News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
A7
37th annual Christmas bird count covers Grant County and Antone
Gadwall and
ruddy duck seen
in John Day
By Thomas Winters
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
Contributed photo/Tom Winters
Four mallards and two American wigeons congregate in a pond at the old Grant
Western lumber mill, as members of the Grant County Bird Club were out on their
annual Christmas Bird Count.
(22), wood duck (6), gadwall
(2), American wigeon (4),
mallard (237), ring-necked
duck (5), hooded merganser
(7), ruddy duck (1), Califor-
nia quail (464), wild turkey
(232), great blue heron (9),
northern harrier (1), gold-
en eagle (2), sharp-shinned
hawk (3), Cooper’s hawk (5),
northern goshawk (1), bald
eagle (23), red-tailed hawk
(46), Eurasian collared-dove
(441), mourning dove (43),
great horned owl (6), belted
kingfisher (5), downy wood-
pecker (4), hairy woodpecker
(8), white-headed woodpeck-
er (1), black-backed wood-
pecker (1), northern flicker
(30), American kestrel (8),
merlin (2), prairie falcon (1),
northern shrike (2), Steller’s
jay (7), California scrub-jay
(25), black-billed magpie
(90), common raven (100),
black-capped chickadee (11),
mountain chickadee (15),
red-breasted nuthatch (23),
marsh wren (1), American
dipper (2), golden-crowned
kinglet (5), ruby-crowned
kinglet (1), Townsend’s sol-
itaire (83), American robin
(1,250), varied thrush (1),
European starling (969),
cedar waxwing (119), fox
sparrow (1), dark-eyed jun-
co (Oregon) (404), slate-col-
ored junco (1), white-
crowned sparrow (8), song
sparrow (15), spotted towhee
Species seen on this count
included: Canada goose
(96), mallard (24), northern
pintail (3), common gold-
eneye (4), hooded mergan-
ser (10), common mergan-
ser (1), chukar (7), ruffed
grouse (1), great blue her-
on (2), bald eagle (12),
sharp-shinned hawk (1),
Cooper’s hawk (5), north-
ern goshawk (2), golden
eagle (3), American kes-
trel (5), prairie falcon (2),
belted kingfisher (2), hairy
woodpecker (1), northern
flicker (5), northern shrike
(2), black-billed magpie
(62), common raven (46),
black-capped
chickadee
(11), mountain chicka-
dee (15), bushtit (25),
red-breasted nuthatch (3),
canyon wren (9), Pacific
wren (1), American dipper
(4), ruby-crowned king-
let (4), Townsend’s soli-
taire (64), American robin
(3,068), European starling
(262), spotted towhee
(1), song sparrow (22),
white-crowned
sparrow
(7), Harris’s sparrow (1),
dark-eyed junco (Oregon)
(192), house finch (2), red
crossbill (6) and evening
grosbeak (1).
jdpolaris.com
34400
On Dec. 16, a dedicat-
ed group of 10 birders per-
formed the 37th John Day
Christmas Bird Count.
The weather was mod-
erate this year with tem-
peratures ranging around
freezing, much better than
last year’s low of minus 2
degrees. And the sun made
valiant efforts to warm us in
the afternoon.
The sightings this year
were pretty routine. A pair
of gadwall and a ruddy duck
were found on the Iron Tri-
angle (formerly Grant West-
ern) pond.
It had been nine years
since gadwall were record-
ed, and this is only the sec-
ond time a ruddy duck has
appeared.
One species that has been
seen on every previous count
and was absent this year
within the count area was
rough-legged hawk. Eur-
asian collared-doves hit an
all-time high, and are still
expanding and increasing.
Low snow levels allowed
access to higher elevations
where a black-backed wood-
pecker was found – this be-
ing only the fourth record for
this count.
Special thanks go to the
Holmstrom, Mullin and
Crown (Carter) ranches
for allowing access to their
properties, and to Iron Trian-
gle for allowing access to the
Grant Western mill site.
Participants were Mike
Bohannon, Karen Jacobs,
Stacia Kimbell, Barbara
and Peter Meyer, Clarence
and Marilyn O’Leary, Jim
Soupir, Allen Taylor and
Tom Winters, with Anne
Frost and Cecil Gagnon
keeping track of their yard
birds.
Birds seen: Canada goose
(1), Brewer’s blackbird (8),
house finch (52), pine siskin
(32), lesser goldfinch (4),
American goldfinch (20),
evening grosbeak (1) and
house sparrow (78). Species
not seen on the count day
but during the count week
include mountain quail.
On Monday, Dec. 18, the
Antone Christmas Bird Count
was held with eight partic-
ipants meeting at the John
Day Fossil Beds Visitor Cen-
ter. Participants included the
compiler from Corvallis, Joel
Geier, who was accompanied
by his daughter Martha, Pat
Grediagin, Mardi Jensen,
Jeff Picton, Dave and Laurie
Robinson, Tom Winters and
Roger Long of Monument
School along with three of his
students.
The weather was compar-
atively pleasant with some
sunshine and temperatures
that soared into the 40s. Low
snow levels allowed access
to some of the higher eleva-
tion areas. Special thanks to
the national monument staff-
ers who went out of their way
to make sure we had a warm
place to gather before the
count and afterward for the
countdown.