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Wednesday, October 25, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
2018 Oregon bird calendars available
By Helen Schmidling
Correspondent
platyrhynchos). Beall said
she flew right up to the pond
on his property, but she has
never had a drake with her.
“She just preens and visits,”
he said. Perhaps you can com-
memorate your favorite bird
on Limerick Day, May 12.
Perched atop a bunch of
juniper berries is June’s bird,
a Bullock’s oriole (Icterus
bullockii). They are a bird of
summer in the Western U.S.,
flying off to Mexico for the
winter. Beall said this one
was actually picking worms,
not berries, from the juniper
branch. June 9 is a good time
to celebrate Rhubarb-Straw-
berry Pie Day.
July’s rufous humming-
bird (Selasphorous rufus) is
the feistiest hummingbird in
North America. They can go
after larger birds that threaten
to outbid them at your hum-
mingbird feeder. They eat
insects as well as nectar. Fly
as fast as a hummingbird to
celebrate Day of the Cowboy
on July 28, and National Mutt
Day, July 31.
Killdeer (Charadrius vocif-
erous) is a shore bird you
can see (August calendar)
without going to the ocean.
Look for them running across
golf courses, athletic fields,
even parking lots. They run
in spurts, stopping to check
for insect prey. These tawny
birds have a distinctive “kill-
deer” call. You can also stop
to celebrate Lemon Meringue
Pie Day, August 15, and A
Man’s Best Friend Dog Day,
August 26.
The cedar waxwing (Bom-
bycilla cedrorum) shown on
September’s calendar, eats
mainly fruit. It’s a gorgeous
collection of soft tan and
blue-gray with a dramatic
eye mask, yellow tail tips and
brilliant red wax droplets on
the wing feathers. The name
“waxwing” comes from these
waxy red secretions, which
may be a mating device.
Three wood ducks (Aix
sponsa) are perfectly mirrored
in the October calendar image.
This appears to be a female,
male, and juvenile, in what’s
referred to as the “eclipse
plumage,” the male having
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PHOTO BY DOUGLAS BEALL
Doug shot the photo of puffins at Cannon Beach that is now the cover
photo for a fundraising calendar.
lost his brilliant stripes, but
retaining his red eye and beak.
Turn to November for
(what else) three Merriam’s
turkeys (Mealaegris gal-
lopavo). Merriam’s turkeys
were historically found in
the ponderosa pine forests of
Colorado, New Mexico, and
northern Arizona. They have
been transplanted into the pon-
derosa pine forests of Wash-
ington, Oregon, California,
Montana, and as far east as
Nebraska and North Dakota.
Beall found this trio up
around Jack Creek. Take stock
– Guy Fawkes is November
5; and Mark Twain’s Birth-
day, November 30.
The calendar year winds up
with a photograph of the sweet
house finch (Haemorhous
mexicanus). We had a lot
of snow last December, but
Beall found finches living in
trees that did not have much
snow. Reach outside the box
to celebrate Gazpacho Day on
December 6 and Ugly Christ-
mas Sweater Day, December
15.
More avian and wildlife
photographs are available at
Beall’s website, http://abird
singsbecauseithasasong.com.
TIME TO PUT ON
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STOMP OUT
THE FLU
with
The 2018 “Oregon Wings
and Feathers” calendar is
now available. Wildlife pho-
tographer Douglas Beall has
assembled this year’s calendar
from his favorite photographs
of birds taken in the past year.
Beall photographs and writes
the Sisters Country Birds fea-
ture for The Nugget.
Beall, who lives in Camp
Sherman, is donating the
proceeds of sales to Turtle
Ridge Wildlife Center, a non-
profit organization that pro-
vides injured and orphaned
animals a second chance at
life, and promotes the well-
being of wildlife through
public outreach, education,
and involvement. The cal-
endar, which sells for $16, is
available at Sisters Gallery
& Frame Shop and Paulina
Springs Books, both on West
Hood Avenue in Sisters.
They can also be ordered by
emailing bealla49@gmail.
com. For those in the Salem
area, calendars are available
at Coppercreek Mercantile,
Birds Unlimited, Ace Hard-
ware South and Affordable
Framing.
A clear Oregon blue sky
backs this year’s cover image,
tufted puffins (Fratercula cir-
rhata), shot at Cannon Beach
on the Oregon Coast. The
tufted puffin is a dramatic
bird, black with a white facial
patch and brilliant orange-red
bill. Yellow tufts appear as the
summer reproductive season
approaches.
There’s some question as
to whether the tufted puffin
should be listed as an endan-
gered species, Beall com-
mented. In recent years, he’s
witnessed the population at
Haystack Rock drop from
around 300 to around 60. It’s
been dryer during this year’s
spring and summer, and when
the puffins clean their bur-
rows, they flip out the dirt
with their feet, causing the dirt
to fall to the base of the rock
and out to sea. In addition,
their food supply is down, and
they have to fly farther out to
sea to get food.
“There are a lot of puffins
in Alaska, but they, and the
common murres (Uria aalge),
appear threatened on the Ore-
gon Coast,” he said.
He’s seen murres, which
dive down 80 to 100 feet in
the ocean to get food, wash-
ing up on the beach.
January’s bird is a horned
lark (Eremophila alpestris).
Beall photographed this bird
right here in Sisters last winter
on one of our tall snow banks,
as it had flown in searching
for food. The specific name,
alpestris, means “of the high
mountains.” There are 42 sub-
species of horned lark, many
of them found in Oregon.
Be sure to observe
National Bird Day, January
12, and National Hugging
Day, January 21. These and
other obscure holidays are
noted on the calendar.
February is mating season,
and February’s birds are male
and female Western bluejays
(Aphelocoma californica).
This is the California scrub-
jay, easy to distinguish from
Steller’s jays, because they
are crestless. They’re found in
backyards from Washington
to Baja California.
A dramatic shot of a short-
eared owl (Asio flammeus) is
in your face for March. Beall
found a mating pair at Klam-
ath National Wildlife Refuge.
The ear tufts are indeed short,
but this medium-sized owl’s
most dramatic features are its
black-rimmed, brilliant yel-
low eyes. When March roars
in like a lion, you can cel-
ebrate Whuppity Scoorie Day,
a traditional Scottish holiday
observed with a race around
the local church, gifts of small
coins, and storytelling.
Beall captured a flight
of five black-necked stilts
(Himantopus mexicana) in the
April shot. This species is dis-
tinguished from other stilts by
the white spot above the eye.
These migratory birds, with
their bright pink legs, fly as
far south as Baja California.
Take note, Easter and April
Fool’s Day are the same date
this year.
May’s preening bird is
a female mallard (Anus
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