamath Basin Audubon Society

P.O. Box 354 Klamath Falls, OR 97601

Kevin Spencer 916-667-4644

La Grande The Rav-on Grande Ronde Bird Club

P.O.Box 29 La Grande, OR 97850

Bill & Chris Dowdy 541-963-4768

Newport Sandpiper Yaquina Birders & Naturalists

P.O. Box 1467 Newport, OR 97365

Range Bayer [email protected]

541-265-2965

Portland Audubon Warbler Audubon Society of Portland

5151 NW Cornell Rd. Portland, OR 97210

Harry Nehls [email protected]

503-233-3976

Port Orford The Storm Petrel Kalmiopsis Audu-bon Society

P.O. Box 1265 Port Orford, OR 97465

Colin Dillingham 541-247-4752 (h) 541-247-3644 (w)

Roseburg Wing-Tips Umpqua Valley Audubon Society

Box 381 Roseburg, OR 97470

Salem The Kestrel Salem Audubon Society

189 Liberty St. NE 209A Salem, OR 97301

John Lundsten [email protected]

503-585-9442







FIELD NOTES: Eastern Oregon, Fall 1999 Paul T. Sullivan, 4470 SW Murray Blvd. #26, Beaverton, OR 97005 THE SEASON

This fall eastern Oregon experienced an extended Indian Summer. Warm air from the south brought higher minimum temperatures to the state in August. LaGrande had an average temperature 5.7 degrees above normal. Temperature extremes brought record low tempera-tures late in September, but in October Bend saw a record high temperature of 81 degrees on the 20th. The record highs continued into November; Pendleton reached 80 degrees on 12 November.

Warm humid air from the south brought thunderstorms in August. Much of the area from Madras to Lakeview saw 250% of normal precipitation, but Malheur County was at 50%. September and October were extremely dry. Only the Crater Lake to Summer Lake corridor saw above average precipitation in Octo-ber. The only notable precipitation in November was a Thanksgiving storm in far northeastern Oregon.

REPORTS AND REPORTERS

Notable sightings included Klamath County's first Red-throated Loon; Green Herons at two locations; a kettle of 60 Broad-winged Hawks over Bonney Butte; Stilt Sandpipers at three locations; a Pomarine Jaeger; the Little Gull at Summer Lake (for the second year in a row); a Black Phoebe; two Blue Jays; a Brown Thrasher, eastern Oregon's first Prairie Warbler, plus Blackpoll, Black-and-white, and Prothonotary Warblers; a Great-tailed Grackle in Umatilla County; White-winged Crossbills near Sisters; and the first wave of this winter's Com-mon Redpolls.

Observations were received directly from only 11 observers. Reports from a total of 87 observers were gleaned from the Rav-on, newsletter of the Grande Ronde Bird Club; the Upland Sandpiper, newsletter of the Grant County Bird Club; The Garryana Rag, newsletter of Columbia Gorge Audubon Society; and sightings reported to Portland Audubon's Rare Bird Alert (aka Harry Nehls).

FORMAT, ABBREVIATIONS The format used for each sighting is this: # individuals, location, county abbr. in CAPS, date, (initials of observers); next record.

All counties are designated by the first three letters of the county name except for Hood River (HDR). Abbreviations CG campground MIWMA Miller Island Wildlife Man-

agement Area, Klamath Co. MNWR Malheur NWR, Harney Co.,

includes CPR (Central Patrol Road) and HQ (headquarters)

NWR National Wildlife Refuge R. River Rd. Road Res. Reservoir s.p. sewage ponds St.Pk. state park SLWMA Summer Lake Wildlife Man-

agement Area, Lake Co. Italics indicates unusual sightings, dates,

unusual locations, Latin subspecies. Italics may be used for all records of a species or certain specific county records

ALL CAPITALS indicates a rare sight-ing ALL CAPITALS IN ITALICS indicates

the rarest sightings: first state rec-ords and OBRC review species

Red-throated Loon 1 at Pelican Marina, Klamath Falls, 11 Nov, was a first Klamath County record (KS,FM); 1, Wickiup Res., DES, 3 Oct (PTS) Pacific Loon 1, Wickiup Res., DES, 9 Oct (DH,HOH); 1, Pelican Marina, Klamath Falls, KLA, 25 Oct -20 Nov (KS,FM,PTS,OFO); 1, Odell Lk., KLA, 26 Oct (DI); 1, Straits Drain, south of Klamath Falls, KLA, 13 Nov (KS,FM,PTS,OFO) Common Loon 15, Wickiup Res., DES, 12 Sept (DH,PM,HOH); 1, Tumalo Res., DES, 19 Sept (SS); 12, Odell Lk., KLA, 26 Sept (FM); 1 dead on Hwy 20, Riley, HAR, 5 Oct (JC,BT,DM); 1, Chicka-hominy Res., HAR, 7 Oct (TM); 3, Phil-lips Res., BAK, 22 Oct (CMO); 1-6, Pelican Marina, Klamath Falls, KLA, 25 Oct-20 Nov (KS,FM,PTS,OFO); 25, Odell Lk., KLA, 26 Oct (DI)

Horned Grebe 3, Tumalo Res., DES, 19 Sept (SS); 1 juvenile, Chickahominy Res., HAR, 21 Sept (AM); 5, Crescent Lk., KLA, 26 Sept (FM); 1, Tumalo Res., DES, 10 Oct (DH) Red-necked Grebe 1, Ana Res., LAK, 28 Sept (DF); 1, The Hook, Hood River, HDR, 29 Oct (fide GR); 1, Suttle Lk., JEF, 31 Oct (SK); 1, Pelican Marina, Klamath Falls, KLA, 11 Nov (KS,FM) Eared Grebe 1-6, Hood R., HDR, 17 Oct - 23 Nov (PTS,DRG,SJ); 3, Hatfield Lk., DES, 13 Nov (DH,HOH,JM) Western Grebe 1 adult with young, The Narrows, MNWR, 11 Sept (AR); 40, Pelican Ma-rina, Klamath Falls, KLA, 18 Sept (KS,FM); 6, Tumalo Res., DES, 10 Oct (DH); 120, Hood River, HDR, 7 Nov (MIM,HG) Clark's Grebe 8 adult & 2 young, The Narrows, MNWR, 10 Sept (MD,MLD); 1, Wicki-up Res., DES, 12 Sept (DH,PM,HOH); 60, Pelican Marina, Klamath Falls, KLA, 18 Sept (KS,FM); 2, Hood River, HDR, 17 Oct (TR) American White Pelican 1, Mt. Vernon, GRA, Sept (AF); 21, Cold Springs NWR, UMA, 6 Sept (CC,JS); 500+, Knox Pond, MNWR, 9-11 Sept (MD,MLD,AR); 7, The Nar-rows, MNWR, HAR, 11 Sept (AR); 80, SLWMA, 14 Sept (AR); Several, Mal-heur Co., 13 Nov (DPL) American Bittern 6, along Link Canal, SLWMA, 14 Sept (AR); 1, SLWMA, 24 Sept (PTS) Great Egret 1, Paulina Hwy., Crooked R., CRO, 15 Aug (CG,LR,PTS); 23, The Narrows, MNWR, 10 Sept (MD,MLD); 120, N of OO Road, HAR, 10 Sept (AR); 1, Page Springs CG, HAR, 11 Sept (AR); 40, SLWMA, 24 Sept (PTS); 60+, MNWR, 1 Oct (CMO) Snowy Egret 6 immatures, Schoolhouse Lake, SLWMA, 14 Sept (AR); 5, SLWMA, 24 Sept (PTS) Green Heron 1, The Dalles, WAS, 4 Sept (DRG); 1, Hagelstein Pk, Hwy 97, LKA, 10 Sept (RH)


Black-crowned Night-Heron 1+, Pine Creek, GRA, 12-14 Aug (CK); 1, Prineville s.p., CRO, 6 Sept (SK); 1, MNWR CPR, 13 Sept (AR) White-faced Ibis 1+, Dayville area, GRA, 2-3 Aug (TH,PSS); 20, Crook Co., 15 Aug (CG,LR,PTS); 8+, MNWR, 13-20 Sept (AR,AC,HH); 31, SLWMA, 24 Sept (PTS) Turkey Vulture 16, Hood River, HDR, 14 Aug (fide GR); 1, N of Long Creek, GRA, 10 Sept (MD,MLD); 1, Long Creek, GRA, Nov (TH); 2, Lakeshore Dr., Klamath Falls, KLA, 18 Dec (LP) Greater White-fronted Goose 1, Black Butte Ranch, DES, 2 Sept (SS); 29, Cold Springs NWR, UMA, 6 Sept (CC,JS); 30+, McKenzie Pass, DES, 6 Sept (JJC); several, Knox Pond, MNWR, 11 Sept (AR); many, SLWMA, 14 Sept (AR); 10, W of MNWR HQ, 26 Sept (AM); 1, mouth of Hood R., HDR, 29 Oct (DRG); 3, Deschutes R., Bend, DES, 10 Nov (DH) Snow Goose 400, SLWMA, 16 Oct (NP); 1+, Mt. Vernon, GRA, Nov (TH) Trumpeter Swan 3, Merwin Res., CRO, 15 Aug (CG,LR,PTS); 5, Buena Vista, MNWR, 13-26 Sept (AR,AM); 1, McNary Dam, UMA, 13 Nov (CC,JS); 3, Mt. Vernon, GRA, 14 Nov (CMO) Tundra Swan 1, Hatfield Lake, DES, 29 Oct (TR); 3, Tumalo Res., DES, 5 Nov (DH); 1, Deschutes R., Bend, DES, 10 Nov (DH,HOH); 18, Hatfield Lk., DES, 13 Nov (DH,HOH,JM); 42, Cow Lakes, MAL, 13 Nov (DPL) Canvasback 6, Tumalo Res., DES, 10 Oct (DH); 1, Hood River, HDR, 8 Nov (WG); 700, Wickiup Res., DES, 13 Nov (DH,HOH,JM) Redhead 5, Hood River, HDR, 17 Oct (TR) Surf Scoter 1, Hood River, HDR, 17 Oct (TR); 3, Chickahominy Res., HAR, 24 Oct (SS); 1, Suttle Lk., JEF, 31 Oct (SK); 2, Hood River, HDR, 7 Nov (MIM) White-winged Scoter 3, Burns s.p., HAR, 8 Nov (DD) Long-tailed Duck (Oldsquaw) 1, Wells Is., Hood River, HDR, 29 Oct (DRG,SJ) Common Merganser 5, below Page Springs Dam, HAR, 23 Sept (AM)

Red-breasted Merganser 1, Tumalo Res., DES, 10 Oct (DH); 2, Suttle Lk., JEF, 3 Nov (DI); 1, Hood River, HDR, 8 Nov (WG); 1 female, Pelican Marina, Klamath Falls, KLA, 11-20 Nov (KS,FM,PTS,OFO) Osprey 1, Maupin, WAS, 5 Oct (NM); 1, Wicki-up Res., DES, 9 Oct (PTS,OFO); 1, Kimberly, GRA, 24 Oct (PSS); 1, Thorn Hollow, UMA, 13 Nov (MD,MLD) WHITE-TAILED KITE 1, Upper Klamath NWR, KLA, 3-11 Aug (KS,FM,DOL) Bald Eagle 1 adult, SLWMA, 14-27 Sept (AR,AM); 1 immature, LaGrande, UNI, 31 Oct

(BCD); 1 adult, Farewell Bend, MAL, 15 Nov (MD,MLD) Northern Harrier Many, MNWR CPR, 12 Sept (AR) Sharp-shinned Hawk 2, MNWR HQ, 18 Sept (AC,HH); 1, John Day, GRA, Oct - Nov (CMO) Cooper's Hawk 1, Sand Spring, DES, 10 Sept (AR); 1, MNWR HQ, 10-11 Sept (MD,MLD,AR); 1, Cabin Lake, LAK, 15 Sept (AR); 1, John Day, GRA, Oct - Nov (CMO) Northern Goshawk All reports from Grant Co.: 1, Canyon City, Oct (AF); 1, Fox Valley, Oct (TH); 1, Prairie City, 27 Oct (TH)

RED-SHOULDERED HAWK 1, Tumalo Res., DES, 6 Sept (SK); 1, Benson Pond, HAR, 9 Sept (MD,MLD); 1, Bonney Butte hawk watch, 22 Sept HDR, (CH) Broad-winged Hawk All records from the Bonney Butte hawk watch, Hood River Co.: 4 on 22 Sept HDR, (CH); 60 in an unprecedented kettle in Oregon, 29 Sept (CH); 1 on 15 Oct HDR, (NYP) Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawk 2, Powell Butte, CRO, 24 Oct (CMO) Rough-legged Hawk Some flying high, Steens Mt., HAR, 12 Sept (AR); 1, SLWMA, 10 Oct (GG); 1 adult male, NW Morrow Co., 17 Oct (PTS); 1, John Day, GRA, 6 Nov (CMO); 1, Hatfield Lk., DES, 13 Nov (DH,HOH,JM) Golden Eagle 3, Moffitt Rd., DES, 9 Sept (AR); 2, Tumalo Res., DES, 5 Nov (DH) Merlin 1, near Krumbo Res., MNWR, 26 Sept (AM); 1, LaGrande yard, UNI, 28 Oct (BCD) Peregrine Falcon 1, MIWMA, 16 Aug (KS,FM); 1, mouth of Hood R., HDR, 17 Oct (PTS) Prairie Falcon 1, N of Fort Rock, LAK, 15 Sept (AR) Chukar Several, Grant Co., Sept - Nov (LEH,TH,PSS,TW); 1, Stateline Rd., UMA, 19 Nov (MD,MLD) Gray Partridge 2+, Long Creek, Pine Creek, GRA, Aug - Sept (TH,CK); 31, Hwy. 395, 2 mi. N of Ritter jct., GRA, 14 Sept (MD,MLD); 4, Danner Loop Rd., MAL, 13 Nov (DPL) Ruffed Grouse 1, S of Penland Lk., MOR, 7 Aug (PTS) My first in Morrow county; 1, N of Prineville, CRO, 14 Aug (PTS); 1, W. Fk. Wallowa R., WAL, Sept (KC); 1, Cricket Flat yard, UNI, 24-31 Oct (BIF); 1, Thorn Hollow, UMA, was drumming in 80 degree sunlight on 13 Nov (MD,MLD) Sage Grouse 8, S of Cow Lakes, MAL, 13 Nov (DPL) Blue Grouse 1+, Logan Valley, GRA, Aug (TH); 1, USFS Rd 3550, HDR, 3 Sept (OP,SJ); 1, Canyon Creek, GRA, 5 Sept (LEH); 1, Vance Creek, GRA, 25 Oct (TW) Mountain Quail 1+, John Day Fossil Beds, GRA, Nov (JH) California Quail

Chukar, a wild bird right beside the road 19 November 1999, Umatilla County. Pho-to/Mike Denny


Flock, atop Wrights Point, HAR, 10 Sept (AR); 750, Burns, HAR, 27 Sept (PTS) Virginia Rail 1, near Bullgate CG, SLWMA, 14 Sept (AR) Sora 1+, Pine Creek, GRA, Aug (CK) Sandhill Crane 75, Merwin Res., CRO, 15 Aug (CG,LR,PTS); 3, Link Canal, SLWMA, 14 Sept (AR); 4, Knox Pond, MNWR, 25 Sept (AM); 1+, John Day, GRA, 9-10 Oct (CMO); 20, Ladd Marsh, UNI, 11 Oct (SC) Black-bellied Plover 1, Wickiup Res., DES, 2 Oct (PTS,BBC) Semipalmated Plover 10, Cold Springs NWR, UMA, 6 Sept (CC,JS); 1, mouth of Hood R., HDR, 13 Sept (fide GR); 3, west of MNWR HQ, 18 Sept (AC,HH) Killdeer 200, Cold Springs NWR, 6 Sept UMA, (CC,JS) Black-necked Stilt 6, Guiterrez ranch, CRO, 15 Aug (CG,LR,PTS); few, SLWMA, 14 Sept (AR); 1+, MNWR, 20 Sept (AC,HH); 1, Lower Klamath NWR, KLA, 27 Oct (FM) American Avocet 800+, SLWMA, 5 Sept (RG); 7, Hog-back Rd., Warner Valley, LAK, 14 Sept (AR) Greater Yellowlegs 1, Hatfield Lk., DES, 26 Aug (DH); 15, SLWMA, 5 Sept (RG); 2, west of MNWR HQ, 17-20 Sept (AC,HH); 25, Wickiup Res., DES, 12 Sept (DH,PM,HOH); 1, Tumalo Res., DES, 10 Oct (DH) Lesser Yellowlegs 2, SLWMA, 5 Sept (RG); 3, MNWR, 9 Sept (MD,MLD); 3, MIWMA, 10 Sept (FM); 1, Hatfield Lk., DES, 11 Sept (DH); 25, west of MNWR HQ, 17-20 Sept (AC,HH); 1, A Canal, Klamath Falls, KLA, 18 Dec (KS,KH) Solitary Sandpiper 1, near Sisters, DES, 28 Aug (SS); 1, Prineville s.p., CRO, 13 Sept (CG); 1, Buena Vista, MNWR, 13 Sept (AR) Willet 2, Guiterrez ranch, CRO, 15 Aug (CG,LR,PTS) Long-billed Curlew 1, SLWMA, 14 Sept (AR), Marbled Godwit 5, SLWMA, 6 Sept (RG); 6, W. of Schoolhouse Lk., SLWMA, 14 Sept (AR); 2, S. end Agency Lk., KLA, 14-18 Sept (RH,KS,FM); 11, SLWMA, 20-24

Sept (JKR,PTS); 1, Hatfield Lk., DES, 13 Oct (DT,JUW) Semipalmated Sandpiper 2, MIWMA, 16 Aug (KS,FM); 5, Cold Springs NWR, UMA, 6 Sept (CC,JS) Sanderling 1, mouth of Hood R., HDR, 13 Sept (fide GR) Semipalmated Sandpiper 1, mouth of Hood R., HDR, 12 Aug & 20 Sept (SJ) Western Sandpiper 450, MIWMA, 16 Aug (KS,FM); 100, Hatfield Lk., DES, 21 Aug (DH); 2000, Cold Springs NWR, UMA, 6 Sept (CC,JS); 3, mouth of Hood R., HDR, 20 Sept (SJ) Least Sandpiper 12, mouth of Hood R., HDR, 14 Aug (fide GR); 8, MIWMA, 16 Aug (KS,FM); 100, Cold Springs NWR, UMA, 6 Sept (CC,JS); 100, SLWMA, 5-14 Sept (RG,AR) Baird's Sandpiper 1, mouth of Hood R., HDR, 14 Aug & 20 Sept (fide GR); 1-2, Hatfield Lk., DES, 21 Aug - 11 Sept (DH); 3, MNWR, 9 Sept (MD,MLD) Pectoral Sandpiper 8, Cold Springs NWR, UMA, 6 Sept (CC,JS); 1, Hatfield Lk., DES, 11 Sept (DH); 5, MNWR, 25 Sept (TJ,PTS,OFO); few, Joseph s.p., WAL, Oct (FSC) Dunlin 1, Wickiup Res., SW of Bend, DES, 9 Oct (PTS,OFO); 1, mouth of Hood R., HDR, 17 Oct (PTS); 15, Tumalo Res., DES, 5 Nov (DH); 1+, Malheur Co., 13 Nov (DPL) Stilt Sandpiper 1, Prineville s.p., CRO, 22 Aug (LR); 1, Buena Vista, MNWR, 25 Sept (DE); 1, Joseph s.p., WAL, 10 Oct (FSC) Short-billed Dowitcher 1, Hatfield Lk., DES, 26 Aug (DH); 1, SLWMA, 6 Sept (RG); 1, mouth of Hood R., HDR, 13 Sept (SJ) Long-billed Dowitcher 150, MIWMA, 13 Aug (FM); 12, Cold Springs NWR, UMA, 6 Sept (CC,JS); 3000, west of MNWR HQ, 9-20 Sept (MD,MLD,AR,AC,HH); 15, W. of Schoolhouse Lk., SLWMA, 14 Sept (AR) Common Snipe 25, Wickiup Res., DES, 12 Sept (DH,PM,HOH) Wilson's Phalarope 550, MIWMA, 13 Aug (FM); few, SLWMA, 14 Sept (AR) Red-necked Phalarope

35, MIWMA, 16 Aug (KS,FM); 100+, SLWMA, 5 Sept (RG); 3, Cold Springs NWR, UMA, 6 Sept (CC,JS); 4, W of MNWR HQ, 9 Sept (MD,MLD) POMARINE JAEGER 1 dark morph, McNary Dam, UMA, 21 Nov (DS,PD) Franklin's Gull 1, SLWMA, 24 Sept (PTS) LITTLE GULL A single bird returned for the second straight year at Schoolhouse Lk., SLWMA, 18-27 Sept (CM,MM,PTS,AM). Bonaparte's Gull 1, The Narrows, MNWR, 10 Sept (MD,MLD); few, Joseph s.p., WAL, Oct (FSC); 1, Wickiup Res., DES, SW of Bend, 9 Oct (PTS,OFO); 1+, mouth of Hood R., HDR, 13 Oct (fide GR); 11, Baker City ponds, BAK, 22 Oct (CMO); 21, McNary Dam, UMA, 22 Nov (MD,MLD) Heermann's Gull 1, mouth of Hood R., HDR, 2 Oct (SJ) Mew Gull 1 adult, McNary Dam, UMA, 22 Nov (MD,MLD) Ring-billed Gull 20, Tumalo Res., DES, 10 Oct (DH) Herring Gull 1, Columbia R., WAS, 17 Oct (PTS); 1, Prineville s.p., CRO, 22 Oct (CG) Western Gull 1 adult, McNary Dam, UMA, 22 Nov (MD,MLD) SABINE'S GULL 1, Joseph s.p., WAL, 10 Oct (FSC) Caspian Tern 3, Knox Pond, MNWR, 9 Sept (MD,MLD); 1, Wickiup Res., DES, 12 Sept (DH,PM,HOH); 1 adult & 1 juve-nile, mouth of Hood R., HDR, 30 Sept (fide GR) Band-tailed Pigeon 1, West Bench, John Day, GRA, 1 Aug (AP); 1, Bonney Butte, HDR, 3 Sept (OP,SJ,SNV); 1, Sisters, DES, 26 Nov (SS) Barn Owl 4, Guiterrez ranch, CRO, 15 Aug (CG,LR,PTS); 1, John Day, GRA, (TH) Flammulated Owl 1, Jackman Park, Steens Mt., HAR, 22 Aug (DT); 1, MNWR HQ, 5 Oct (JC,BT,DM) Western Screech-Owl 1, south of Hood R., HDR, 17 Oct (PTS) Great Horned Owl 1, south of Hood R., HDR, 17 Oct (PTS) Northern Pygmy-Owl


1, Jackman Park, Steens Mt., HAR, 22 Aug (DT); 1, Bonney Butte, HDR, 15 Sept (OP,SJ,SNV,MA); 1, John Day, GRA, 14 Oct (CMO); 1, Moore Pk., Klamath Falls, KLA, 13 Nov (KS,FM,PTS,OFO); 1, near Mare's Egg spring, Westside Rd., Upper Klamath Lk., KLA, 14 Nov (PTS,OFO) Great Gray Owl 1, McKenzie Pass, DES/LIN, 28 Sept (JW); 1, Balance Lake, Long Creek Ranger District, GRA, Sept (DAF) Long-eared Owl 1, Fox Valley, GRA (TH) BOREAL OWL 1, N of Todd Lk., W of Bend, DES, 1-19 Oct (PTS,OFO,DH,JM,DT); 2, USFS Rd. 64, Skyline Rd., WAL, 9 Oct (MD,MLD) Northern Saw-whet Owl 1 adult, McNary Wildlife Area, UMA, 22 Nov (MD,MLD) Common Nighthawk 250, Redmond, Sisters, DES, 27 Aug (DI); 70, Hatfield Lake, DES, 3 Sept (CM,MM); 50+, Long Creek, GRA, 8 Sept (MD,MLD) Common Poorwill 1, W of MNWR HQ, 9 Sept (MD,MLD) Vaux's Swift 2, Bonney Butte, HDR, 3 Sept (OP,SJ,SNV); few, MNWR HQ, 10-11 Sept (MD,MLD,AR); 1, S of Hood Riv-er, HDR, 25 Sept (DRG) White-throated Swift 1, Hwy 27, S of Prineville, CRO, 14 Aug (CG,PTS) Anna's Hummingbird 1, SLWMA, 10 Oct (SK) Calliope Hummingbird 1, MNWR HQ, 9 Sept (MD,MLD) Broad-tailed Hummingbird 1 female, Steens Mt., HAR, 21 Aug (DT,JUW) Rufous Hummingbird Many migrants, Steens Mt., HAR, 21 Aug (DT,JUW); 1, John Day, GRA, 27 Sept (CMO) Lewis's Woodpecker 4, MNWR HQ, 9 Sept (MD,MLD); 10-15, flycatching, migrating, Modoc Pt., KLA, 10-18 Sept (KS,FM) Williamson's Sapsucker 1 female, Frenchglen, HAR, 23 Sept (AM); 1, Twin Lks. resort, SW of Bend, DES, 9-10 Oct (OFO,PTS) YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER 1 immature male, John Day, GRA, 12 Nov (CMO) Good details. Red-naped x Red-breasted Sapsucker

1, Frenchglen, HAR, 23 Sept (AM); 1, Summer Lake rest area, LAK, 27 Sept (AM) Hairy Woodpecker 1 male, Frenchglen, HAR, 23 Sept (AM) White-headed Woodpecker 1 adult, 1 juvenile, Cabin Lake, LAK, 15-28 Sept (AR,AM); 1, Bear Valley, GRA, Oct (TH); 1, S of Phillips Res., BAK, 19 Oct (TW); 1, Tumalo Res., DES, 12 Nov (DH) Three-toed Woodpecker 1, Jackman Park, Steens Mt., HAR, 22 Aug (DT,JUW); 1, Canyon City, GRA, 25 Sept (CEG); 1-2, Elk Lk. burn, SW of Bend, DES, 2-9 Oct (PTS,BBC,OFO)

Black-backed Woodpecker 2, Bear Valley, GRA, 14 Aug (TW); 1, Canyon Creek, GRA, 1 Sept (LEH); 10-15, Elk Lk. burn, SW of Bend, DES, 2-9 Oct (PTS,BBC,OFO) Pileated Woodpecker 1, Cricket Flat yard, UNI, 5 Nov (BIF) Western Wood-Pewee 1, Fields, HAR, 25 Sept (AM) Willow Flycatcher 1, Benson Pond, MNWR, 22 Sept (AM) Pacific-slope Flycatcher 1, Sisters, DES, 16 Oct (AE) Black Phoebe 1, Henley/Lost River, KLA, 21 Nov (FM)

Say's Phoebe 2, Page Spring CG, HAR, 11 Sept (AR); 1, Wickiup Res., DES, 12 Sept (DH,PM,HOH); 1, Fort Rock, LAK, 15 Sept (AR); 1, MNWR Field Station, 26 Sept (AM) Eastern Kingbird 6, Guiterrez ranch, CRO, 15 Aug (CG,LR,PTS) Loggerhead Shrike 1, SLWMA, 14 Sept (AR) Northern Shrike 1, 8 mi. N of Frenchglen, HAR, 9 Sept (MD,MLD); 1, The Narrows, MNWR, 10 Sept (MD,MLD); 1, Haystack Res., JEF, 9 Oct (DT) Warbling Vireo 15, MNWR HQ, 10 Sept (MD,MLD) BLUE JAY 1, Union, UNI, Sept (BCD); 1, Sisters, DES, 25 Oct (SS) Western Scrub-Jay 2, Redmond, DES, 19 Sept (SS); 2, Hwy 31, N of Silver Lk., LAK, 24 Sept (PTS) Pinyon Jay 6+, Cabin Lake, LAK, 15 Sept (AR); 20, Hwy 31, N of Silver Lk., LAK, 24 Sept (PTS) Clark's Nutcracker 1, Sand Spring, DES, 10 Sept (AR); 2, Cabin Lake, LAK, 15 Sept (AR) Black-billed Magpie 1, Bonney Butte, HDR, 14 Sept (SNV) American Crow 1, 4 mi. W of Rocky Pt., KLA, 16 Oct (FM); 1, Klamath Falls, KLA, 16 Oct (FM) Horned Lark 1, The Hook, Hood River, HDR, 15 Nov (fide GR) Tree Swallow 52, W of MNWR HQ, 9-11 Sept (MD,MLD,AR) Violet-green Swallow 30, Tumalo Res., DES, 2 Oct (DT) Bank Swallow 87, W of MNWR HQ, 9-11 Sept (MD,MLD,AR) Cliff Swallow 1, Prineville s.p., CRO, 27 Oct (CG) Barn Swallow 700, W of MNWR HQ, 9-20 Sept (MD,MLD,AC,HH,AR) Black-capped Chickadee 1 at the edge of its range, jct. of Stateline Rd. & Hwy 139, KLA, 18 Sept (KS,FM) Oak Titmouse 2, Moore Pk., Klamath Falls, KLA, 13 Nov (KS,FM,PTS,OFO) White-breasted Nuthatch 1, Cabin Lake, LAK, 15 Sept (AR) Bewick's Wren

Northern Saw-whet Owl at roost in Russian olive trees 22 Nov 1999, below McNary Dam in the McNary Wildlife Area, Umatilla County. Photo/Mike Denny


7, Thorn Hollow, UMA, 13 Nov (MD,MLD) House Wren 1, MNWR HQ, 9 Sept (MD,MLD); 1, Wood River wetlands, KLA, 18 Sept (KS,FM) Winter Wren 1, John Day, GRA, 14 Oct (CMO) American Dipper 1, John Day, GRA, 24 Oct (CMO) Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2, Fields and MNWR HQ, 17-20 Sept (AC,HH) Western Bluebird 1 adult & 4 young, Cabin Lake, LAK, 15 Sept (AR) Mountain Bluebird 47, Fox, GRA, 8 Sept (MD,MLD); sev-eral, Sand Spring, DES, 10 Sept (AR); flocks, Steens Mt., HAR, 12 Sept (AR); 78, Hwy 20, Hampton to Bend, DES, 27 Sept (PTS) Townsend's Solitaire Few, MNWR HQ, 13 Sept (AR) Swainson's Thrush 1, Drake Pk., Bend, DES, 20 Nov (HOH) Hermit Thrush Migrants, W of Sisters, DES, 1 Oct (DI); 1, Henley/Lost River, KLA, 21 Nov (FM) Varied Thrush 1, MNWR HQ, 22 Sept - 1 Oct (AM,CMO) Northern Mocking-bird 1, Stukel Mt., KLA, 27 Sept (FM) Sage Thrasher 1, Hogback Rd., Warner Valley, LAK, 14 Sept (AR) BROWN THRASHE,R 1, Glass Butte, E of Musser Res., LAK, 10 Sept (AR) American Pipit 3, mouth of Hood R., HDR, 13 Sept (fide GR) Bohemian Waxwing 2, John Day, GRA, 13 Nov (CMO) Cedar Waxwing Many, Sisters, DES, 9 Sept (SS) Orange-crowned Warbler 50, Sisters, DES, 9 Sept (SS); some, Page Spring, Steens Mt., HAR, 11 Sept (AR); 10+, MNWR HQ, Benson Pond, 9-22 Sept (AC,HH,AM); 1, John Day, GRA, 26 Sept (CMO); 2, Deschutes River St.Pk., SHE, 11 Oct (fide GR)

Nashville Warbler 1, Anson Wright county park, Hwy 207, MOR, 7 Aug (PTS); 1, Frenchglen, HAR, 24 Oct (SS) Yellow Warbler 1, The Dalles, WAS, 30 Sept (fide GR); 6, Brothers, DES, 6 Oct (JC,BT,DM) Yellow-rumped Warbler 1 Myrtle Warbler, Sand Spring, DES, 10 Sept (AR); many migrants, Klamath basin, KLA, 6 Oct (JG); many, Cove Palisades St.Pk., JEF, 12 Oct (DI) Black-throated Gray Warbler 1 female, Sand Spring, DES, 10 Sept (AR) Townsend's Warbler 5, MNWR HQ, 9 Sept (MD,MLD) PRAIRIE WARBLER The first eastern Oregon record was a

single bright male photographed, MNWR HQ, 10 Sept (MD,MLD). BLACKPOLL WARBLER 1, MNWR HQ, 19 Sept (AC,HH); 1, Fields, HAR, 4 Oct (FM,HH,VA) BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER 1, Tumalo Res., DES, 27 Aug (DH) American Redstart 1, Crescent Ck. CG, KLA, 31 Aug (DI); 1 female, MNWR, 1-7 Oct (CMO,TM); 1 female, Wallowa Co., 7 Nov (FSC) PROTHONOTARY WARBLER 1, Frenchglen, HAR, 7 Oct (JJC,TM,ALM) Northern Waterthrush 1, Fields, HAR, 5-19 Sept (M,AC) Common Yellowthroat 51, MNWR HQ parking lot, 9 Sept (MD,MLD); 29, Benson Pond, MNWR

9 Sept (MD,MLD); 8, MNWR HQ, 18 Sept (AC,HH); 1, Deschutes River St.Pk., SHE, 11 Oct (fide GR) Yellow-breasted Chat 1, Sherars Bridge, WAS, 8 Aug (PTS) Vesper Sparrow 1, Knox Pond, MNWR, 27 Sept (AM) Sage Sparrow 1, SLWMA, 24 Sept (PTS) Grasshopper Sparrow 1, m.p. 27, CPR, MNWR, 9 Sept (MD,MLD) Fox Sparrow 1, W of MNWR HQ, 9 Sept (MD,MLD); 1 sooty race, MNWR HQ, 26 Sept (AM) Lincoln's Sparrow 3, MNWR HQ, 9 Sept (MD,MLD) Swamp Sparrow 1, Fields, HAR, 4 Oct (FM,HH,VA); 1,

Wallowa Co., late Nov (FSC) White-throated Spar-row 1, Fields, HAR, 24 Sept (TB); 1, MNWR HQ, 26 Sept (OFO,TJ,PTS); 1, Joseph yard, WAL, Oct (FSC); 1, Bend, DES, 8 Oct (RAH); 1, John Day, GRA, 16-24 Oct (CMO); 1, Mt. Vernon, GRA, (AF); 1, Bend, DES, 25 Oct - 10 Nov (DH,PM) Harris's Sparrow 1, Bend, DES, 27 Oct (DT); 1, Fields, HAR, 15 Nov (M) White-crowned Spar-row Migrants, SLWMA, 27 Sept (DAH); 1, John Day, GRA, 24 Oct

(CMO); 500, Umapine, UMA, 19 Nov (MD,MLD) Golden-crowned Sparrow 1, MNWR, 19 Sept - 1 Oct (AC,CMO) Snow Bunting 10, Zumwalt Prairie, WAL, late Nov (SC) ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK 1 female, Fields, HAR, 1 Nov (M) Black-headed Grosbeak 4, Cold Springs CG, DES, Sisters, 16 Oct (JG) Bobolink 1+, Prairie City, GRA, Aug (TH); 1, Ochoco Res., CRO, 6 Sept (SK) Tricolored Blackbird 20+, S of Klamath Falls, KLA, 13 Nov (KS,FM,PTS,OFO) Western Meadowlark

Male Great-tailed Grackle at Mission, 12 November 1999, a first record for Umatil-la County. Photo/Mike Denny


1, John Day, GRA, 12 Nov (CMO) COMMON GRACKLE 1, Silver Lake, LAK, 27 Sept (SC) GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE 1 adult male, Mission, UMA, 12 Nov (AS,MD,MLD,CC,JS) Black Rosy-Finch 50+, East Rim, Steens Mt., HAR, 25 Sept (OFO,TJ,PTS) Purple Finch 1, Bear Valley, GRA (TH) Red Crossbill Many, SW Morrow Co., 7-8 Aug (CC,JS); several, Sand Spring, 10 Sept DES, (AR); many, Cabin Lake, LAK, 15 Sept (AR) White-winged Crossbill 10, S of Sisters, DES, 14 Aug (SS) Common Redpoll 1, Enterprise, WAL, 7 Nov (FSC); 3, Boardman, MOR, 22 Nov MOR, (MD,MLD); 3, Irrigon, MOR, 28 Nov (CC,JS); 7+, Black Butte Ranch, DES, 27 Nov onward (AA,DH,HOH,JM,DK); 1-10, Joseph, WAL, late Nov (FSC) Pine Siskin

Many, Sisters, DES, 9 Sept (SS) Lesser Goldfinch 2, Prineville, CRO, 15 Aug (CG,LR,PTS); 2 males, Page Springs, HAR, 11 Sept (AR); 1, Deschutes R., Bend, DES, 6 Nov (DH,HOH) Evening Grosbeak 2, John Day, GRA, 12 Nov (CMO) Observers MA Maki Agawa, VA Vjera Arnold, AA Anya Averill, TB Trent Bray, JJC Jim & Judy Carlson, SC Stan Cassell, KC Kent Coe, FSC Frank & Sue Conley, AC Alan Contreras, CC Craig Corder, SC Stuart Croghan, JC John Crowell, BBC Bend Bird Club, PD Priscilla Dauble, BCD Bill & Chris Dowdy, MLD Merry Lynn Denny, MD Mike Denny, DD Don DeWitt, AE Anne Esche, DE Duncan Evered, AF Ann Frost, DAF Dave Favre, DF Darrel Faxon, BIF Bob & Irene Froyd, DRG Diane & Roger Gadway, CEG Cecil Gagnon, CG Chuck Gates, JG Joel Geier, RG Roy Gerig, GG Greg Gillson, HG Henry Gilmore, WG Wink Gross, DH Dean Hale, CH Carole Hallett, JH Jim Hammet, LEH Lee & Eva Harris, KH Kirk Heims, RAH Ray Hegg, HH

Hendrik Herlyn, DAH Dan Heyerly, HOH Howard Horvath, RH Rich Hoyer, TH Tom Hunt, DI Dave Irons, TJ Tim Janzen, SJ Stu-art Johnston, DK Diane Kook, SK Steve Kornfeld, CK Cindy Kranich, DPL Dave & Paula Lawrence, DOL Doug Laye, DM Don MacDonald, NM Nancy McDonald, M Mait-reya, MIM Michael Marsh, FM Frank Mayer, AM Alan McGie, PM Patty Meehan, JM Judy Meredith, ALM Allison Mickel, TM Tom Mickel, CM Craig Miller, MM Marilyn Miller, CMO Clarence & Marilyn O'Leary, OFO OFO Birding Weekend, LP Lois Phil-lips, OP Orin Pearson, NYP Nancy Peate, AP Art Pereira, NP Nathan Pieplow, GR The Garryana Rag, AR Alan Reid, LR Lew Rems, JKR Justin & Kent Rodecap, TR Tim Rodenkirk, SS Steve Shunk, AS Aaron Skirven, DS Dwight Smith, KS Kevin Spen-cer, JS Judy Stevens, PTS Paul T. Sullivan, PSS Pat & Sharon Sweeney, BT Bill Thacka-berry, DT Dave Tracy, SNV Sue & Nick Vulgares, JW Jennifer Weikel, JUW Julia Williamson, TW Tom Winters.

FIELDNOTES: Western Oregon, Fall 1999 Jeff Gilligan, 26 N.E. 32nd Ave., Portland, Oregon 97232, [email protected] Italics indicates unusual sightings, dates,

locations, or Latin subspecies. Italics may be used for all records of a spe-cies or certain specific county rec-ords

ALL CAPITALS indicates a rare sight-ing

ALL CAPITALS IN ITALICS indicates the rarest sightings: first state rec-ords and OBRC review species

Red-throated Loon Regular seawatching at Boiler Bay, Lin-coln, revealed a high count of 2000 on 17 Nov (Phil Pickering). Pacific Loon Regular seawatching at Boiler Bay, Lin-coln, revealed a high count of 15,000 on 29 Oct (Phil Pickering). Clark’s Grebe A total of 10 on the west side, including four at Gold Beach, Curry, 25 Oct (Don Munson), was above average. PTERODROMA Sp. A dark-bellied Pterodroma of uncertain species was 65 miles off Clatsop Beach, Clatsop, 19 Sep. The bird was seen from

a cruise ship in an area where flying fish were seen as well (Owen Schmidt, Jeff Gilligan, Eric Pozzo). MANX/BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER 1 was at Boiler Bay, Lincoln, 9 Nov (Phil Pickering); given the recent spate of Manx records and the cool ocean tem-perature this year, the bird was likely a Manx. American White Pelican 1 was at Sauvie I. throughout Aug and Sep (D. Robberson). Brown Pelican Despite much cooler ocean temperatures than in most recent years, large numbers still appeared, and a few were still being reported to the end of the period. Cattle Egret There were 19 on the west side, with a maximum of 10 at Gold Beach, Curry, 18 Oct (D. Munson). WEDGE-TAILED SHEARWATER 1 was seen about 25 miles west of Depoe Bay, Lincoln, on 2 Oct (Matt Hunter; see elsewhere in this issue). The observer is familiar with the species from its normal

range. The only previous Oregon record was of a dead bird picked up off a Lin-coln Co. beach earlier in 1999 (see OB 25[4]:96). Ross’s Goose 1 remained at Bandon, Coos, through Sep (Dave Lauten, Kathy Castelein); 1 was at Sauvie I., 23 Oct and 18 Nov (Ray Korpi, Bill Shelmerdine). KING EIDER 1 at Seal Rock State Park, Lincoln, 9-25 Oct, was about the 12th for Oregon (Lai-mons Osis, m.ob.). GYRFALCON 1 at Baskett Slough NWR, Polk, 19 Sep, was about a month early for this very rare winter visitant (Roy Gerig). Sandhill Crane 1 was in Polk Co. on the unusual date of 4 Aug. Golden Plover sp. American Golden-Plovers had an aver-age fall. Pacific Golden-Plovers, howev-er, were unusually scarce. MOUNTAIN PLOVER 1 was near Flores L., Curry, 7 Nov (D. Lauten, K. Castelein), and 1 was at


Dunes Overlook, Curry, 16 Nov-end of the period (D. Lauten, K. Castelein, m.ob.) for Oregon’s 7th and 8th records. American Avocet Rare on the west side, avocets were at Tillamook, Tillamook, 30 Aug (Wink Gross); Brownsville, Linn, 23 Sep (R. Gerig); Nehalem, Tillamook, 25 Oct (Phil Hicks); Fernhill Wetlands, Wash-ington, 16-25 Oct (Paul Sullivan); and Siletz Bay, Lincoln, 23 Nov (Phil Picker-ing). Lesser Yellowlegs 1 at Fern Ridge, Lane, 14 Nov was about a month late (Roger Robb). BAR-TAILED GODWIT An adult was at Bandon, Coos, 11 Sep (D. Lauten, K. Castelein, Paul Sullivan). Stilt Sandpiper This species had a below-average show-ing with a total of five reported this fall. BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER Singles were at the Necanicum R. mouth, Clatsop, 31 Aug-1 Sep (Todd Thornton), and at New R., Coos, 8 Sep (D. Mun-son). RUFF Singles were at Yaquina Bay, Lincoln, 29-30 Aug (Ken Aldrich); Clatsop Beach, Clatsop, 2-3 Sep (Bob O’Brien, T. Thornton); Siltcoos Creek, Lane, 2 Sep (Sylvia Maulding, Diane Pettey); Bandon, 13 Sep (Tom Bray); and N. Spit Coos Bay, Coos, 21 Sep (Tim Ro-denkirk). South Polar Skua Very rare from shore, 1 was at Boiler Bay, Lincoln, 30 Sep (P. Pickering). Long- tailed Jaeger Also very rare from shore, 1 was at Tillamook Bay, Tillamook, 19 Aug (J. Gilligan, O. Schmidt). Franklin’s Gull The only one reported in w. Oregon was at Boiler Bay, Lincoln, 21 Aug (P. Pick-ering). Forster’s Tern 1 was on the outer coast, where very rare, at Charleston, Coos, 29 Aug (Alan Con-treras). Ancient Murrelet Four along the Oregon coast during mid-Aug were more than a month early (P. Pickering, Nathaniel Wander, T. Ro-denkirk). Horned Puffin Singles were found at Bandon, Coos, 3 Aug (J. Lenhard, B. Foy); near Cape Arago, Coos, 11 Aug (fide D.Lauten);

and at Otter Rock, Lincoln, 14 Aug (Da-vid. Fix). Burrowing Owl Rare but regular on the west side, birds were at Cape Blanco, Curry, 13 Oct (Ter-ry J. Wahl) and Salem, Marion, 18 Oct, to the end of the period (Steve Dowlan). Black Swift Rare on the Oregon coast, 12 were at Cannon Beach, Clatsop, 24 Aug (Brian Godfrey). Calliope Hummingbird Very rare on the outer coast, 1 was at Astoria, Clatsop, 19 Sep (Mike Patter-son). Lewis’s Woodpecker The only west side reports away from their usual haunts in Jackson and Jose-phine were 1-2 at Mt. Pisgah, Lane, 12-17 Sep (D. DeWitt); this represents a below average fall. LEAST FLYCATCHER 1 was banded on the outer coast, where casual, at Cape Blanco, Curry, 25 Aug (D. Lauten, K. Castelein). Say’s Phoebe The only west side report was at N. Spit Coos Bay, Coos, 2 Oct, representing a

poor showing (T. Rodenkirk). TROPICAL KINGBIRD Singles were at Port Orford, Curry, 12 Oct (N. Wander), Cape Blanco, Curry, 15 Oct (T. J. Wahl), Pistol R., Curry, 13 Nov (D. Munson), and Pistol R., 20 Nov (D. Munson). Cliff Swallow 1 at Hammond, Clatsop, 25 Nov, was at least six weeks late (K. Aldrich). Violet-green Swallow A count of 2200 at Mapleton, Lane, 12 Sep, was impressive (A. Contreras, Luke Bloch; see back cover of this issue). Northern Mockingbird

There were only three reports, including one at Fort Stevens, Clatsop (M. Patter-son) and two from the south coast. Odd-ly, none of the previous records were from fall. CALIFORNIA THRASHER Oregon’s 4th was at Medford, Jackson, 17 Sep (G. Shaffer, et al.) MAGNOLIA WARBLER 1 at Harris Beach State Park, Curry, 16 Oct, added to about 30 Oregon records (Alan Barron). Black-throated Gray Warbler 1 at Grant’s Pass, Josephine, 14 Nov, was about six weeks late (Dennis Vro-man) Hermit Warbler 1 at Sutherlin, Douglas, 9 Oct, was about three weeks late (Kathy Wilson). PRAIRIE WARBLER 1 was at Lone Ranch State Wayside, Curry, 13-25 Oct (DM). Palm Warbler 1 at Siltcoos Creek, Lane, 5 Sep, was Oregon’s earliest ever by four days (Rich Hoyer). BLACKPOLL WARBLER 1 at McKenzie Pass, Lane, 30 Sep, was a surprise at that mountain location (Jim Carlson, Steve Summers). BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER 1 was at Tillamook, Tillamook, 17 Oct (J. Gilligan). American Redstart An immature was at Bandon, Coos, on 4 Sep (J. Gilligan). CLAY-COLORED SPARROW This species is exploding in the region. As of 1994, there were only about 32 records from Oregon (Birds of Oregon, Gilligan et al.). Last fall there were five, and this fall there were six, including five in Curry/Coos, 19 Sep-14 Nov (D. Mun-son, T.J. Wahl, T. Rodenkirk) plus one near Eugene, Lane, 19 Sep (Davey Wendt). Brewer’s Sparrow Three were at Fern Ridge Res., Lane, 23 Aug (Larry McQueen), one was at Low-er Table Rock, Jackson, 11 Aug (DV), and another was near Lincoln City, Lin-coln, 19 Oct (P. Pickering); they are rare in w. Oregon during fall and very rare on the outer coast. American Tree Sparrow 1 was near the lighthouse on Yaquina Head, Lincoln, on 14 Nov (Michael Marsh, Henry Gilmore). Lark Sparrow

American Golden-Plover, near south jetty of Siuslaw River, 5 September 1999. Pho-to/Luke Bloch


1 was at Gold Beach, Curry, 15 Oct (D. Munson). Grasshopper Sparrow Since this species is an extremely rare migrant on the west side, one at Ankeny NWR, Marion, 19 Sep, was of note (R. Robb). Swamp Sparrow Birds were found at Diamond L., Doug-las, 16 Sep (David Fix). White-throated Sparrow This species was very numerous again this fall, with a high count of eight at Millicoma Marsh, Coos, 21 Nov (T. Ro-denkirk).

CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPUR Oregon’s 7th was at Cape Blanco, Curry, 13 Oct (T.J. Wahl, D. Munson, Jim Rog-ers). ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK 1 was at a feeder in Gladstone, Clacka-mas, 18 Nov (Dan van den Broek). INDIGO BUNTING 1 at Cape Blanco, 19-21 Nov, was about the 41st for Oregon and was quite late (T.J. Wahl, T. Rodenkirk); the great ma-jority of records have been mid-May to early Aug. Bobolink

Three at Bandon, Coos, 11 Sep, were on the coast, where less-than-annual (D. Lauten, K. Castelein). White-winged Crossbill A fair number were present in the central Oregon Cascades, with flocks at McKenzie Pass, 6 Sep into Nov (J. & Judy Carlson, S. Dowlan), and Waldo L., Lane, 2-17 Oct (P. Sullivan, Tom & Alli-son Mickel). Common Redpoll These birds irrupted into the east side during mid and late November, but on the west side, where very rare, a single was at Gresham, Multnomah, 27 Nov (Shawneen Finnegan, P. Sullivan).

A n n o u n c e m e n t s

Joint Meeting

Oregon Shorebird Festival/Oregon Field Ornithologists September 8, 9, and 10, 2000, Coos County, Oregon

Sponsored by Cape Arago Audubon Society and Oregon Field Ornithologists Festival Headquarters: Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, Charleston, Oregon

Watch your mailboxes this summer for more information!

Page numbers in Oregon Birds volume 26 1, 2, 3, … A simple fact, perhaps of little consequence to the majority of readers, is that most journals and many magazines number their pages consecutively and seamlessly from the first issue of the year through to the last. Without exception, to my knowledge, the first issue of each year begins pagination again at 1. The tradition for Oregon Birds, beginning with volume 6, has been to number pages in Oregon Birds in this fashion (prior issues were numbered independently). Through an oversight during the layout and review process, the first issue of Oregon Birds for volume 26 (year 2000), continued with the number-ing from volume 25 (year 1999), thus beginning volume 26 with page 115. While this is a rather embarrassing mistake, it is otherwise nearly inconsequential. Pagination is most critical in its service to those researching topics in literature, and this perspective provided the solution to our problem. We have decided to follow through with the numbering that was begun in 26(1), so that no confusion arises in regard to page ordering for volume 26; such confusion would have been present had we decided to start page numbering over with issue 26(2). Editor


___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Oregon Birds Oregon Field Ornithologists P.O. Box 10373 Eugene, OR 97440 Forwarding and Return Postage Guaranteed Address Correction Requested

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A parting shot from fall 1999. What simply looks like dusty electric lines is actually several thousand Violet-green Swallows, tightly packed on the closer drooping lines, and merely a few hundred scattered on the more level lines in the back. Near Mapleton, Lane County, 12 September 1999. Photo/Luke Bloch

oregon birds · 2018-10-07 · oregon birds 26(2):149, summer 2000 . oregon birds . oregon field...

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