Diary M
of a ' ffpraT
I Bird Watcher yf
Saturday, May 17.
My wife says she has been hearing wood pewees down
by the corner quite often. In fact she heard one several
times while we were sitting on our patio eating dessert. I
have not heard one for a long time. Apparently the pitch of
their voice is beyond my hearing range, although I could
probably hear it if I got close enough. Her identification is
a good one, though, because a wood pewee is one of those
flycatchers that is easier to recognize by voice than by sight.
unday. May 18.
We took a short drive in the late afternoon of this fine
day. A boy had been .telling me about finding some kind of
owl near the Mason & Ehrman warehouse, so on our way
home we stopped and drove by that area. Sure enough,
in a field nearby we saw a burrowing owl. I was glad to
find another place where they are resident. Very likely a
closer observation would reveal several and they a're , prob
ably raising some young in an abandoned gopher hole as is
their custom.
One reason we are glad to find these picturesque ground
owls in another place is that we are afraid they may be
crowded out of the field near the new Hoover School where
civilization is threatening to engulf them. R. B. Keeps track
of the owls there and at last report there were still four
or five. . .
Monday, May 19. .
A morning appointment (which I can't always avoid on
this my day off) made it impossible for us to take our usual
extended birding trip. However, at the last minute I decided
I could spare an hour and a half, so I jumped in the car and
scooted out to Hoover lake by myself. There, sitting on the
lake very calmly was a handsome western grebe and with it
a not quite so handsome but much rarer red necked (Hol
bell's) grebe. I looked it up in the Peterson bird guide that
I always have with me in the car and studied it at close range
with my binoculars. I never had a better view of an unusual
bird. Peterson says it is a "rare migrant inland". Gabrielson
and Jewett don't have any record of it for this part of the
state and apparently no Oregon record for the month of
May. When I got back 1 called J. H. and he went out to see
it; both grebes were were still there.
This wasn't the end of this short trip either. I went on
down Corey rd. and then a short distance down Gregory rd.
There I think I have located the nesting' area for the tri
colored blackbirds. I strongly suspect that they are nesting
in the willows and cattails in the draw just north of Gregory
rd. I saw a number of them and heard their raucous songs.
I hope to go Jjack with rubber boots soon and verify a nesting
record for this species in our valley.
There is no place like Hoover Lake and the. area near
it. I have seen more unusual birds there than any other place
in the valley.
' ' '
I yif mk i
Tuesday, May 20.
I went to Eugene with a friend, starting at 6 in the morn
ing. It was a pleasant trip and the weather ideal. After ar
riving at Eugene we were kept busy attending the conference
sessions that we had gone to attend, except for a short walk
4o a nearby cemetery to see what birds were about. I saw
eome pretty ones, taiiagers and black headed grosbeaks, but
nothing unusual.
Wednesday, May 21. ,
My hosts in Eugene all went to work or to school by 8 or
little after so I had time to take a walk to that wooded
cemetery on the hill before the conference sessions began". I
iept hearing what I thought was a red eyed vireo, but it
iept in the tops of the Douglas fir trees and I was never able
to get a view of it. Although I feel fairly sure of the song I
decided not to add it to my records because it is so long since
i have heard it. I like to record all the birds I identify but
REV. GEORGE TROBOUGH
Assigned lo Idaho
Minister Assigned
To Idaho Church
The Rev. George A. Tro
bough, associate minister at
First Methodist church, has
been assigned as minister of
the Jason Lee Methodist
church, Bla'ckfoot, Idaho, by
the Rev. A. Raymond Grant,
bishop of Portland. The an
nouncement was made at the
annual Methodist conference
in Idaho at Nampa, Friday.
The Troboughs will leave
Medford Wednesday, May 28,
for ' Idaho where he will as
sume his new duties June 1.
Mr. Trobough came to Med
ford in June 1956. He has
been in charge of the religious
education program of the
church and has developed a
series of television and radio
programs .for both First Meth
odist church and the Medford
Ministerial association.
Prior to coming to Med
ford he served churches in St.
Helen's, Ore., Sommerville
Mass., and Conway, Ark.
He is married and has two
daughters, Mary Elizabeth and
Gloria Glen.
A coffee hour will honor
the family at the First Metho
dist church this morning fol
lowing the 11 o'clock service.
The first American ocean
going ship was "The Virgin
ia" an opendeck vessel of 30
tons, which was launched in
Maine in 1607.
31 Measles Cases!
Reported in Week'
Reports of communicable
diseases last week show a
total of 31 cases of measles,
according to figures from the"
Jackson county health department.
Measles were reported inl
Ashland, Evans Valley . and
Medford. Fourty nine cases j
of German measles were in
Ashland, Central Point, Med
ford, Shady Cove and Trail, j
Ashland reported 28 cases of
measles and 16 cases of Ger
man measles, and Medford re
ported 18 cases of German
measles.
There were 37 cases of
mumps, 21 of them in Med
ford. Ashland had seven cases
and Central Point five, with
Phoenix, Trail, White City
and Evans Valley each, report
ing one.
There was one case of in
fectious hepatitis in Medford.
Also reported in the county
were pneumoia, one; strep
throat, three; trench mouth,
two; chicken pox, 11; influ
enza, seven; whooping cough,
two, and pink eye, one.
Medford physicians report
ed 62 cases of communicable
diseases, and Ashland 46, ac
cording to Dr. A. Erin Merkel,
public health officer. Others
reporting were Central Point,
17; Shady Cove, five; Evans
Valley, three; White City, two;
Trail, two; Phoenix, one.
MAIL TRIBUNE, Medford, Oregon, Sunday, May 25, 1958 7
Crowing Contest to
Be Held June 21
Rogue River The annual
Rooster Crowing contest at
Rogue River will be held on
June 21 at Rogue River's com
munity park, starting at noon.
It will be preceded by a par
ade at 10 a.m.
The score of each rooster
is tabulated by a judge, and
the spectators hear a running
report over the loudspeaker..
The record is 109 crows in 30
minutes. ,
The contest received na
tional recognition in the June
issue of Sunset magazine,
which appeared on news
stands last week.
! z j '-
SEP!
EST
K
I don't like to make wrong identifications, as I know I have
done at times.
Thursday. May 22.
Back at home I note that Brewer's blackbirds have been
frequenting our home grounds, which they do not usually do.
I wonder if they are nesting nearby. I saw a female gather
ing rose petals in her beak. Could that be nesting material?
I don't find very many nests. That takes time and patience,
both of which I have in short supply. Very likely red winged
blackbirds are nesting in the marshy area just above us. I see
birds of both sexes and the males sing their sweet, liquid
song. T.M.
fn
IV
EBegDnnong May
fP'EE
W lizi
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