12 Fall 2012 Applegater
BIRDMAN
Summer visitors move on
bY TED A. GLOVER
As the fall season arrives, birds are
on the move again. Many birds have left
already, especially the beautiful rufous
hummingbirds, and others will follow
soon, including the Western tanager,
the black-headed grosbeak, most of the
swallows, the strikingly handsome lazuli
bunting, most of the wood warblers, and
almost all of the flycatchers, including the
ash-throated flycatcher.
We have seen, or mostly heard, the
crested species of the tyrant flycatcher
family around our house all summer. The
ash-throated flycatcher is a mostly brown
bird above with a whitish-gray throat and
chest and very pale yellow on his belly.
While they dwell mostly along forest edges
or in open habitats, they can be spotted
as they fly from their perch to catch any
flying insect. But what we recognize first
is their unusual call, which reminds us of
a police whistle!
This summer we had most of the
woodpeckers that inhabit our area right
in our own yard, visiting our sunflower
feeders and helping themselves to our
supply of suet. (Interestingly, woodpeckers
do not rely solely on insects they find on
trees, they also catch flies and eat fruits
and seeds.) We had a chance to watch
some of the newborns as well. The most
common woodpecker in this area is the
acorn woodpecker with its clear black back
and vibrant red on its crown. It also has a
white forehead and cheek, with a hint of
yellow on its throat, giving it a somewhat
clownish look. In fact, it’s very vocal and its
loud call seems almost like it is laughing.
Of course, its favorite food is the acorn and
it can be seen and heard drilling holes in
trees, utility poles and even structures to
store the acorns and other nuts for later use.
We were visited regularly by a family
of hairy woodpeckers
along with their
smaller cousins, the
downy woodpeckers.
Both of these
woodpeckers have
a white patch in
the middle of their
Ted A. Glover
back and unmarked
whitish flanks.
The woodpeckers are year-round
residents in our area—watch for them as
they climb trees using their sharp bills to
hammer and chisel beneath the bark for
various bugs.
Ted A. Glover • 541-846-0681
tedglover9@gmail.com
Photos clockwise: Western tanager, a
medium-sized American songbird, was
formerly placed in the tanager family, but it
and other members of this genus are now
classified in the cardinal family (Gary Kramer,
fws.org); black-headed grosbeak
(Dave Menke, fws.org); lazuli buntings,
named after the gemstone lapis lazuli,
migrate to southeastern Arizona and Mexico
(fws.org); ash-throated flycatcher (Gary
Kramer, fws.org); downy woodpecker,
the smallest of North America’s
woodpeckers (David Brezinski, fws.org);
acorn woodpecker (Gary Kramer, fws.org).
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Fourth annual AAUW
fall garden tour
The American Association of
University Women (AAUW) Medford
will hold its fourth annual fall garden
tour, “Garden Inspirations,” from 11
am to 4 pm, Sunday, September 16.
The tour includes six gardens varying
in size and type from small lots to large
estates. Visitors will see water-wise, deer-
resistant, and low-maintenance gardens;
water features including fountains and
koi ponds; vegetables, herbs, perennials,
and aquatic plants; woodland and view
settings, greenhouses and birdhouses; and
much more. One of the gardens is actually
multiple gardens in the Rogue Valley
Manor (RVM) Resident Garden Area off
Mira Mar Avenue.
Garden tour signs at RVM will
direct you there. Tickets and maps to the
gardens will be available at RVM and at all
the gardens the day of the tour. Proceeds
will fund local scholarships for women
and girls. Cost is $12 per person, free for
children. Advance tickets are available
at all Grange Co-ops and Wild Birds
Unlimited. For more information and
maps, go to http://www.aauwmedford.org
or call Barbara Basden at 541-772-0579 or
541-499-8586.
NEW! Classified Advertising
Puppies need homes. Lab/husky mix. 5
girls/5 boys. Born July 1. Sweet mom
on-site. Must spay/neuter. 541-890-0147.
Advertising salesperson for Josephine
County. Applegater Newspaper. Generous
commission. 541-846-7736.
Wanted. Reasonably priced apple-cider
press with chopper (preferably motorized)
in excellent condition. 541-846-7736.
Place an ad!
Contact Sally Buttshaw at 541-
646-8419 or sallybuttshaw@ymail.
com. $12 for three lines of text
(approximately 120 characters and
spaces). Advance payment required
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