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Newsletter of The Pendleton Bird Club Volume 6, No. 10 · Pendleton, Oregon · October 2008 |
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Arctic Birding Adventure, Part I
Betty went over the geography near Ambler, including two National Parks, which were the primary reasons the group travelled to Ambler. Since there are no roads into this tundra/taiga region of NW Alaska, almost everything is flown in, and the National Parks can be visited only by flying over or kayaking into some of the areas. The first park the group flew over was Kobuk Valley National Park, known for miles of sand dunes. Betty explained that the dunes are part of a glacial deposit, and the Kobuk River meanders through this park. The Gates of the Arctic National Park is north and east of Ambler in the Brooks Range. A small, 6-passenger plane was chartered for this trip, complete with a young college girl as pilot. Sazz was a competent pilot, taking the little plane over the tundra, lakes, and taiga forest. Aaron told of the birds seen in and around the small (~280 people)
Inupiaq Eskimo village of Ambler. A Northern Hawk Owl in a tree near the
cemetery was a great bird, even if part, or most, of its tail was
missing. Other birds included Gray-cheeked Thrush, Bohemian Waxwing,
Blackpoll Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Common Redpoll, White-winged
Crossbill, Rusty Blackbird, and Pine Grosbeak. In addition to these
Arctic species, infrequently or never seen in Umatilla County, they did
see many familiar birds, including American Robin, Cliff Swallow, Bank
Swallow, and White-crowned Sparrow.
The people of Ambler were very friendly, outgoing, and rather curious about the strangers going around with binoculars! The Kobuk River Lodge was comfortable lodging with well-prepared meals by the owner, Shirley. Her husband, Gardner, provided some transportation since he owns one of three or four vehicles in Ambler (besides the four-wheelers which everyone has for transportation) and possibly only one of two which was in running condition. It is not easy to get to Ambler, first you fly north-westerly from Anchorage to Kotzebue, then easterly by Bering Air to Ambler; and to return, again by Bering Air to Kotzebue, then to Nome, and Anchorage. There are several other small native settlements along the Kobuk River, but flying is still the only transportation between them. The program at the January meeting will be Part II of North to Alaska and will tell of birding adventures at the towns of Gambell (St. Lawrence Island) and Nome. Contributed by June Whitten Umatilla County Christmas Bird Count Saturday, January 3, 2009
During our count last year (December 29, 2007), 18 bird counters saw 69 species of birds, and tallied a total of 8,266 individual birds in our circle. Our count circle is 15 miles in diameter, with the center located about 7 miles southeast of Pendleton. We welcome everyone (from beginning birder to expert) to help count birds on January 3, 2009. There are no major changes in Audubon’s rules from last year as to how we conduct our count. The participant fee remains at $5 per birder for those participants older than 18 years of age, and each participant will receive a CBC issue of American Birds. Our count circle is divided into four areas, and each area has a Coordinator (see below). Each Coordinator is responsible for organizing and managing the bird counters in his/her area. To get involved, each interested participant must contact directly one of the Area Coordinators to join that group for count day. The coordinator will set a place and time for his/her team members to meet on count morning. If you want to help count birds on January 3, please contact one of the coordinators listed below. Area 1 (Pendleton, Wildhorse Creek, Patawa Creek and Riverside) Jack Simons — home: 276-8566Area 2 (Umatilla River and Cayuse) Jenny Barnett — home: 276-0639; cell: 310-0374Area 3 (McKay Reservoir, Upper McKay Creek, and Birch Creek) June and Duane Whitten — home: 276-9019Area 4 (Mission, Emigrant Hill and Poverty Flats) Aaron Skirvin — home: 276-1948; cell: 541-215-0761Bird enthusiasts can also choose to do feeder counts if you have an active feeder in the count circle. If you want to do a feeder count, contact Aaron Skirvin (see contact information below). All Christmas Bird Count participants will get together for a count-down at the end of the day and compile the count results. Abby’s Pizza on Southgate in Pendleton has reserved the banquet room for us from 4:00 – 7:00 pm that evening. Please contact Aaron Skirvin (276-1948, home or email at umatbirder@yahoo.com ) if you have any questions about the areas or feeder counts or how to participate. LET’S GO CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTING ON
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Christmas Bird Count January 3, 2009 For more information, see announcement Aaron Skirvin umatbirder@yahoo.com or 541-276-1948
6:30 p.m., January 8, 2009 NORTH TO ALASKA, PART 2: BIRDING AT GAMBELL AND NOME By June Whitten & Duane Whitten Pendleton First Christian Church N. Main Street, Pendleton
Bird Club Meeting 7:00 p.m., February 12, 2009 Program TBD Pendleton First Christian Church
North Main St., Pendleton
Bird Club Meeting 7:00 p.m., March 12, 2009 QUEST FOR THE ROSEATE
SPOONBILL By Bruce Mayfield Pendleton First Christian Church
North Main St., Pendleton
Bird Club Meeting &
Potluck 6:30 p.m., April 9, 2009 BIRD TREKKING THROUGH PANAMA By June & Duane Whitten and Betty Klepper Pendleton First Christian Church North Main St., Pendleton
Bird Club
Meeting 7:00 p.m., May 14, 2009 Program TBD Pendleton First Christian Church
North Main St., Pendleton January 8, 2009, Bird
Club Potluck The Pendleton Bird Club meeting on
Thursday, January 8, 2009, will begin with a potluck at 6:30 p.m. at the
Pendleton First Christian Church. Please bring a dish of your choice,
your own table service, and serving spoons or forks. We plan to leave
the basement at the church at least as tidy as it is on our arrival
without anyone having to do dishes or much clean-up. Coffee will be
provided In addition to the delicious food, our potlucks offer a great time to socialize with fellow club members and guests. We hope you are able to join us on January 8. Anyone needing further information about the potluck may contact Lorna Waltz clwaltz@eoni.com or 276-6353.
Bird of the Month – Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius)
The Varied Thrush is migratory, which means in the fall the northern
breeders move south within or sometimes beyond the breeding range. Some
populations
Varied Thrushes come to feeders at times, and are quite aggressive with other species when feeding. Usually a male will defend and maintain a small feeding territory around the feeder. To defend a territory, a male may first give a tail-up display, where the bird faces away from the intruder and holds its tail up to show off the gray-and-white patterned undertail coverts. If the intruder isn’t intimidated, the male may turn around and give the head-forward display with the wings fanned to show off the orange wingbars.1 The diet of the Varied Thrush, very much like the American Robin, consists of sow bugs, snails, worms and other small invertebrates. They are also fond of berries, fruit, and seeds. The young, often four in the nest, are fed exclusively on crushed insects so they may obtain enough protein for rapid growth. The strikingly showy male Varied Thrush is virtually unmistakable. Slightly smaller than the American Robin, it is dark blue-gray above, with bright orange wingbars, throat, lateral head stripe and underparts. The black breast band and facemask set off the orange coloration. Female and juvenile birds are browner above and the orange is more subdued. The breast band and facemask are more brownish than black. There is an extremely rare variant of this species in which all the
orange in the plumage is replaced by white. And, while this species is
an improbable transatlantic migrant, there is an
The population of Varied Thrushes has been steadily declining over the past twenty years, probably due to loss of habitat, mainly old-growth forest. They may benefit from reserves established for the Northern Spotted Owl, if they continue to be held as reserves. In the breeding season, Varied Thrushes may be seen around Emigrant Springs State Park and the Tollgate area. In fall and winter, they may be found in the lower elevations of Umatilla County, especially where there are berries and fruit. McNary Wildlife Nature Area and Cold Springs NWR are good places to look for them. To find this species in the spring, listen for the male’s distinctive, ethereal song, which it usually sings from the top of a tall conifer. The song is a long, high-pitched whistle on one note that lasts about 1.5 seconds, and is repeated in about 10 seconds, on a different pitch. 1 http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Varied_Thrush.html2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varied Thrush Contributed by June Whitten Fall Scoters: a Tale of Misidentification
This past October and November, I spent considerable
time looking for a Surf Scoter in Umatilla County. They are always
reported on the "big" water in Umatilla County, and I checked Langdon
Lake, Indian Lake, McKay Creek NWR and the Columbia River several times.
I couldn’t find one until November 28, when I was returning to Pendleton
from McNary Dam. I was in a hurry to get back to Pendleton, when I
stopped along Highway 730 about 2 miles NE of Later that afternoon, I sent out an email to a few local birders about my sighting of the Surf Scoter in case they wanted to look for it. However, when viewing my photos of the scoter later that evening, looking at photos of immature scoters on the Internet, and reading in some field guides, I began to doubt my identification of the Surf Scoter. Immature White-winged Scoters look similar to immature Surfs but have
diagnostic white secondary wing feathers. I didn’t see any
The photos I took weren’t great, but they did show the bird as an immature scoter. In the fuzzy enlargements of the photos, the white spot at the base of the bill looked more roundish and the bird did not show a dark cap, both characteristics of White-winged rather than Surf, as stated by Kenn Kaufman. By now, I regretted my assumption that the bird was a Surf Scoter; I should have spent a little more time studying the bird to make certain of the ID. The only way to properly ID this scoter would be to relocate and study it, hopefully getting a look at the color of its secondaries. From past experience, however, I’ve found that migrating scoters do not spend much time here, maybe at day or two, as they pass through Umatilla County. Two days after my initial observation of the scoter, I made my way
back down Highway 37 to Highway 730 and the Columbia River. Pulling off
the Unlike most other scoters we’ve seen locally, this immature White-winged Scoter stayed in the same area for several days; the last reported sighting was on December 13. If you see a Surf Scoter in Umatilla County in the fall, take a little time to study its field marks to make sure it isn’t a White-winged Scoter. I know I will. Contributed by Aaron Skirvin November – December Bird Sightings  've
had bird feeders in my yard ever since I
(Dave Herr) moved to Pendleton almost 15 years ago. However, late this
summer I had to take my feeders down because skunks eating the discarded
seed had become a problem. In late October I refilled my feeders but
with the exception of an occasional large flock of House Sparrows, have
not had much using them. Two weeks ago I figured out why. An immature
Sharp-shinned Hawk has taken up residence in the evergreen trees in
my back yard. He has a fair amount of success catching Dark-eyed
Juncos, but I wish he were doing a better job of catching House
Sparrows. Although I don’t have the numbers of birds feeding I’ve
had in previous years, it is still fun to watch the interaction between
the feeding birds and "my" Sharp-shinned Hawk.
Walking along the Umatilla River near his home between Pendleton and Mission on November 22, Jack Simons saw a flock of about 30 waxwings pass overhead. Based on their large size and dark brown bellies, Jack thought they were Bohemian Waxwings.
Barbara Clark reported the "usual cast of winter characters" has started to return to her yard near McKay Dam. She reported American Goldfinches, House Finches, Dark-eyed Juncos, House Sparrows, a "mass" of European Starlings, a Spotted Towhee, several Northern Flickers a Downy Woodpecker, many Black-billed Magpies and a covey of California Quail using her feeders. She also noted more American Kestrels have been frequenting the area between her home and Pendleton this fall. On November 24, Barbara had a Merlin visit her yard and spend a considerable amount of time checking out the sparrows hiding in the bushes. Barbara said she had a great view of this uncommon falcon. On November 24, I visited the McNary Dam area. The Eurasian Wigeon
was still present, swimming on the west pond after the main parking lot.
There were
Aaron had an interesting observation November 24. While checking the ducks on Mission Ponds he noticed a duck acting strangely. As he watched, Aaron realized a river otter had captured the duck. Although he was unable to verify it, Aaron assumes the otter fed on the duck. Russ and Connie Betts reported House Finches at their feeders in SW Pendleton on November 26, the first time the finches had been in their yard for some weeks. Bob and Dannell Tapley have settled into their new home in Tucson, AZ and are periodically reporting some their Southwest birds. They were able to observe a pair of Harris’s Hawks from the deck of their new home. They have some Anna’s Hummingbirds visiting their hummingbird feeders. We look forward to hearing more about the yard birds at the Tapley’s new home. Russ and Connie Betts visited the McNary Dam area on November 28. They relocated the Eurasian Wigeon and found 2 pairs of Hooded Mergansers and 5 Pied-billed Grebes; over 100 Common Goldeneyes were on the Columbia River and 15 Black-crowned Night-Herons in the Wildlife Nature Area. At the main parking lot they found White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, House Finches, and a Spotted Towhee. On November 28, Aaron reported finding a Surf Scoter on the
Columbia River, upstream past the Sand Station Recreation Area. Not
completely satisfied with his ID, Aaron was able to relocate the scoter
two days later and, with further study, determined it was actually an
immature White-winged Scoter. Elsewhere in the newsletter Aaron
describes how he finally solved this difficult identification On December 5, I made my final birding trip of the year to the Tollgate area. There was no snow and few birds: several Common Ravens; a flock of small song birds containing Mountain Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Golden-crowned Kinglets, and a Brown Creeper; and 3 Gray Jays at Target Meadows. Aaron and June and Duane Whitten conduct a raptor survey (Pendleton, Cayuse, Pilot Rock areas) every month from November through March. After one survey, Aaron reports hawk numbers are relatively high locally. Red-tailed and Rough-legged numbers are noticeably higher while Northern Harrier numbers appear about normal. On December 6, a Black-capped Chickadee visited Connie Betts’ feeder in SW Pendleton. Birding at McNary Wildlife Nature Area on December 6, Neal Hinds found a Harris’s Sparrow. Also on December 6, Aaron found 2 Prairie Falcons along Highway 37 near Holdman. At Hat Rock State Park, he was surprised to see a female Common Merganser begging for food along with the domestic ducks and geese and American Wigeons. He also noted the Greater White-fronted Goose is still there as is one small Canada Goose. Along the Columbia River he found Glaucous-winged, Mew, California, and Ring-billed Gulls. Craig Kvern found more Short-eared Owls in CRP lands on the Umatilla Indian Reservation: on December 6, eight on the north side of the Umatilla River between Cayuse and Thornhollow; and on December 7, three just west of Moonshine Creek. Rose Scott birded the Echo, Stanfield, and McNary areas on December 7. Her best find was a late OSPREY along Stanfield Meadows Road. The previous latest fall Osprey was reported by Jack Simons on December 1, 2007, along the Umatilla River between Pendleton and Mission. Rose also reported finding one Prairie Falcon along Emert Road and at least eight species of ducks, several Black-crowned Night-Herons, a Belted Kingfisher, a Spotted Towhee, and a Golden-crowned Sparrow at McNary Wildlife Nature Area. The following day Aaron and June birded both south and north of
Pendleton. At Pilot Rock they found 6 Eurasian Collared-Doves.
Taking the back roads north from Highway 74 west of Pilot Rock, they
found very few birds. However, birding picked up when they reached the
Columbia River. The White-winged Scoter was still present. At the
Port of Umatilla there was a pair of Barrow’s Goldeneyes among
several dozen Common Goldeneyes. There were two
McNary Wildlife Nature Area was a popular birding site on December 13. Neal Hinds and Tri-Cities birders, Dennis Rockwell, Kevin Burke, and Rod Coler, reported finding 2 Harris’s Sparrows (one immature and one adult) at the main parking lot. The Tri-Cities group, Steve Mlodinow (Seattle birder), and Dave Irons (Eugene birder) reported 3 BARN SWALLOWS at the Wildlife Nature Area. This is the latest fall/winter report of Barn Swallow for Umatilla County, the previous late date was November 9, 2008, when 2 were reported near Cold Springs NWR. Steve Mlodinow and Dave Irons also reported hearing a SWAMP SPARROW at the Wildlife Nature Area. This is the first report (of which we are aware) of a Swamp Sparrow, which may be a very rare, annual winter visitor at McNary Wildlife Nature Area, since 2004. Mlodinow and Irons also saw the White-winged Scoter near Sand Station Recreation Area on December 13. On December 14, while on a walk with Ellen Hartstirn on "a beautiful lightly snowy afternoon," Kate Ely observed an adult Bald Eagle along the Umatilla River near the Pendleton Center for the Arts. Also, on December 14, Aaron found 1 Great Egret fishing in Stage Gulch Creek in Stanfield and a male Eurasian Wigeon at Hat Rock State Park. Just before dark on December 15, Neal Hinds stopped to check out the birds at McNary Wildlife Nature Area. At the main parking area, Neal found 3 (2 adult and 1 immature) Harris’s Sparrows, 1 Red-winged Blackbird, 1 Spotted Towhee, and "a good mix of Song, White-crowned, and Golden-crowned Sparrows." On December 20, Aaron reported seeing 1 Peregrine Falcon and 1 immature Harris’s Sparrow at McNary Wildlife Nature Area. Also birding at McNary Wildlife Nature Area on December 20, Neal Hinds found 46 species of birds including a male Eurasian Wigeon, which hadn’t been seen there since November 30. Winter has descended in all earnest on Umatilla County during the past 10 days, with below-zero temperatures and snow blanketing the entire county. Remember Dave Herr’s report of no snow at Tollgate on December 5? On December 21, the Oregon Department of Transportation reported 55 inches of roadside snow at Tollgate! Even the low country in the NW part of the county has a foot of snow. With cold temperatures and more snow predicted for the next several days, possibly through the New Year, driving conditions are poor, making birding difficult, except at feeders. If you feed birds, you are probably noticing an increase in numbers visiting your feeders. Keep the feeders full of bird seed for our feathered friends, and report your bird sightings to me (Aaron Skirvin: 276-1948 umatbirder@yahoo.com) through January 20. Dave Herr will return to his duties as Bird Sightings editor when he gets back from his South American birding trip in mid-January. Another year has come and gone already; they do go by too fast! We will start the 2009 Umatilla County Bird List on January 1; so send me your bird sightings for the newsletter and the annual bird list. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Newsletter Editor: Position Vacant Pendleton Bird Club
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the Highway 37
intersection (just east of Sand Station Recreation Area) to look for
ducks and loons on the Columbia River. Immediately, I spotted a scoter
swimming among a group of 7 or 8 Common Goldeneyes. It had all the field
marks of an immature scoter: a dark brown duck, a little larger than the goldeneyes, with two white spots on each side of the head and a swollen
bill. Assuming it was a Surf Scoter, because they are more often seen
locally than White-winged, I looked at it briefly through my binoculars
and took a couple of photos, then headed off to Pendleton. %20--%20MD.jpg)
On November 23, Aaron Skirvin and June Whitten relocated the BLUE
JAY they found earlier (on October 19) in Ukiah. However, Aaron
noted there were few other birds in the town, stating they only found 3
Dark-eyed Juncos, 15 European Starling and 5 House
Sparrows. Aaron and June did find more than 20 Clark’s
Nutcrackers on the upper reaches of the Yellowjacket Road, and when
Aaron imitated a Pygmy Owl call, in addition to the Nutcrackers,
he attracted Mountain Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches
and Golden-crowned Kinglets. The same day Jenny Barnett reported
seeing a flock of over 40 Common Ravens over the Rice Park in SW
Pendleton. 
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