Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 2019)
NEWS BlueMountainEagle.com Wednesday, January 9, 2019 A7 Birders flock together for area Christmas bird counts Two new species spotted during winter count By Thomas Winters For the Blue Mountain Eagle Thirteen birders spent a combined 33 hours in the field Dec. 15 looking for birds on the 38th John Day Christmas Bird Count. The weather was moderate this year with temperatures above freezing and partly cloudy skies. An average number of species and individual birds were seen this year, but there were some highlights, including two new species for the count – an Anna’s hummingbird that has been in John Day all December and some Brewer’s spar- rows that usually disappear during the winter. Other highlights include 10 snow geese, a northern pintail (the first time in 15 years) and very low counts of moun- tain chickadees and cedar waxwings. Special thanks go to the Holmstrom, Lemons, Mullin and Crown (Carter) ranches, and the Pikes for allow- ing access to their proper- ties, and to Iron Triangle for allowing access to the Grant Western mill site. Participants were Mike Bohannon, Susan Church, Jeremy Henderson, Randy Hennen, Karen Jacobs, Stacia Kimbell, Barbara and Peter Meyer, Clar- ence and Marilyn O’Leary, Jim Soupir, Allen Tay- lor and Tom Winters, with Anne Frost and Cecil Gag- non keeping track of their yard birds, and Carl Stout feeding “his” wintering hummingbird. Birds seen included: snow goose (10), Canada goose (145), tundra swan (4), wood duck (15), Amer- ican wigeon (7), mallard (562), northern pintail (1), ring-necked duck (5), green- winged teal (16), hooded Contributed photo/Peter Meyer Thomas Winters and Barb Meyer were among 13 birders participating in the Dec. 22 Christmas Bird Count in John Day. merganser (16), common merganser (5), Califor- nia quail (544), wild tur- key (184), great blue heron (13), northern harrier (5), golden eagle (4), Cooper’s hawk (3), northern gos- hawk (1), bald eagle (15), red-tailed hawk (52), rough- legged hawk (4), Eurasian collared-dove (169), mourn- ing dove (16), barn owl (2), great horned owl (3), Anna’s hummingbird (1), belted kingfisher (4), downy wood- pecker (8), hairy wood- pecker (3), northern flicker (18), American kestrel (15), merlin (3), prairie falcon (1), northern shrike (1), Steller’s jay (2), California scrub-jay (15), Clark’s nutcracker (2), black-billed magpie (110), American crow (2), common raven (180), black-capped chickadee (25), mountain chickadee (2), bushtit (11), red-breasted nuthatch (24), pygmy nuthatch (3), Pacific wren (1) marsh wren (1), American dipper (7), gold- en-crowned kinglet (30), ruby-crowned kinglet (7), Townsend’s solitaire (89), American robin (410), Euro- pean starling (621), cedar waxwing (1), Brewer’s spar- row (6), dark-eyed junco — Oregon (326), dark- eyed junco — slate-col- ored (3), white-crowned sparrow (48), song spar- row (18), spotted towhee (2), red-winged blackbird (4), Brewer’s blackbird (6), house finch (38), red cross- bill (3), lesser goldfinch (6), American goldfinch (11) and house sparrow (104). Spe- cies not seen on the count day but during the count week include Canada (gray) jay and pine siskin. On Dec. 17, nine volun- teers for the Antone Christ- mas Bird Count enjoyed balmy temperatures up into the low 50s and morning sunshine (except for some local fog) with clouds mov- ing in the late afternoon but no precipitation. The only drawback of the nice weather was soft roads that limited access to the mid- dle section of Antone Road, making for white-knuckle driving while coming back downhill in some other areas. The first Canada jay/ gray jay for this count was found high up in the north- ern part of the circle. Other highlights included nine raptors species (including three prairie falcons and one merlin), a Wilson’s snipe (found in a small seep above the Thomas Condon Vis- itor Center), six northern shrikes, four wren species (rock, canyon, pacific and marsh wren) and eight red crossbills. Once again, we appreci- ate the opportunity to count birds on Antone Ranch and the friendly welcome and interest from ranch man- ager Zach Bruce and his crew. We also appreciate the support of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, and the very warm welcome from Superintendent Patrick Gamman. Special thanks to Shelley Buranek, the Inte- grated Resources Manage- ment chief, who drove all the way down from Clarno, over two mountain passes, Contributed photo/Peter Meyer Tundra swans gather on a frozen pond during the Christmas Bird Count. in time to open up the morn- ing meeting place for us, then helped us in the field before driving back home again in the evening. Species seen on this count included: Canada goose (39), mallard (11), ring-necked duck (3), hooded mergan- ser (1), common mergan- ser (1), chukar (10), great blue heron (2), northern harrier (2), Cooper’s hawk (2), accipiter (1), red-tailed hawk (8), rough-legged hawk (1), golden eagle (3), Virginia rail (1), Wilson’s snipe (1), rock pigeon (1), Eurasian collared-dove (4), belted kingfisher (4), downy woodpecker (4), northern flicker (5), American kestrel (5), merlin (1), prairie fal- con (3), northern shrike (6), Canada jay (1), black-billed magpie (46), common raven (12), black-capped chicka- dee (6), mountain chicka- dee (11), bushtit (54), red- breasted nuthatch (7), rock wren (2), canyon wren (9), Pacific wren (2), marsh wren (1), American dipper (2), golden-crowned king- let (9), ruby-crowned king- let (14), Townsend’s soli- taire (69), American robin (134), European starling (83), song sparrow (16), white-crowned sparrow (5), Harris’s sparrow (1), dark- eyed junco — slate-colored (1), dark-eyed junco — Ore- gon (345), house finch (2), red crossbill (8) and evening grosbeak (1). Our Sincerest Thanks to all of our friends and family that donated in a million different ways to the 26th Annual Carrie Young Memorial! $39,061.00 was raised this year. Thanks to your generosity, we were able to assist approximately 225 elderly throughout Grant County. We live in an amazing county! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts - Lucie Immoos, Christie Winegar, & Dolores Young