Christmas Bird Counts

By the time the end of the 19^th century rolled around, a tradition had emerged on Christmas day. Many North Americans participated in what they called "side hunts", in which they competed to see how many birds they could kill, regardless of whether they had any use for the carcasses and of whether the birds were beneficial, beautiful, or rare. In December 1900, the U.S. ornithologist Frank Chapman, founder of Bird-Lore (which became Audubon magazine), proposed counting birds on Christmas instead of killing them.

That year, 27 observers took part in the first count in 25 places in the United States and Canada, 15 of them in the northeastern U.S. from Massachusetts to Philadelphia. Since then the counts have been held every winter, usually with increasing numbers of observers. For instance, the 101st count, in the winter of 2000–2001, involved 52,471 people in 1,823 places in 17 countries (but mostly in the U.S. and Canada). During the 113th count (winter 2012–2013), 71,531 people participated in 2,369 locations. 

 

The counts are set up by local bird clubs and Audubon societies. For three weeks each year (14 December to 5 January) tens of thousands of birders head out to conduct the CBC. These counts are cooperative efforts to get the best count of birds in a single 15-mile diameter circle. The circle is loosely associated with a park, town, or part of a city and the same circle is used each year. Volunteer birders assemble and are divided into teams and are assigned a segment of the count circle to spend as much of the day as it takes to cover that area and count all the birds of each species that they find. The Bend Christmas Count was last Sunday and the Madras Christmas count was yesterday. I usually try to do two or three counts in the local area. Some of the Oregon counts are very remote such as the one held at the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge in South East Oregon.  This year we are not finding large numbers of birds but species counts remain high.  

Barrow's Goldeneye pair found on the Madras Christmas Bird Count

 

Here is the remaining birds to list for this year before school ends. The list will continue starting in January, and now the challenge is on, as I try to find the less common birds and the specialty birds from the South West. Some of them of course will be common birds for that area but will be new to the list. Have a great Holiday Break and I look forward to continuing Mr Sutherland's Amazing Bird Race in the New Year with lots of cool Birds of the Week.

251 Golden-crowned Sparrow, Pilot Butte, Bend, Oregon

252 Lewis's Woodpecker, Shevlin Park, Bend Oregon, (catchup)

253 Gray-crowned Rosy Finch, Smith Rock State Park, Oregon

254 Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Portland, Oregon

255 Fox Sparrow, Portland, Oregon

256 Pinion Jay, Hatfield Lake, Deschutes County, Oregon

257 Eurasian Wigeon, Basket Slough National Wildlife Refuge, Dallas Oregon

258 Snowy Owl, Dallas, Oregon,

259 Glaucous-winged Gull, Columbia river

260 Bushtit, Tumalo Oregon

261 Western Bluebird, Tumalo, Oregon

262 Northern Shrike, Hatfield Lakes, Bend, Oregon

263 Barrow's Goldeneye, Deschutes River, Warm Springs Indian Reservation, Jefferson County, Oregon

264 Dunlin, Lake Simtustus, Warm Springs Indian Reservation, Jefferson County, Oregon

Bird of the Week, 15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azGEYpChlVk


So, here we are, the final Bird of the Week in the Great Bird Race for 2014. Next week you will be taking a break and enjoying the company of family and celebrating the birth of our Lord, the creator of all the birds. It is through His love for us that He has given us all the beautiful creatures to enjoy and that is one of the main reasons I like to watch birds because it always reminds me of Him.


The Heron family consist of what we call waders and is actually divided into three subgroups, Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns. I tried to find out what the difference is between Herons and Egrets and no one could actually separate them definitively so it's probably less confusing to just group them like the bird books do in the group of all the waders.


In North America, there are actually seven different Herons or Egrets that can appear in a white phase. Four of them are always white and the other three have a white phase like a previous bird of the week, the Reddish Egret.  (hint) This Bird of the Week has one distinctive feature that does not occur on any of the others.   Separating the Herons and Egrets  involves comparing bill shape and color and leg color, and once you check these features, it is not difficult to determine which of the waders you are looking at.


In this video you will see one of the feeding strategies that the waders use, which is to scurry around and scare up fish so they can see them and hopefully spear one. I was hoping to get a successful hunt on video but that didn't happen while I was filming.  This should not be a difficult ID


This week, we did another bird chase to hopefully find another rare bird for the list. Snowy Owls breed in Northern Canada and Alaska and usually do not come south of the boarder into the lower forty-eight states very often. The boarding states usually get a few birds but when food sources are scarce, the owls will come farther south and some years there is an invasion of sorts where lots of them show up. Last year was the biggest invasion of Snowy Owls on record and this seems to be continuing somewhat, there have already been three separate Owls discovered in Oregon this winter. One showed up in Dallas, Oregon week ago Saturday so Monday the 8th, we went over and were lucky enough to find it. This might be the only one I will see during the big year.

Snowy Owl in Dallas, Oregon, Dec 8, 2014

With the start of the new year, Mrs Sutherland and I will be hitting the road again. Our plans are to head south to Texas where we are picking up a small camper trailer that we ordered and rather than spend the money to have it delivered we are using the money for a road trip and hope to spend six to eight weeks in mostly warm sunshine in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. These four states have most of the North American bird species so this should go a long way to reaching my goal of finding a minimum of 500 bird species by August 31, 2015. Looking forward to some really cool birds of the week and maybe a surprise foreign bird of the week as well.

Watch for my final post of the year toward the end of this week and I will discuss Christmas Bird Counts and post the latest additions to the list.  


Good Luck, happy New Year and happy birding.

Bird of the Week, 14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLHXit4az1o

Well here we are, the school year is almost half over and 2014 is rapidly coming to a close.  I hope you have been enjoying this birding adventure half as much as I have.  It has been a pleasure to challenge you with new birds, many of which you may never see, at least without taking a road trip.  I look forward to the new year as the Great Bird Race continues.  If all goes as planned, we will be traveling the Southwest and exploring the many wonderful trails and interesting places along the way.  And of course great birds.

This weeks bird was found at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge in Missouri and it is challenging because it has a very close cousin that is found in Deschutes County.  This is an example of using range maps to differentiate which one it could be, but it pays to really look close for the subtle differences because this bird is found occasionally in Oregon and it does sometimes interbreed with its cousin so the offspring present a real challenge. So, range maps are a guide but where the ranges overlap, they are not a good tool.  In this case, since the bird was found far from where it overlaps with its cousin, the range map does become useful. 

 Look closely at all the holes in this tree, this guy has been spending a lot of time and the holes are a sign of the special way they feed which is reflected in its name.  I will point out that this is an adult male.  Oh, and the other part of its name is completely lacking on this bird and can be very subtle on many of this species. 

Extra points if you can tell what bird is calling loudly in the background :=)

Have a great week and Happy birding.  

Bird of the Week, 13

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fbb72et4MI

Good morning students, this weeks bird is one of my favorite Northwest birds.  In fact, I think it should be the Oregon State Bird.  Our current state bird, (do you know what it is?) is shared by five other states and I think we should have our own unique bird.  This bird would be well qualified because it is only found in the US in very northern California, Oregon, and Washington.  Most of their nesting is done in Canada and Alaska but I do believe they also nest at higher elevations in Oregon and Washington.   They can be found fairly easily in Deschutes County in winter.  They are related to Bluebirds and Robins.  (big hint) Some of you may already know what it is but maybe not, they don't come to feeders that much because like all thrushes, they eat worms and insects in the summer and fruit in the winter.  A good place to look for them is in decorative Crab Apple trees,  or Mountain Ashe. Good luck and happy birding. 

Bird Of The Week 12

This Bird of the Week  likes people and in many towns there is one in every yard it seems, in the summertime.

Time for another bird of the week. I really enjoyed meeting everyone last week and seeing all your hard work in your journals. You seem to be starting to get the mystery of birds sorted out a bit. I am hoping you now see why I enjoy birding so much. It is often a challenge to figure out what a bird is and just when you think you know them all pretty well, one comes along that just stumps you.


This weeks bird enjoys a pretty wide range in North America but its range  eliminates most of the northern states and Canada. This bird is placed in bird books in a group of families that are sort of miscellaneous hodgepodge of birds. We have already had a thrasher (you remember the Brown Thrasher) which is one of the families in this group. They range all the way up the California coast but are absent inland in Northern California. Jackson County and Klamath County do get a few of these bird every year so they are not completely absent in Oregon but pretty hard to find for an Oregon list. We have had a couple of records of one straying into Deschutes County but it is a rare bird alert if one shows up. Five states have this bird as their state bird and South Carolina used to have it as a state bird but they decided that the Carolina Wren would make a better state bird. This should give you enough clues that it will be an easy bird.


As you recall, one of the tools for bird identification is to listen to the song. All bets are off with this guy cause he knows the songs of ten to fifteen birds that live nearby and this repertoire changes from region to region as some of the songs they sing in one part of the country would be of birds they would not hear if they lived in another part of the country. But then the very fact that he is doing all these songs, gives away who he is.  So these birds are pretty popular, as you can see by the state bird count, and I think I have pretty much given it away at this point. Have fun and happy birding.


I apologize for the quality of this video, I took it outside my motel in Branson, Missouri and lots of cars started driving by, but you can hear him pretty well and see him fine. Listen closely and you can hear a second bird trying to outdo him in the background.  Among other birds I here in his repertoire, are Carolina Wren, Robin, and Cardinal. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BxnZYMDUp8&feature=youtu.be

Anybody Ever Hear of a Bean Goose?

Nestucca National Wildlife Refuge in Tillamock County, Oregon in the middle right of the center field is the flock that contains the rare Tundra Bean-goose

What does the word vagrant mean to you? As with most English words, there are several meanings that have common ground but the synonyms that apply to birds are wanderer, drifting, maybe lost. In biology, vagrancy applies to animals that appear well outside their normal range.


With bird watchers, this is the holly grail. Once you have found all the birds that live and breed in your area, getting a new bird for the list starts to get tough. If a rare bird shows up in Oregon, several lists can grow simultaneously. It can go on your State list, your County list, and possibly or probably your life list if it is from far away. It will also increase your year list. So you can see why birders get excited by the report of a vagrant bird.


So what makes birds go off course? This is something that remains a bit of a mystery for biologists. Some are studying the idea that their biological makeup becomes altered and the area in their brain that tells them which direction to go for migration is somehow changed sending them in the wrong direction.

Tundra Bean-goose flying with Cackling Geese

Many of the birds that are found far off course are juveniles and are inexperienced so they just “make a wrong turn” so to speak. They might get in with the “wrong” crowd, birds of similar species that are headed to their own wintering ground and they just follow them and end up vagrants. Another closely related situation is weather. Huge storms can just blow them way off course. In fact you will find birders becoming strangely excited when big weather patterns are coming their way because they know that it is inevitable that some birds that they may have never seen, could get blown in by the storm.


This past Sunday morning, a mega rarity showed up in Oregon. A Goose called the Tundra Bean-goose was found with a flock of Cackling Geese at the Nestucca National Wildlife Refuge in Tillamook County, Oregon. This is a fitting place for this bird to show up because the refuge is set up as a wintering ground for geese, mostly the Aleutian Cackling Goose. It is very likely that the Bean Goose got in with a flock of Aleutian Cackling Geese and migrated down with them instead of heading to it's normal wintering ground in Japan. It will be interesting to see how long it stays at the refuge, presently it seems very happy to hang out with it's cousins.

Tundra Bean-goose, November 11 2014, Nestucca NWR

Tundra Bean-goose, November 11 2014, Nestucca NWR

So you can see why I decided to head to the coast on Tuesday to see this bird. It might be the only one I ever get a chance to see and probably one of the most rare sightings in North America in a while.

Tundra Bean-goose in flight

Meanwhile, here are more birds to add to the growing list of birds on the Amazing Bird Race.


235 American Pipit, Bear River National Wildlife Refuge, Utah
236 Carolina Wren, Chattanooga, Tennessee, (somehow I missed this one)
237 California Quail, Bend, Oregon
238 Ferruginous Hawk, North Texas, (another one I missed)
239 Rough-Legged Hawk, North Texas, (another catchup, not sure how these got overlooked )
240 Lesser Goldfinch, Bend, Oregon
241 Ring-necked Duck, Bear River National Wildlife Refuge, Utah
242 Tundra Bean-goose, Nestucca National Wildlife Refuge, Tillamook County, Oregon
243 Pacific Wren, Nestucca National Wildlife Refuge, Tillamook County, Oregon
244 Cackling Goose, Tillamook County, Oregon
245 Common Goldeneye, Tillamook County, Oregon
246 Horned Grebe, Tillamook County, Oregon
247 Brandt's Cormorant, Tillamook County, Oregon
248 Pelagic Cormorant, Tillamook County, Oregon
249 Western Gull, Pacific City, Oregon.
250 Varied Thrush, Suttle Lake, Oregon

Bird of the week 11

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKHHPbLMdRo

Good morning Students.  This week I am presenting the bird of the week at Three Sisters Christian School in Deschutes County, Oregon.  I was going to put off posting the bird but I have been told there might be others following the blog so I will stick to my Monday posting. 

This little gut challenged me considerably.  I was hiking the trail by Jacks Creek this summer when I became aware of his singing and he really sounded close but I tried for ten to fifteen minutes to find him without luck.  I am not sure how I finally discovered him but there he was a mere ten feet away singing his heart out on his nest.  I have never heard a bird singing on the nest but it was pretty neat. 

He belongs to a family of birds that is similar to warblers as they have distinctive songs and love to sing.  They are generally much plainer than warblers. He might be a bit more challenging but one of his main field marks is very visible in this video even though we don't see most of his body.  I will add a couple of photos so you can see the entire body.

Good luck and happy birding.

Bird of the Week # 10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_gDn-yFuMc&feature=youtu.be

Can you believe we are at number ten on bird of the week?  Mrs. Sutherland and I  are now back in Bend and what a great trip we had across this great country of ours.  I have several bird videos to share from the trip and I have some ideas of birds right here in our neighborhood to video as well, so the rest of the year should be interesting.

This is one of my favorite wading birds.  On this bird, the bill should give it away, not to mention the fantastic pink color.  Another big hint is that this is a very tropical bird, only coming into North America on the southern edge of the gulf states.  The bird calling in the video is not the bird of the week but rather a Common Gallinule .  You will see a Common Gallinule come into the last part of the video as he forages on the bank behind the featured bird.  Have fun with this bird.

Next week, I will be coming to your classroom on Wednesday to see what you are doing in your journals and to present the bird of the week.  I have a great little bird in mind and I think you will really like this one. I would also like to pick your brains on how I can make the blog better so be thinking of what you might like me to address on the blog.  There should be at least twenty-eight to thirty more birds of the week so lots of challenges ahead.  I look forward to talking with you next week.  Happy birding. 

Why Do Birds Flock?

Small flock of White Ibis

 I came out of my hotel in the late evening and immediately heard this ruckus.  A hundred or so House Sparrows coming to roost for the night.  It got me to thinking about why birds form flocks so here is a bit of information about flocking behavior.  Sorry about the sideways video, I must remember this when I film from now on.  Meanwhile, I guess you will have to lay on your side to watch this  :)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGg577MpsfY

Why do birds of a feather flock together? Understanding why birds flock can help birders understand bird behavior and the fight for survival all their feathered friends face.

About Bird Flocks

Many bird species are gregarious and form flocks for different reasons. Flocks may be different sizes, occur in different seasons and may even be composed of different species that can work well together in a group. Flocks are so prevalent in some bird species that these groups of birds have special names, such as a raft of ducks, a charm of finches, a horde of ravens or any other of the names for flocks of birds. But no matter what a flock is called, it always has a benefit for the birds that make it up.
Birds do not engage in any behavior that does not bring them a benefit for survival in some way. There are many advantages to flocking, including:
1) Foraging: Birds often form flocks while foraging, which allows many birds to take advantage of the same food supplies. Feeding in a group also gives more birds the opportunity to find food that one bird has already located. Foraging flocks are often comprised of mixed species that may feed on similar foods but in non-competing ways, such as chickadees that glean insects from leaves flocking with nuthatches that glean the same insects from bark.

2) Protection: A larger group of birds has a better chance of spotting a predator or another potential threat than a single bird has. Furthermore, a group of birds may be able to confuse or overwhelm a predator through mobbing or agile flight, and staying in a flock also presents a predator with more possible targets, which lowers the danger for any single bird.

3) Mating: Some bird species, most notably game birds, form mating flocks in areas called leks where males will show off their breeding plumage and courtship behavior in an attempt to attract a mate. By performing in a flock, these birds make themselves more visible to a greater number of females, increasing their chances of a successful mating.

4) Raising Families: Different types of birds form communal flocks on nesting grounds called rookeries. In a rookery, while each nest is individually tended by parent birds caring for their young, the full group of birds can take advantage of flock benefits against predators to care for their vulnerable chicks. Birds that do not use rookeries may still form family flocks, and juvenile birds from a first brood may help contribute to raising their late-season siblings.

5) Aerodynamics: When birds fly in flocks, they often arrange themselves in specific shapes or formations. Those formations take advantage of the changing wind patterns based on the number of birds in the flock and how each bird's wings create different currents. This allows flying birds to use the surrounding air in the most energy efficient way.
6)Warmth: In winter, bird flocks can share the benefit of communal warmth to survive severely cold temperatures. Many small birds will share the same tiny roost space to keep warm, often in bird roost boxes, hollow trees or other similar spaces that can help them conserve heat. Large flocks may congregate in a single tree to share their body heat as well.

Disadvantages of Bird Flocks

While there are many advantages to flocking behavior, birds also take a risk when they assemble in flocks. The problems with flocks include:

1) Visibility: The more birds there are in a flock, the more noise and motion it makes, and the more visible it can be to predators. Predators may stalk flocks searching for the weakest members, and several predators can be attracted to the same flock, causing a constant threat to the birds.

2) Competition: Larger flocks need greater amounts of food and have more competition for mates, making it more difficult for each bird in the flock to find enough food or a suitable mate. Weaker, slower members of the flock may suffer if supplies are limited and they cannot compete as ably to get the resources they need to survive.

3) Disease: When many birds congregate closely together, the risk of spreading diseases increases dramatically. Many avian diseases are spread through either direct contact or fecal matter, and a larger flock has more potential for a disease to ravage an entire local population of a particular bird species. This can often be seen in backyard flocks with house finch eye disease or avian pox.
Despite the risks, the advantages of flocking are great enough that many different types of birds assemble in small, medium and large groups for different reasons. From a roaming band of foraging finches to a stupendous migrating flock of geese, flocks of birds can be an amazing sight for birders to enjoy, even more so when they understand how important those flocks can be for birds' survival.

I just looked at the odometer on the car and we have traveled 11,223 miles on our trip so far.  We are closing in on Bend, spending the night north of Salt Lake City.  I just went out to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and drove the wildlife drive.  Added two more species to the list that are added at the end here.
i look forward to relaxing at home for a bit and doing some birding on my home turf.  See you soon and happy  birding.

American Avocet in winter plumage

This is the rest of the birds up to tonight.  Sorry I missed a week so this is quite a few birds.  I look forward to seeing the map when I see you next month.

193 Barred Owl, Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, Missouri

194 Winter Wren, Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, Missouri

195 Sedge Wren, Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, Missouri

196 White-throated Sparrow, Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, Missouri

197 Eastern Meadowlark, Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, Missouri

198 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Rural Route 95 Missouri

199 Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Horseshoe State Park, Illinois

200 Great-horned Owl, Rural Route 51 south of Sulfur Springs Texas

201 Great-tailed Grackle, Baytown Nature Center, Baytown, Texas

202 Brown Booby, Baytown Nature Center, Baytown, Texas

203 Brown Pelican, Baytown Nature Center, Baytown, Texas

204 Little Blue Heron, Baytown Nature Center, Baytown, Texas

205 Tricolor Heron, Baytown Nature Center, Baytown, Texas

206 Cattle Egret, Baytown Nature Center, Baytown, Texas

207 White-winged Dove, Baytown Nature Center, Baytown, Texas

208 Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Texas

209 Fulvous Whistling Duck, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Texas

210 American Bittern, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Texas

211 White Ibis, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Texas

212 White-faced Ibis, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Texas

213 Roseate Spoonbill, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Texas

214 White-tailed Kite, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Texas

215 Purple Gallinule, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Texas

216 Common Gallinule, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Texas

217 Black-necked Stilt, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Texas

218 Crested Caracara, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Texas

219 Loggerhead Shrike, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Texas

220 Anhinga, Smith Point Hawk Watch, on the Gulf Coast, Texas

221 Mississippi Kite, Smith Point Hawk Watch, on the Gulf Coast, Texas

222 Swainson's Hawk, Smith Point Hawk Watch, on the Gulf Coast, Texas

223 Chuck-wills Widow, Smith Point Hawk Watch, on the Gulf Coast, Texas

224 Black-crested Titmouse, Warbler Woods, San Antonio, Texas

225 Common Ground Dove, Warbler Woods, San Antonio, Texas

226 White-eyed Vireo, Warbler Woods, San Antonio, Texas

227 Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Warbler Woods, San Antonio, Texas

228 Western Grebe, John Martin Reservoir, Southeastern Colorado

229 Semipalmated Sandpiper, Cheraw Lake, Southeastern Colorado

230 Townsend's Solitaire, Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado

231 Spotted Towhee, Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado

232 Cassin's Finch, Silver Plume, Colorado

233 American Avocet, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

234 Clark's Grebe, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

Bird of the Week 9

Female

I think you will like this bird of the week.  It is one of my favorite birds in this family of birds.  It is the Oklahoma State Bird (big hint:=)  I was very please when we finally found some, the male in the video was on the wires in front of a bank building in a small Texas town. The female was photographed in Baytown Nature Center, Baytown, Texas.   This bird is a semi-tropical bird and only spends the summer in a couple of southern states and as we were finding them they were already migrating. In one refuge in Texas we saw at least 25 of them slowly moving south to Central and South America for the winter.  I think there is one or two records of one showing up in Oregon. 

It's hard to believe that this segment of the Great Bird Race is coming to a close.  We are currently in Colorado and I am having trouble finding any new birds for the list.  Tomorrow as we continue to head home I will be looking for another life bird but I do not have much faith that I will find it.  If I do I might make it a bird of the week.  So watch for my post in the middle of the week and I will post all the rest of the birds from the trip up to that date.  After that the list will be shorter for a while because all the common birds have been seen as well as some pretty uncommon ones. I still do not have very many shore birds or ducks.  I have plenty of birds to share for bird of the week and in January I will be heading back to Texas and then if all goes as planned, spending time on the lower Rio Grande River as well as refuges in New Mexico and Arizona which should add at least another 100 birds to the list.  But that will be next year.  I hope to drop in next month and see  what you have done with the list on the map and take a look at your journals.  Happy birding. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSpwpA2LUmk&feature=youtu.be

More Hawkwatching Fun...

Sunrise at Smith Point Hawk Watch platform on the Gulf of Mexico. Texas coast

The excitement builds

Now that you have been to Green Ridge to take part in the Hawk watch, you have some idea what goes on at a watch and hopefully they told you about hawk migration. Due to the size of the western flyway and the many mountain ranges that the birds can travel, hawk watching never reaches the excitement that is seen in the east and a good day at Green Ridge would be 150 to 200 birds. East of the Mississippi the hawks mainly follow three paths, the Mississippi River, the Appalachian Mountain chain and the east coast. A large majority of the hawks converge on the Gulf Coast of Texas north of Houston and follow the coast to Mexico.

This week I got to do something I have wanted to do for some time but never took the time to be in the right place at the right time. As we head back home to Bend, I couldn't resist a side trip to Texas and a stop at the Smith Point Hawk Watch. I had been watching the reports and realized that this weekend produced counts in the 20,000s for each day with 26,000 Broad-wing Hawks passing over on Sunday.

The conditions were perfect as the birds were bunched up and would come to roost in the area waiting for morning thermals. As the sun warms the air and their wings they rise up by the hundreds and just start streaming down the coast. The hawk watch platform is right on the bay on a point of land with hundreds of acres of woods for the birds to roost in. I was not disappointed.

I arrived just as the sun was coming up and hawks started immediately coming up. The first thirty or so birds were all Coopers and Sharp-shined but about 8:30 Dozens of Broad-winged Hawks started appearing and soon there were kettles of 200 to 500 birds streaming by. I left at about 11:30 and by then I had seen close to 15,000 raptors! 

A beautiful dark morph Broad-winged Hawk

I was watching one kettle just above us and someone had pointed out a Swainson's Hawk in the group so I found it and put my camera on the bird for some pictures. From out of nowhere a Broad-winged Hawk attacked the Swainson's and they locked talons in a dramatic aerial combat. They were both squawking and screeching and all the hawk watchers were oohing and awing as I was firing off shots taking advantage of this great streak of luck. I would have never gotten these shots if I had not already focused on the Swainson's Hawk. 

And off they went like nothing happened.

We will be going to a couple of wildlife refuges close by before again turning back north to head back to Bend. The list should grow considerably and I anticipate some great Texas birds, so I will keep you posted. I hope you are enjoying the bird of the week and you can see additional bird pictures and reports on my facebook page. Happy Birding.

Take a look at this video clip.  This went on for several hours as kettle after kettle circled up and headed down the coast.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=becYv7s0BQc

More birds for the list:

184 Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Calhoun, Georgia

185 Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Gadd Road, Redbank, Tennessee

186 Morning Warbler, Gadd Road, Redbank, Tennessee

187 Cerulean Warbler, Gadd Road, Redbank, Tennessee

188 Magnolia Warbler, Chattanooga, Tennessee

189 Indigo Bunting, Chattanooga, Tennessee

190 Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Chattanooga, Tennessee

191 Hermit Thrush, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina

192 Scarlet Tanager, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina

Bird of the Week 8

We visited Mingo National Wildlife Refuge in southern Missouri last week on two separate days. It is a beautifully diverse refuge with bogs, marshes, fields and forests. We drove the 17 mile wildlife drive through hills, fields and forests and I was going about twenty-five miles an hour when I spotted this lovely falcon (hint:=) out of the corner of my eye. Luckily, he didn't fly immediately even though I had to back up in order to see him. He flew across the road and as you can hear in the video. I had to lay across Mrs. Sutherland to get the shot out her window.

This bird can be found in most countries in the northern hemisphere. Most ornithologists think that the European birds are a separate species. I have included a still shot of another one that we saw feeding on a fence post in Montana. Good luck with what I think will be an easy ID. The list is growing and I intend to bring it up to date with the next post this week. I added bird 200 today!  We were pretty busy last week and did not always have internet. Happy birding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3zmS9M6pTk

Bird of the Week 7

Although this weeks bird does not normally range west of the Rocky Mountains or north of southern Arizona/California, many of you might know what it is because it is one of the most photographed birds in North America and one of the most popular yard birds in it's range. They are very common in the South East and there is a pair in almost everyone's back yard. There have only been a couple of records of this bird straying into Oregon and I am not sure if they have been accepted by the Oregon Birds Record Committee. They do not seriously migrate and many stay in the cold northern climates all winter so it is apparent they could stand most everything Oregon could throw at them, so I always wonder why they have not expanded their range to include the Northwest. I can only hope. At any rate I get to enjoy them while I am traveling here in the east.

This video is of the female, I have also included a still of the male that I took last year in Arizona. In the video at about the one minute point, you can hear her start making her call note. There is also a Blue Jay calling somewhere in the background through most of the video.

Enjoy the bird of the week and I hope you all get to see one someday. We are now starting to turn back west and will wind our way through the mid section states of Kansas and Colorado hoping for some fairly rare birds and maybe another life bird. Stay tuned and happy birding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBPXk4VnklQ

Birding Hot Spots Produce More Birds For The List

Kootani National Wildlife Refuge, Idaho

As you travel around your town, state, and country or the world, you will find birds everywhere you go. Certain areas however, often because of their location and a mix of habitats, are recognized as especially good locations for birds. Birders refer to these as hotspots. Some areas are more productive during a certain time of year, so do a little planning before taking a trip to one of these locations. A couple of local hotspots in Deschutes county are Shevlin Park, the First Street River Trail, and the Hatfield Reclamation Ponds out by the airport. Two state hot spots that are within a days drive of Bend are Klammath National Wildlife Refuge and Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

Rose-breasted Grosbeak, I saw the first one when I was 8 years old and consider this my "spark" bird

Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota

As I have been traveling acrouss this vast country of ours, I have been trying to concentrate my birding efforts at some of these hot spots. If you are trying to put together the biggest list of birds, you would of course want to bird in areas that have the most birds. Most national wildlife refuges have concentrations of birds and other wildlife but many of them have specific habitat and only attract certain families of birds. A hot spot usually has several different types of habitat.

On this trip I was fortunate to visit one of the top ten Hot Spots in North America. The mix of coastal woods and marshes along the southeastern tip of New Jersey located on the Delaware Bay makes Cape May one of the hottest birding locations in the country. More than 400 species have been recorded. Spring and fall migrations can be outstanding, with 30 species of warblers possible on a single day. I had heard that a Whiskered Tern, a bird normally found in Europe and wintering in Africa, was being seen regularly. As often happens with this type of report, by the time I got there, the bird had moved on. But it was an enjoyable two days and as you have seen on the list I added several new birds. The list continues to grow as the Amazing Bird Race continues.

Cape May Hawk Watch

Black-throated Blue Warbler eating a spider

New Birds for the list:

167 Snowy Egret, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

168 Laughing Gull, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

169 Mute Swan, Cape May, New Jersey

170 Green Heron, Cape May, New Jersey

171 Royal Tern, Cape May, New Jersey

172 Fish Crow, Cape May, New Jersey

173 Brown Thrasher, Cape May, New Jersey

174 Black Vulture, Cape May, New Jersey

175 Eastern Phebe, Cape May, New Jersey

176 Field Sparrow, Cape May, New Jersey

177 Common Grackle, Cape May, New Jersey

178 Black-throated Blue Warbler, Cape May, New Jersey

179 Chimney Swift, Williamsport, Maryland

180 Tufted Titmouse, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

181 Blackpole Warbler, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

182 Spotted Sandpiper, Bowdoin Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Montana

183 Pileated Woodpecker, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Bird of The Week, Number 6

It's hard to believe we are in week six of The Amazing Bird Race.  I have been away from internet access for a couple of days and the weather was not good yesterday but all in all it has been a great road trip so far.  We are approaching 6,000 miles on the odometer and have seen some wonderful sights and the bird list is nearing 200.

This week features a family of birds that is quite gregarious and they love to sing.  This time of year, most birds are not singing and for the most part, birds sing during breeding season as they use the songs to declare their territory and impress their mates.  Birds do declare their presence the rest of the year through various noises referred to as call notes.  The call note can be heard in this short video.

This particular member of the Mimidae family (hint)  can be tricky to glimpse in the tangled mass of shrubbery, and you might wonder how such a boldly patterned, gangly bird could stay so hidden. The very nature of this behavior resulted in a rather short video this week but I have included some stills so this should be an easy ID.  These birds wear a somewhat severe expression thanks to their heavy, slightly down-curved bill and staring yellow eyes, and they are the only Mimidae species east of Texas. (another hint:=)  These guys  are exuberant singers, with one of the largest repertoires of any North American songbird.  Once you ID the bird you might be able to find a recording of their song on line.  Try http://www.whatbird.com/

Watch for my midweek post on birding hotspots and happy birding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH49f93KPVw

So, What's a Pelagic Trip?

Parasitic Jaeger

The emphasis this week has been on sea birds primarily because I spent two days last week seeking them out. There many families of birds that spend all or almost all of their life at sea. They tend to live longer than most land birds and spend a lot of time with their young which often only number one or two chicks. Some species nest a fair distance from land yet they are built to dive for fish so they must travel some distances for the food to feed their young. An example of an Oregon bird that fits this category is the Marbled Murlet. They fly inland on the coastal range in old growth forest, seeking huge conifers with large branches to nest on. They then travel back and forth to the ocean to get the food to feed their young. Another Oregon Pelagic bird that everyone loves is the Tufted Puffin that nest on Haystack Rock on Cannon Beach.

Sea birds are often refereed to as Pelagic birds which simply means birds that seek open Oceans for their habitat and food. Each year throughout the world, expert sea birders organize pelagic birding trips that specialize in plying the ocean waters in search of these wonderful birds. Some of these trips only go off shore a short distance and return in four or five hours where others travel 40 to 60 miles off shore and last all day or sometimes two days. Many of these birds do not come near land except in their nesting grounds so this would be the only way to see them.

Pelagic Bird trip on the Quaddy Link Whale Watch boat

Last weekend, I went on a five hour Pelagic trip out of the port of St Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada. The trip was operated by a Whale Watch Company but was organized to search for sea birds. We went out into the Bay of Fundy and around Deer Island and also near Campabello Island. We saw large flocks of Gulls and this is the list of Pelagic birds That I saw.

 

Razorbill

Greater Shearwater

Sometimes you get lucky and get a whale, this is a Minke Whale

Herring Gull

Black Guillemot

Surf Scoter

White-winged Scoter

Double Crested Cormorant

Great Cormorant

Ring-billed Gull

Little Gull, this was a life bird for me, one I had never seen

Greater Black-backed Gull

Bonaparte's Gull

Common Eider

Parasitic Jaeger

Black-legged Kittiwake

Common Tern

Now, for this week's update on the Amazing Bird Race list.

142 Swamp Sparrow, Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada

143 Blue-headed Vireo, Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada

144 Black Guillemot, Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada

145 Surf Scoter, Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada

146 Spruce Grouse, Topsfield, Maine

147 Gray Jay, Topsfield, Maine

148 Brown Creeper, Topsfield Maine

149 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

150 Red-eyed Viero, St Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada

151 Black-bellied Plover, St Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada

152 Lincoln's Sparrow, St Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada

153 Golden-crowned Kinglet, St Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada

154 Great Shearwater, Grand Manan Ferry, Charlotte County, New Brunswick Canada

155 Northern Gannett, Grand Manan Ferry, Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada

156 Red-breasted Merganser, Grand Manan Island, Charlotte County, New Burnswick Canada

157 Ruffed Grouse, Grand Manan Island, Charlotte County, New Brunswick Canada

158 Semipalmated Plover, Grand Manan Island, Charlotte County, New Brunswick Canada

159 Sanderling, Grand Manan Island, Charlotte County, New Brunswick Canada

160 White-winged Scoter, Bay of Fundy, Charlotte County, New Brunswick Canada

161 Great Cormorant, Bay of Fundy, Charlotte County, New Brunswick Canada

162 Parasitic Jaeger, Bay of Fundy, Charlotte County, New Brunswick Canada

163 Little Gull, (life bird)Bay of Fundy, Charlotte County, New Brunswick Canada

164 Black-legged Kittiwake, Bay of Fundy, Charlotte County, New Brunswick Canada

165 Razorbill, Whitehead Island Ferry, Charlotte County, New Brunswick Canada

166 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, St Stevens, New Brunswick, Canada

Little Gull, another life bird

Black-legged Kittiwake