| | ECBC Newsletter - Summer 2009 | August 1, 2009 | What a great time to get out birding and as we enter the early fall we can look back at the summer and some of ECBC’s successes. We worked with the ODFW to start breeding shorebird surveys at Summer Lake, Kestrels had a bumper year, and more and more people are following the success of our Lewis’s Woodpecker project. The second annual Woodpecker Wonderland festival was a great success, in part due to the fantastic field trips organized by Dean Hale and led by ECBC and other volunteers. At the end of the school year, a small group of ECBC volunteers escorted Marci Adams and her 1st/2nd class from High Lakes around Sawyer Park to find birds. The kids were great and were very enthusiastic about everything. Chuck Gates continues to work away at a birders guide for Oregon …. breaking down all the best birding sites by County and providing maps, directions and expected species. I hope we can publish this on the web sometime in the fall. I would like to thank the Calypso fund of the Oregon Community Foundation for their very kind support of $1,000. I would also like to thank the many people who make up the ECBC family and do so much for our birds and us. Finally, I would also like to thank The BirdGuide Inc who donated four pelagic trips to the people who raised the most money for the ECBC Bird-a-Fun. Thank you Greg! |  |
A decision for the membership by Steve Dougill (president) Since ECBC was formed seven years ago, we have been living in parallel with Central Oregon Audubon Society (COAS) which, as an organization, has very similar goals and aspirations as us. As we became established and developed exciting projects and engaged a volunteer base, COAS struggled to find its niche and continued to fade. In many respects it has now become little more than a name in Central Oregon with ECBC taking over its role in promoting birds and conservation. Still, the name Audubon has enormous appeal and recognition. It too has many resources for its local chapters, grant programs to tap into, and a membership base that clearly has an interest in birds and their conservation but has not been actively engaged in Central Oregon for a long time. The structure of Audubon has also changed dramatically in recent years. Autonomy is given to local chapters where they keep 100% control of their finances, their projects and their membership. It is a local effort with support and a general mission directed from the national level. Members are able to join the National Audubon Organization and receive benefits including a magazine and the knowledge that they are supporting the mission and goals of this organization. However individuals are also free to join local chapters that are independent from, but affiliated with, the national organization. Their money goes to support the local organization and its mission. COAS has decided to fold as an organization. This has led the board of directors of ECBC to reevaluate the structure of ECBC and the possibility of taking back the Audubon name and their resources. No decisions have been made and we are asking you for your comments before the ECBC board conducts a vote in early September. Our members and projects are key to our success. We are known for our enthusiasm, our wide-ranging projects and the field trips we lead; at the State level we coordinate winter raptor surveys, the North American Migration Counts, OR Swift Watch and the Cascade Birding Trail. Locally we have built a name on successes with the Lewis’s Woodpeckers and the Kestrel nest-box studies. We have partnerships with local non-profits, City, State and Federal agencies. We are known for our friendly field trips where leaders and local experts sometimes outnumber the other participants. Whether we adopt the Audubon standard and become The East Cascades Audubon Society or remain as ECBC, none of this will change. The essence of ECBC will remain and we will continue to support our stakeholders: the birds and birders of this region. A major concern expressed to me about any change is the chance of losing the momentum and energy that is the essence of ECBC. We were born from a local need and are powered by energetic volunteers. It is a very special organization that is independent and free to act in a way it chooses. Passions run high. One thing that weighs heavily in my mind, as president of ECBC, is it’s future. We are completely run by a dedicated group of volunteers and as we grow it becomes harder to manage the organization. We require some degree of paid staff to take some of the burden away from volunteers and allow them to do the things they love; working on projects and with volunteers. Whatever direction we go, this will be a key goal. If we were to become a local and independent Audubon chapter (similar to Portland Audubon) we would have access to substantial resources and the opportunity to hire a part-time executive director. This would allow us to continue our projects and expand our outreach to the media and schools. It would allow us to keep doing what we love (and need) to do: work for the birds. So contact me and the board of directors of ECBC and tell us what you think of this decision that lies before your organization. Volunteer 2009 - We need you:
ECBC is an active organization. We have a number of projects that we carry out and we would like you to participate in them, get involved and meet some great people. We are featuring a few below that need little birding experience. See the web site for a full list of projects. We have one major fall project that we need volunteers for: The Raptor Surveys at Green Ridge, north of Sisters. These start the weekend of September 19/20, and we count the raptors as they migrate south along the ridge each weekend for the next month or so. Sharp-shinned and Coopers Hawks are most common but we get good numbers of Eagles, Merlin and Red tailed Hawks with a few Peregrine, Goshawk and others. There are plenty of other forest birds, great scenery and fun company. Contact Karen Sharples for more information. We are also looking for people to help with our annual event in November. This is much more than a fundraiser; it’s our chance to say a big thank you to all the volunteers who have helped make ECBC so successful. Please contact Diane Kook for more information. Two volunteers are needed for the Kestrel Nest Box Survey and 2 volunteers for the Bluebird Nest Box Survey for next year. This is not rocket science but you need to have an interest in the birds and enough spare time to devote to surveying the birds and reporting the information to the leaders of the projects. It is actually a great Experience and very rewarding. It doesn't get any better than getting involved in these birding projects with quality people for a common cause. Please contact Dean Hale at 541-388-1770 or 541- 815-6770. Also for the Kestrel nestbox study we have several spasre Kestrel boxes ... do you have a good location for one? Contact Dean.
In The News: Dave Tracey was featured in The Bend Bulletin for a story focusing on the popular birding-by-ear walks he leads for ECBC along the Deschutes River in Bend. Several people are currently writing articles about the Lewis’s Woodpecker project: The American Birding Conservancy and an article for Birds and Bloom. Spring bird migration in Oregon is often in direct contrast with the fall migration. While birds tend to take their time migrating south in the fall, the northern spring migration is always about being in a hurry. Fall birds often spend several days in one location. In the spring, you have to be quick to see a rare migrant because it is not likely to be there the next day. Waterfowl migration this year was abundant but provided few surprises. A ROSS'S GOOSE was seen east of Bend and a CACKLING GOOSE hung out at Drake Park for a few days. A total of 6 EURASIAN WIGEONS were spotted throughout the region. BLUE-WINGED TEAL seemed to be a little more common than normal and the numbers of GREATER SCAUP at Wickiup Reservoir were quite impressive. A RED-BREASTED MERGANSER gave a good show at Sawyer Park and a few HORNED GREBES were located at various locales. It was a big year for AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS with as many as 80 showing up at Houston Lake in Powell Butte. Houston Lake continued to be one of the best places to see AMERICAN BITTERN and that location also hosted a GREAT EGRET (seen in several other locations as well). One doesn't think of Sawyer Park as a likely location for SANDHILL CRANE but one was located flying over by Dave Tracy's Birding-By-Ear class on April 1. Seventy-six sandhills were found at Gutierrez Ranch in Crook County. A SEMIPALMATED PLOVER showed up briefly at Hatfield Lake and LESSER YELLOWLEGS were spotted there as well. Keeping with its common name, a single SOLITARY SANDPIPER made an unexpected showing at Calliope Crossing of all places. One does not expect to see PECTORAL SANDPIPERS in this area in the spring so a single bird near lower bridge makes this list. Three RED-NECKED PHALAROPES were located at Hatfield Lake. BONAPARTE'S GULLS, FORSTER'S TERN, and BLACK TERN were all seen in the region.
While mostly non-migratory, game birds can still make our rare bird list in the spring. CHUKARS were found in three Deschutes County locations including an unlikely sighting in Deschutes River Woods. RUFFED GROUSE were heard drumming in Crook County and GREATER SAGE-GROUSE made a welcome return to the Millican Lek after being nearly absent last year. SOOTY GROUSE were relatively easy to find in the Cascades and WILD TURKEY were found at Camp Polk and the GW burn. MOUNTAIN QUAIL were also heard in the burns around Sisters. A single BAND-TAILED PIGEON showed up at Dean Hale's house and EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES continue the invasion as they appeared in ever increasing locations.
We did find a few rare raptors in Central Oregon this spring. NORTHERN GOSHAWKS were reported from 4 locations in Deschutes County. SWAINSON'S HAWKS could be found in the eastern areas of the region along with FERRUGINOUS HAWKS. MERLIN were located in most urban areas and 3 PEREGRINE FALCONS were found in locations like Sawyer Park and Crook County. Cold Springs Campground hosted at least one WESTERN SCREECH-OWL and NORTHERN PYGMY-OWLS were found scattered throughout the wooded areas of Central Oregon. A BURROWING OWL stayed a short time east of Bend (much to the chagrin of many who were unable to get to that location until the next day, only to miss that bird). SHORT-EARED OWLS were counted at the GI Ranch in Crook County and a single GREAT GRAY OWL turned up near Sisters. Though the Woodpecker Wonderland Festival actually occurs during the summer season (spring season ends May 31), much of the scouting occurs in May. This, along with some other serendipitous encounters produced some good woodpecker sightings this spring. For one of the only times in history, all twelve species of Oregon woodpeckers were seen in our area in one season. The best sighting included a report of an ACORN WOODPECKER in Bend. This is only the second Deschutes County record for this species. AMRICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKERS were found in the burned areas around Sisters along with BLACK-BACKED, WHITE-HEADED, and PILEATED WOODPECKERS.
Nightjars, Hummingbirds, and swifts are popular with birders because some are uncommon and their lifestyles are so fascinating. COMMON POORWILLS returned to Central Oregon in May and WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS were found in multiple locations; most notably, Smith Rock State Park. VAUX'S SWIFTS were seen entering chimneys at Harriman St. in Bend and downtown Prineville among other locations. ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRDS continue to be more and more common in Bend while a single COSTA'S HUMMINGBIRD was located at Bend's Entrada Lodge. BLACK-CHINNED and CALLIOPE HUMMERS also graced us with their presence.
Passerines (perching birds) usually provide lots of entertainment during spring migration. They use Central Oregon's waterways and mountains as highways to reach the rich bounty of the northern regions. A PURPLE MARTIN showed up in Powell Butte during the NAMC. CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES were heard at Virginia Meissner Snow Park and a BEWICK'S WREN has taken up residence at Lower Bridge (this species seems to be expanding its range as it was reported from several other locations as well). A VEERY was found at Calliope Crossing and AMERICAN PIPITS were seen throughout the region near water features. HERMIT WARBLERS were abundant and a single NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH made a showing at Calliope Crossing. YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT were found at Kahneetah and in Crook County. WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS were reported from Bend and Redmond and the BOBOLINKS of Crook County returned to their nesting location at the end of May. TRICOLORED BLACKBIRDS were spotted in several marshes near Prineville and a late GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCH showed up at the top of Pilot Butte in early May. PURPLE FINCHES continue to easier and easier to find in Deschutes County.
Bird-a-fun: This was our first bird-a-fun fundraiser and it was a lot of fun. So far we have raised about $1240. Thank you all so much! In early May The Fledglings went birding all day for the Bird-a-fun fundraiser. The group consisted of Dave Tracey, Mary Yanalcanlin, and eight young birders (Selene/11, Sequana/9, TahKu/6, Kaya/3, Steen/7, Darius/5, Wren/7, and Opal/2). Everyone had a great time although a few of the "older" ones were worn out by the end of the day. A total of 62 species were identified. Mary wrote about it on herblog...http://lifeisanadventure.wordpress.com/ Later on in May, Judy Meredith with the Green machine found 85 species whilst scouting for woodpeckers close to Sisters Towards the end of June, The Vagrants (consisting of several board members) found 162 species as they dashed from the Santiam Pass to Summer Lake. Dean Hale and the Lek Meisters found a number of species in the High Cascades too. Greg Gilson and The Bird Guide kindly donated four pelagic trips to the people who raised the most money from this event. Funds are still coming in so we will announce the winners in the next newsletter.
Soon more Cascades Birding Trail Guides/Brochures will be available. If you don’t know about the Cascade Birding Trail—here’s the skinny: The Cascades Birding Trail was established in 2003, with much public input and collaboration, by a working group. They ambitiously defined 5 loop trails from Mt. McLoughlin in the South to the Columbia River in the North. Each loop of the trail is a self-guided driving tour directing travelers to the best places to watch birds and nature by using the brochure/maps. This February, the ECBC board decided the take on the responsibility to manage the Oregon Cascades Trail with the blessings of the original working group. By managing the Oregon Cascades Birding Trail, ECBC will use it’s organizational strength to shoulder the oversight of this wonderfully conceived and constructed Trail. It is ECBC’s hope that: Bird Tourism will grow as out of state visitors access the Trail through tourism portals along the trails.
ECBC will encourage young birders and their families locally. The almost 200 stops along the trail will foster an appreciation of habitat conservation for the birds that will continue for many years. Birding Ethics as defined in the brochure will be transmitted to new birders. Since February, despite the difficult economy we have raised enough funds to print and distribute more brochures. The long range plan for ECBC’s role in the management of the Oregon Cascades Birding Trail is to make the Trail a recognizable gem in Oregon and a sustainable fixture in the minds of Oregonians and tourists. Future plans include signage at the sites, and more of a statewide collaboration with the other Oregon birding trials, the 11 Oregon birding festivals and birding tourism in general. The Cascades Birding Trail Guide and the other Oregon Birding Trails are currently available on-line at www.oregonbirdingtrails.org Check it out!!
Report on Summer Lake Shorebird Surveys: by Steve Dougill ECBC partnered with ODFW to help census breeding shorebirds at Summer Lake WMA at the end of May. Eleven volunteers pitched tents or slept in the bunkhouse or trailers at Head Quarters for a couple of nights. It’s great to wake up to Bitterns calling from the marsh and to see a Harrier hunting low over the reeds. After an early morning coffee and bird walk where sharp eyes spotted two big horn sheep on the lower slopes of Winter Ridge, teams dispersed out over the wildlife management area to count shorebirds. Recent management work has concentrated on providing nesting habitat for waterfowl, especially ducks; however, the impacts on nesting shorebirds have not been formally assessed. With target areas to focus on and a free reign to go anywhere on the refuge we headed out into the marsh surrounded by calling Stilts and Avocets. Ashleigh, my eldest daughter, and I had a wet territory to cover. Up to our knees at times, we waded through mud, water and reeds, surrounded by birds. Willets displayed overhead and Stilts alarmed as we came across nests. One Sora Rail flushed from so close … but I still couldn’t find its nest. Other groups used bikes, or birded from dykes. Those that covered the salt flats saw good numbers of Snowy Plovers including three sets of young. Saturday afternoon we headed up onto Winter Ridge to spend a few hours in the cool of the forest. Despite the winds that had picked up, a few people heard Gnatcatcher. Later that evening we had a very extravagant potluck with enough food to feed an army. Also, everyone got to hear the ticking call of Yellow Rails out over the marsh. Sunday morning we finished up a few more areas and headed for home. Everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves and I certainly had a lot of fun. Next year we will do it again, so put it in your calendars.
Running a BBS route is at once a chore and a life experience that you'llnever forget. A route consists of 50 stops spaced half a mile apart. You spend 3 minutes at each stop (mostly listening but occasionally seeingbirds) and you need to hustle to finish all 50 stops by 10 AM. But you'll also find out that three minutes offers a decent amount of time to figure out what birds are at a given stop. The last minute of each stop is often pure enjoyment of standing in one spot and soaking it all in. You need to get to your route and get up early in the morning. On our Barnhouse BBS route Saturday morning, Wil and I got up at 4 AM sharp but sorry to say, we dawdled a bit while boiling up a pot of coffee and didn't get down to the starting point of the route until 04:50, eight minutes late. But the reward is listening at a time of day when birds are the dominant species. As Dawn's rosy fingers creep over the horizon in your first stops you'll hear American Robins for sure, and perhaps Hermit Thrush or Swainson's Thrush depending on where you start. Nighthawks and snipe might be calling, or Yellow-breasted Chats, or coyotes. For the first five to ten stops you can leave the binoculars in the car since the light is too dim to use them anyway. There's a definite sequence to when different bird species start calling in the morning, depending on the location of your route. You'll learn it by heart, and your life will be richer for that understanding. As the morning wears on, some species clam up while others start singing. You're never quite sure if it's the sequence of habitats of habitats that you're moving through, or the nature of the bird species, but it will become a part of your understanding. You'll get a few surprises each year, like the pair of Wilson'sPhalaropes that came flying in to land in a wetland at one high-prairie stop on a Saturday, but you'll also learn that there's a rhythm to your route. As you move along the route through different habitats, you'll find places that you'd like to return to someday. Chances are, you won't get around to revisiting these spots until you run the same route the next year, but at least these places will find their way into your perception, this one day each year! Your route might end on the edge of a remote wilderness area like the Barnhouse route that Wil and I ran on Saturday, or in exurban development like the Santiam route that I did with my daughter the following weekend. In the former case, you may experience remarkable solitude, where the only sound is the drumming of a Williamson's Sapsucker. In the lattercase, you'll have the equally remarkable experience of listening in a morning world where no one else is paying attention to the birds all around them. There are currently 34 vacant BBS routes in Oregon, see: http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBS/results/routemaps/oregon.cfm?CountryNum=840&StateNumber=69 to see which ones might strike your fancy. Woodpecker Festival News:  | This article by Dave Irons sums up the essence of the festival so well … see |
The Second Annual Woodpecker Wonderland Festival 2009 By Oenta Gentry (freelance writer living in camp Sherman) Whether you call it a Goshawk, Northern Goshawk, or by its Latin genus species of Accipiter gentiles, nothing compares to seeing the white fluffy head of baby Goshawks peering out of the nest. A North American raptor, seeing the Goshawk as a chick long before it reaches its full length of 19 to 25 inches is a rare pleasure. If earlier in that same morning you had seen a baby Calliope Hummingbird, Stellula calliope, in its nest you would consider yourself twice blessed. The Calliope is the smallest bird in North America and the smallest long distance avian migrant in the world. Neither of these sightings were happenstance. They came after weeks of searching by trained field guides, many with the East Cascades Birding Conservancy, who went out looking for nests birders coming to Central Oregon hope to see. Going on an organized birding tour, the Woodpecker Wonderland Festival, in Camp Sherman and along the Deschutes this past weekend brought many such sights, not just of the areas eleven woodpecker species, but of all area birds. Guides and birders called out one by one the names of the birds they heard long before they saw them. Hearing the birdcall, everyone is poised, binoculars in hand searching for the fast movers in the sky or perched on trees. Camp Sherman is a popular site for Woodpeckers, being home to eleven species of breeding woodpeckers. As many as ten species remain year round. Dry Creek, which is on the tours, is one spot where all eleven species can be seen. Local birder, Madeline Landis took people on walking tours and saw seven species their first day. The Deschutes River Basin tour also saw seven species of woodpeckers and 59 species altogether. Some of the birders saw all eleven species for the first time in their life. We live on the dry side of the Cascades, which means everything depends on water. The west side is the wet side. Mount Jefferson, for example, receives 150 inches of rainfall per year, the Metolius Watershed, eleven inches. Much of the area has had fire on a regular basis which is key to bird’s survival. Downey Woodpeckers come in immediately after a fire. The beetles they feed on will come in even while the wood is still burning. Go out to a burn area and you can even hear the worms burrowing into the trees. Lewis’ also thrive after a burn and can fly and catch multiple bugs at a time. Time on a tour is spent learning bird’s habits. The Cow Bird, who got their name because they used to follow the buffalo, is a parasite who leaves its eggs behind in other birds’ nests never returning to care for them in any way. The larger Cow Birds often take food from the hosts’ chicks thus killing them off. The Yellow Warbler deals with the problem by building a nest over the intruding eggs, sometimes stacking nests as much as seven layers deep to protect its own survival. Whether you’re a front porch birder or like to get all the tools of the trade, a good pair of binoculars is a good first investment. Prices vary, but the lesser magnification binoculars see wider and the image looks brighter. 8 x 42 is a popular magnification for birding. Viewing larger raptors from a distance is better accomplished with a stronger magnification such as a 10 x 50. Birding, however, can be done anywhere, which the guides remind us while calling out birds on the drive back in the van. Males of Williamsons sapsuckers are black and females are brown as a tree. The Williamson female is quite different than the male. They are the most sexually dichromatic genus species in the world, which means the most color diverse. They may be related to a different genus and not the other sapsuckers, which has been a long ongoing debate and is still yet to be determined. Northern Flickers eat more ants than any bird in North America and have the longest tongue of any woodpecker for pulling ants out of hills. Pileated’s, which might be obvious being the largest woodpecker in all of North America, shred the most wood of all our woodpeckers. The Metolius has one of the highest concentrations of White Headed Woodpeckers in the range. What’s it like living in a hole in a tree? Despite outside appearances, the inside of the hole can be one to two feet deep. Parents can be seen going in and out of the nest cleaning by removing fecal sacs. Food is often grubs, and nesting materials can consist of slivers from the inside of the tree. Small as the opening is, there is still threat of predators. Snakes are a common threat as are bears whose sharp nails and teeth can widen the opening.
Upcoming ECBC Field Trips: Field trip information can be checked out [LINK]. Thet are fun and casual. Come and enjoy the birds with us. Aug 22 - Summer Lake for shorebirds Sept 13- Sisters and Possibly Hatfield. Sept 19-20 NAMC Sept 26 Bend for migrants Oct 18 - High Cascade Lakes Nov 8 - High Cascade Lakes Have you ever sat at Salt Creek Falls near Willamette Pass, a stunning and awe inspiring place, and waited for a black swift to make an appearance? Have you ever sat in total silence at Whiskey Springs with several other birders and watched birds come to water so close that you cannot look at them in binoculars? Have you ever heard the song of a Northern Water Thrush? Have you watched a Peregrine Falcon perch atop a dead snag on full alert, then stoop, glide low over a dike and pluck an unsuspecting blackbird for lunch? If that’s not enough, have you seen him land, pluck the feathers and then dine within easy binocular range? Have you ever stood with a number of very competent birders as they discussed the identity of an “empid” flycatcher then left wondering if they ever all agreed or knew? Have you recently high-fived with someone who has just seen a life bird or a new county bird? Have you looked at sandpipers at close range and argued if the legs were yellow or black, or if one had a bill slightly larger than the rest? Have you ever wondered why Calliope Crossing is such a popular birding spot? Or how to find it? Wednesday morning birders have experienced one or all of these events as well many others, all within the past couple of months. Wednesday morning birding continues to attract new birders, hold the interest and enthusiasm of the regulars and ferret out birds and birding opportunities for all levels of birders. Since the last newsletter 35 different birders have joined us for one or more outings. We have had as few as three and as many as twelve participants. On any given Wednesday we usually have a mix of experienced and learning birders. Some have just found out about us, some want to connect with other birders, some are new birders and some are exploring new birding locations. The Big Day record holder from New York was able to get five life birds in one morning with us. Closer to home, a somewhat familiar local birder from Prineville got his Bewick’s Wren for Deschutes County when he joined us at Lower Bridge. During the past few months we have seen in excess of 125 different species. Unusual species were Black Swift, Least Flycatcher Bewick’s Wren, Northern Goshawk, Hermit Warbler and Peregrine Falcon. Most local woodpecker species have been seen. Judy Meredith, founder and guiding hand produces a schedule that meets the desires of current and potential participants. Half-day trips are the norm, but one Wednesday a month we spend a full day. Truth be known, you should always bring a lunch or a snack item as birders frequently look at “just one more spot.” We meet every Wednesday Morning at Nancy P’s Baking Company, 1054 NW Milwaukie Ave. in Bend. That’s one block south of Newport Avenue next to Newport Market. Current meeting time is 7:00am. Meeting times are adjusted as the days lengthen or shorten. What can you expect to find on a Wednesday morning outing? First, short of a life-threatening event, we go rain or shine. A few weeks ago five of us stood in the middle of the road, in an old burn, rain dripping, no, make that pouring, off all of us and wondered what we were doing there. By mid morning we had seen about 15 birds, no, not species, total birds. A change of direction, a dose of sunshine and Calliope Crossing “made our day.” We carpool on all trips. Each rider makes a small gas donation to the driver based on the length of the trip. It is very affordable. Depending on the trip, meeting places are arranged so that you don’t have to make a trip to Bend if the tour is going your way. The Wednesday Morning schedule and meeting places is posted on the ECBC Website. We have no corporate logo or mission statement. We do have a goal: Enjoy birding and have fun in an atmosphere that allows experienced and new birders to share a great birding and learning experience. Please join us. We don’t guarantee birds, but we guarantee opportunities and a pleasant outing.
Summer/Fall Events: Recurring Events : The third Thursday of selected months is Birder's Night at the Environmental Center in Bend. For a schedule of talks and slide shows [see] for more info. - Wednesday Morning birders - see article above
More Dates: For more events see the ECBC web site
It has been another great year out at our Entrada LEWO nest box project site! Sixteen out of twenty six nest boxes were used by LEWO’s with thirteen of these raising young! Another two nest boxes, off site in nearby subdivisions, also raised young this year for a total of fifteen nest boxes! It is always such a joy to be a part of this project. Waiting and watching for the arrival of the LEWO’s, followed by their circular flight mating rituals, calls and drumming on the nest boxes, and then the ultimate, watching as the adults work at feeding and raising their young is simply a fantastic time! The young ones have all fledged the nest boxes at this writing, July 20th, but some can still be seen in the nest box project area flying around with the adults, learning how to “flycatch” for their food. Fun stuff!
Many thanks to all of the volunteers who gave of their time and talents this season! I simply could NOT do it without each and everyone of you!
Here are some results from Jeff to show the five year summary | Survey | Routes | Miles | Total | | TOTAL | BIRDS / | | Month | Surveyed | Surveyed | Hours | | BIRDS | MILE | | | | | | | | | | Nov 04 | 12 / 80 | 945.5 | 72:40 | | 969 | 1.02 | | Nov 05 | 46 / 110 | 3,272.6 | 211:05 | | 3,668 | 1.12 | | Nov 06 | 58 / 120 | 4,174.1 | 256:40 | | 3,479 | 0.83 | | Nov 07 | 47 / 122 | 3,486.7 | 216:45 | | 2,770 | 0.79 | | Nov 08 | 55 / 123 | 4,346.3 | 245:50 | | 3,384 | 0.77 | | | | | | | | | | Dec 04 | 60 / 80 | 5,153.4 | 302:15 | | 5,243 | 1.01 | | Dec 05 | 88 / 110 | 6,688.3 | 402:05 | | 7,570 | 1.13 | | Dec 06 | 102 /120 | 7,688.0 | 457:50 | | 6,412 | 0.83 | | Dec 07 | 97 / 122 | 7,606.7 | 433:45 | | 6,145 | 0.80 | | Dec 08 | 94 / 126 | 7,040.8 | 418:25 | | 5,698 | 0.80 | | | | | | | | | | Jan 05 | 76 / 80 | 6,623.8 | 410:40 | | 6,577 | 0.99 | | Jan 06 | 98 / 110 | 7,408.9 | 430:00 | | 7,484 | 1.01 | | Jan 07 | 103 / 120 | 7,827.2 | 463:20 | | 6,391 | 0.81 | | Jan 08 | 103 / 122 | 8,064.5 | 445:35 | | 5,941 | 0.73 | | Jan 09 | 109 / 129 | 7,916.5 | 484:05 | | 6,843 | 0.86 | | | | | | | | | | Feb 05 | 77 / 80 | 6,629.7 | 438:35 | | 6,242 | 0.94 | | Feb 06 | 98 / 110 | 7,295.1 | 440:25 | | 7,490 | 1.02 | | Feb 07 | 97 / 120 | 7,401.0 | 426:15 | | 4,924 | 0.66 | | Feb 08 | 105 / 122 | 8,013.2 | 429:20 | | 5,406 | 0.67 | | Feb 09 | 101 / 129 | 7,841.0 | 443:25 | | 5,942 | 0.75 | | | | | | | | | | Mar 05 | 54 / 80 | 4,536.3 | 284:10 | | 3,473 | 0.76 | | Mar 06 | 75 / 110 | 5,809.2 | 363:45 | | 5,181 | 0.89 | | Mar 07 | 76 / 120 | 5,598.4 | 330:35 | | 3,682 | 0.65 | | Mar 08 | 66 / 122 | 4,951.2 | 294:30 | | 3,517 | 0.71 | | Mar 09 | 66 / 129 | 5,195.2 | 309:45 | | 3,181 | 0.61 |
and the winter total ... (the numbers below represent bird sightings and not numbers) | 04 - 05 | 279 / 400 | 23,888.7 | 1508:20 | | 22,504 | | 05 - 06 | 405 / 550 | 30,474.1 | 1847:20 | | 31,393 | | 06 - 07 | 436 / 600 | 32,688.7 | 1934:40 | | 24,888 | | 07 - 08 | 418 / 610 | 32,122.3 | 1819:55 | | 23,779 | | 08 - 09 | 425 / 636 | 32,339.8 | 1901:30 | | 25,048 |
North American Migration Count - Contact [ Chuck Gates] - September 19 and 20 The Fall North American Migration Count (sponsored by the ECBC) will be held on the weekend of September 19 & 20. This state-wide migration count collects data on migrating birds that pass through Oregon. This data has been collected for more than 15 years and the ECBC is in the process of collating this data to establish the condition of migrating birds in the state. You can get involved in this project regardless of your experience level. Go to the ECBC website, click on the Projects tab, and find the link for NAMC. You can then choose which county in which you want to participate and find the contact information for the coordinator for that county. Conact the coordinator and he/she will let you know how you can help. Get involved and you'll have a great time.
Kestrels - Contact Dean Hale article by Don McCartney We are having another good year with 54 active boxes out of a total of 95. This is one short of the record. However, it is going to be quite a challenge to keep these seasons of 50+ boxes coming, as the pressure of human encroachment is slowly chipping away at some of the best habitat. It's like the "low-hanging fruit has already been picked" and it is going to be more difficult to find replacements for the lost habitat. I have several K-boxes in storage that would love to have a home At the end of May, Jim Anderson, Dick Tipton and Don McCartney were banding Kestrels at Squaw Flat on Wilt Road. One of the two boxes was active, with two live nestlings and one dead nestling. Usually the parents of a box of nestlings will appear rather quickly once humans invade their nest box. But not this time, as there were no parents to be seen or heard. It definitely seemed that the box had been abandoned. We planned that after two more days, the box would be observed again for an extended period of time and the box re-examined.
After two days, Dick Tipton carefully observed the box at a distance, and again there were no parents to be seen. The box at that time contained two relatively healthy nestlings, but the carcass of the third had been consumed. Rather than let the nestlings starve to death, Dick took the two survivors to Gary Landers, a licensed raptor rehabilitator. Assuming their good health, at an appropriate time Gary will contact Jim so that the young kestrels can be banded. When Gary feels that the time is right, the Kestrels will be returned to the wild. These two Kestrels are alive today, thanks to the extra efforts of Dick Tipton. What a guy!! Dick is licensed to handle Kestrels under my ODF&W Scientific Taking Permit 137-09. ... More kestrel Info by Miriam Lipsitz The Delicious Fire which occurred in 1990 is located north and west of the Tumalo Reservoir and encompasses a little over two thousand acres. Although it cleared a huge swath of National Forest land, it also provided some brand new excellent quality Western and Mountain bluebird habitat, and by a stroke of great good fortune, access to that area was not far from Don McCartney’s door step.
Don had moved to Central Oregon in 1996 and while exploring the general area where he had recently moved, found himself driving the quiet forest service roads of the Delicious Burn, which he learned had been named after nearby Delicious Street. As he looked around, he saw bluebirds - lots of them. Responding to the birds’ need for cavities, Don became busy building nest boxes for all the cavity nesters he had seen in the area. He built sturdy boxes for chickadees and nuthatches, kestrels and of course, the bluebirds. Over a period of time, he built a total of 30 bluebird boxes, 20 chickadee/nuthatch boxes, and 10 kestrel boxes and placed them in the burn.  | Don also learned the hard way that protecting those boxes from vandalism and sport shooters is critical, even in an area as remote as this. He repositioned the boxes so that they are all but invisible from the forest service roads and the birds responded by setting up housekeeping immediately. They raised families and came back year after year. Records were kept and statistics sent on a yearly basis to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. |
When the kestrel nestbox and banding project grew to a point that Don needed to spend more of his time taking care of it, volunteer Rachel Cornforth took over part of the bluebird trail at the Delicious Burn, and several years later another volunteer, Miriam Lipsitz joined the project. For the last few years Rachel and Miriam have divided the Burn, each monitoring one half of the 26 boxes during nesting season. Today the Delicious Burn bluebird monitoring project is still going strong. There is, however a need for new volunteers. This area holds great attractions for bird lovers. It is remote and breathtakingly beautiful with mountain views that even the bluebirds admire, and the chance to see other nesting birds can be counted on. The project does require a commitment of one visit per week throughout the nesting season plus some recordkeeping. But if there were enough interested volunteers, this might make a great team possibility. For more information, please e-mail Dean Hale: mep@q.com, Miriam: hollyhob@earthlink.net, Rachel: dhcgrc@comcast.net
Thanks to all of you that volunteered to count swifts for us in early May. The rough results are in and I wanted to share them with all of you. As most of you know, numbers in the spring are less than those in the fall. Roosts that may be a "hot spot" in the fall may not even host swifts in the spring and generally there is less of a "show" of concentrated birds as compared to the fall. However, the birds do come through and we did manage to count them. This is the first time that I know of that this was done in the spring so thanks for helping to make it happen. Unless any of you protest, Larry or I will be contacting you to help in the fall as well.
In the table below are the results as well as my working list of known Oregon roosts. Those highlighted in yellow were not covered this spring and I may be missing information about them, so anything you can add would be helpful. Also, include any others you may know about. We'll work to cover more this fall. Additionally, below is the list of results from other sites along the migration corridor from what Larry Schwitters, the leader of Vaux's Happening in Washington, has worked hard to round up.
Here's a couple of websites to keep tabs on the project:
In Oregon, I have been coordinating this project as a board member for the East Cascade Bird Conservancy: http://www.ecbcbirds.org/Projects/OregonVauxsSwiftSurvey/tabid/108/Default.aspx
We have Larry Schwitters to thank for coordinating this entire effort from Mexico to Canada: http://vauxhappening.org/Vauxs_Happening/Vauxs_Happening_Home.html | Locale | Roost location | Past high counts | Spring 2009 data | | | | | date | total | | Adair Village | old heating plant stack from former military hospital | | | | | Albany | various sites? | 1004 | 5/2/2009 | | | Albany | house 416 4th St (Pat and Carol Joerger) | | 5/1/2009 | 5 | | Corvallis | First Presbyterian Church (Madison Ave) | 4500 | 5/2/2009 | 0 | | Corvallis | Wiegand Hall at Jefferson and 30th street. | ? | 5/2/2009 | 320 | | Corvallis | Whiteside Theater | | 5/2/2009 | 23 | | Cottage Grove | Village Green | 250 | 5/2/2009 | 7 | | Eugene | Agate Hall on U of O campus | 16487 | 5/2/2009 | 1165 | | Eugene | Old Warehouse ? | 238 | | | | Eugene | various residential chimneys? | 110 | | | | Independence | | 130 | | | | Junction City | Laurel? | 1565 | | | | Mapleton | Lion's Club/Library | | 5/2/2009 | 49 | | McMinnville | 2 story bldg at Third & Davis St. | 800 | | | | Medford | Voorhies Mansion at Eden Valley Orchards | hundreds | 5/4/2009 | 33 | | Monmouth | ? | | | | | Mt. Angel | High School chimney | | | | | Oregon City | various sites? | 1670 | | | | Portland | Chapman Elementary School | 20031 | 5/2/2009 | 1407 | | Portland | Duniway Elementary School | 4450 | | 0 | | Roseburg | Pottery Shed of the Arts Center on Harvard Ave | 3973 | 5/2/2009 | 40 | | Roseburg | Umpqua Valley Arts Association chimney? Same as pottery shed? | 4000 | | | | Roseburg | Umpqua Community College | | 5/2/2009 | 0 | | Roseburg | St. Georges Episcopal Church? | | | | | Salem | “Capital place” | 2750 | | | | Silverton | Palace Theater (historic site) | 1735 | 5/2/2009 | 0 | | Silverton | 108 1st St. (2009) | | 5/2/2009 | 50 | | Toldedo | residential chimney | | | | | | | | | | | Eastern and Central Oregon | | Bend | 644 NW Harriman St. (Christmas Presence) | | 5/2/2009 | 185 | | Prineville | Bowman Museum (3rd and main) | | 5/2/2009 | 40 | | La Grande | Foley Building | | 5/2/2009 | 1020 | | La Grande | other site? | | 5/2/2009 | 0 | | La Grande | Catholic Church Chimney | 1250 | 5/2/2009 | 0 | | Union | High School chimney | | 5/2/2009 | 14 |
Conservation Committee - Bringing Back the Wetlands by Eva Eagle ECBC has always been committed to bird habitat improvement, and our partnership with the Deschutes Land Trust has given us a good opportunity to do that at Camp Polk Meadow Preserve.
For the past two years, we have spent one Saturday in May pulling invasive weeds at the Preserve in a joint effort with local teen groups. This work has helped prepare the meadows for the Land Trust’s most ambitious project to date: re-meandering Whychus Creek through the Preserve, turning much of the dry meadow areas into wetlands.
This May the construction crew began to dig a new channel for the stream in the area where we have pulled weeds. This October, ECBC will be looking for volunteers to join other groups in planting thousands of riparian plants in the new wetlands-to-be. Our planned workday is October 3, so put it on your calendar. It should be a fun occasion and an opportunity to learn up close what’s involved in this project. We’ll begin by birding at 8am and by 10am we’ll assemble for the planting project. We’ll work till 1pm at the latest and kick back for bag lunch in the meadow. Please plan to join the group on October 3rd.
News from other Local groups: No group works alone and we would like to introduce you to a range of other conservation / wildlife groups in Central Oregon that are active and support out mission. If you are active in a group not represented here and would like to contribute a regular piece, please contactThe Nuthatch .
ONDA and ECBC Team up for a “Harty” Helping of Hawks!
Rising almost 8,000 feet from the desert floor, Hart Mountain soars above the high desert plateau. Flanked by the Warner Valley wetlands to the west, Hart Mountain Wildlife Refuge offers a sanctuary for over 300 species of wildlife, including pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, sage-grouse, and mountain quail. This 278,000 acre wildlife refuge is managed by only 2 staff and an army of dedicated volunteers. In May a group of 11 ONDA and ECBC volunteers spent 3 days at the refuge helping to inventory raptor nest sites. Data on nesting raptors at Hart Mountain has not been collected since 1985! So there was a lot of ground to cover and little time. To survey the area effectively the group divided into three teams; each team being assigned a different part of the refuge. Needless to say the volunteers couldn’t cover everything. That being said 17 active nest sites and three breeding territories were identified. The nesting species found included Golden eagle, red-tail hawk, American kestrel, prairie falcon, Northern harrier, great-horned owl, long-eared owl, short-eared owl and common raven. Everyone had a fantastic time and the weather was extremely cooperative.
ONDA Releases Strategy for Wind Energy Development in Oregon’s High Desert
ONDA and five other conservation groups release a report: Oregon’s High Desert Wind Energy: Opportunities and Strategies for Responsible Development.
Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA) and five other conservation groups released a report titled Oregon’s High Desert Wind Energy: Opportunities and Strategies for Responsible Development. The report uses Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis to outline where and how large-scale wind power generation could be approached in Oregon’s high desert while still conserving sensitive wildlife habitats and important natural landscapes. “ONDA supports renewable energy development and believes that such development can help reduce our fossil fuel consumption and help address climate change while creating sustainable economies for rural communities throughout eastern Oregon,” said Brent Fenty, Executive Director of ONDA. “However, there is an urgent need to analyze where wind power potential is the highest and wildlife and social conflicts are the lowest. Such an analysis will ensure that projects can be developed without degradation of desert wildlands and damage to sensitive wildlife populations.”
The report was created through the mapping and analysis of the areas identified by the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory as having the best wind power potential. This data is compared with sensitive natural resources such as Greater sage-grouse breeding areas. The report includes a narrative outlining the nature of the potential conflicts with wind energy development as well as Best Practices and guidelines to minimize impacts.
ONDA’s hope is that the report will be used by the wind industry, local and state planners, and the public to help site future wind projects responsibly. ONDA drew heavily on studies that have been conducted across the nation regarding the impacts of wind energy and potentially-impacted sensitive wildlife (e.g. sage grouse, raptors, and bats) in formulating its recommendations. Fenty added that, “this report was designed to be used by multiple audiences. Local, state, and federal regulators will be able use the report to work with developers to guide how and where wind power facilities are permitted. And conservation groups and local citizens will be able use the report to prioritize areas most important for protection while also recognizing areas where environmental conflicts are least significant.” In addition to ONDA, the report is endorsed by Audubon Society of Portland, Defenders of Wildlife, Hells Canyon Preservation Council, Oregon Chapter Sierra Club, and WildEarth Guardians.
 Baby Birds Abound- Kevin Lair, Wild Birds Unlimited With the arrival of summer, young birds are now venturing out on their own. Unfortunately, sometimes tragedy strikes and baby birds need humans to lend a helping hand. But oftentimes while we have nothing but the best intentions, we can end up doing more harm in our attempt to help. Most baby birds do not need rescuing, so it is important to determine if the bird is truly in need of assistance. Fledglings might be on the ground because they are learning to fly. By "rescuing" them you might interfere with the course of nature. Watch for at least two to three hours for the return of the mother or father bird. If no parent returns during that time, you may have found an orphaned bird. If the bird is not in danger from predators, you should leave it on the ground. If it appears to be a nestling that has fallen from the nest and you can locate the nest, then return the baby bird to the nest. Birds cannot smell a human scent so the parents will not reject their baby if you touch it. If you are confident you have found an orphaned bird, call a professional wildlife rehabilitator. It is illegal under federal wildlife law for you to have a wild bird in your possession unless you are a licensed rehabilitator. We can help you locate a rehabilitator if one is needed. Caring for a bird is not an easy task and should be left to people who know how to do it best. If you must temporarily care for the orphaned bird, put it in a cardboard box in a quiet spot to minimize stress. If the bird is featherless add a heat source such as a heating pad or warm bottle covered by a towel. Unless instructed by a rehabilitator, do not attempt to give the bird food or water. USFWS - News from Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, -byMarla Bennett Sage grouse lek counts occurred daily from March 16 to April 30. The data has not yet been studied. Mid-May is the peak of pronghorn fawning; many does and fawns are apparent near headquarters. Females usually breed at 16-17 months old. Gestation time averages 250 days—one of the longest in ruminants of North America, exceeded only by elk and bison. Pronghorn females invest in their offspring at a higher level than any other North American ruminant. Twins are usually produced, weighing approximately 18% of maternal weight. By weaning time in late August, a pronghorn mother raising 2 offspring has supported the mass equivalent of 120% of her own weight. The most notable event at Hart Mountain this spring has been the amazing amount of rainfall. Thunderstorms occurred almost daily between May 30 and June 17, totaling an amazing 3.5 inches of rain. The poor winter snowpack has been supplemented by the blessing of spring rains. It is possible that all the summer water holes won’t go dry after all. The rain not only watered needed forage, but also refuge roads. All but the main road were impassable for most of June. ECBC cancelled its bird point counts, vegetation mappers, Joint Fire Science researchers, BLM surveyors, and Fish and Wildlife archaeologists all had to cancel or postpone their June projects.
I am very happy to report that the active red-tailed hawk nest made it through the heavy equipment phase of stream restoration at Camp Polk. Bill Mitchell and Carol Wall have been keeping an eye on it all along and they both sighted (at different times in early July) a fledgling standing on the nest rim, contemplating his first flight – with both parents soaring overhead. So that’s exciting! Also – numerous nest surveys were conducted (by ODF&W wildlife biologists as well as DLT staff with extensive nest searching experience) throughout June – before equipment moved into heavily vegetated sections of the project area. No active nests were ever found in trees or shrubs that had to be removed (BTW – most of the veg was salvaged and transplanted along stretches of the restored channel).
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| ECBC 16 Kansas St, Bend, OR. 97701 Help support ECBC and become a member today [Join] You can make a donation right now with this secure web service. |
In this issue A major decision for you Vollunteer opportunities Spring field Notes for Central Oregon Bird-a-fun news Woodpecker Festival report OR Cascade Birding Trail news Summer Lake Shorebirds Breeding Bird Surveys Events - happenings - field trips ECBC Project News News from other groups
The Board ...
Local Info: Information on ECBC projects and volunteer opportunities, [see] Sign up for COBOL, the local listserver for staying connected with Central Oregon's birds [link ] Local yard bird project [link ] Local rare and unusual bird photos [link ] Where to go birding in Central Oregon [link ] Recent COBOL archive [link]
Fundraising: As a non-profit we rely on you to help keep the organization alive. Currently we are seeking funds to hire an Executive Director which would solidify the organizations base and allow it to grow. Please help us reach this important goal.
Volunteering: We have many volunteer opportunities ranging from bird surveys, conservation work days, and helping on booths at county fairs. Other needs include working with bird data, contacting members, writing grants, and sharing ideas. [Contact ] Diane Kook, our volunteer coordinator.
Suggestions & Comments:
Please send any comments about this newsletter and how we might be able to improve it to the [ECBC]
Checklists:Checklist for Central Oregon birds [get it] Checklist for Deschutes birds [get it]
Businesses:Does your buisness want to support ECBC and bird conservation in the local area? Please contact us for the benefits we can provide your company by becoming a supporting member.
Guided Trips:ECBC offers guided trips for individuals and small groups for $150 in Central Oregon. You drive - we lead. These are led by local experts who will try and find your target birds. All proceedes go to ECBC. Contact [Steve Dougill] for more information.
Help Needed on Red Crossbill sightings I teach at Pacific Lutheran University and I work on Red Crossbills
(specifically song divergence). This summer I am trying to record the songs of as many of the call types as possible. I would greatly appreciate any information that anyone has about red crossbills. They will likely be settling down to breed soon and so if anyone hears
crossbills singing or observes behaviors that suggest that they are likely to remain in a given area to breed I would greatly appreciate an
email to indicate where they were observed.
Also helpful is information about developing cone crops. They specialize
on seeds in conifer cones and so if there is a large cone crop in a given area this can be a good indicator that crossbills may breed in that area in July - August. It would be very helpful to know about cone crops for the following conifers - Ponderosa pine, Engleman spruce,
Douglas fir, Western hemlock, Sitka spruce.
Thanks for your help.
Julie Smith smithjw@plu.edu
| The ECBC is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to helping birds and their habitats. Although we are based in Central Oregon, we organize several Sate-wide projects and are strong advocates for conservation. We encourage you to visit us at http://ecbcbirds.org and become a member of this growing and energetic organization. As always, enjoy the birds! |
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ECBC Newsletter - Summer 2009 | August 1, 2009 | What a great time to get out birding and as we enter the early fall we can look back at the summer and some of ECBC’s successes. We worked with the ODFW to start breeding shorebird surveys at Summer Lake, Kestrels had a bumper year, and more and more people are following the success of our Lewis’s Woodpecker project. The second annual Woodpecker Wonderland festival was a great success, in part due to the fantastic field trips organized by Dean Hale and led by ECBC and other volunteers. At the end of the school year, a small group of ECBC volunteers escorted Marci Adams and her 1st/2nd class from High Lakes around Sawyer Park to find birds. The kids were great and were very enthusiastic about everything. Chuck Gates continues to work away at a birders guide for Oregon …. breaking down all the best birding sites by County and providing maps, directions and expected species. I hope we can publish this on the web sometime in the fall. I would like to thank the Calypso fund of the Oregon Community Foundation for their very kind support of $1,000. I would also like to thank the many people who make up the ECBC family and do so much for our birds and us. Finally, I would also like to thank The BirdGuide Inc who donated four pelagic trips to the people who raised the most money for the ECBC Bird-a-Fun. Thank you Greg! | |
A decision for the membership by Steve Dougill (president) Since ECBC was formed seven years ago, we have been living in parallel with Central Oregon Audubon Society (COAS) which, as an organization, has very similar goals and aspirations as us. As we became established and developed exciting projects and engaged a volunteer base, COAS struggled to find its niche and continued to fade. In many respects it has now become little more than a name in Central Oregon with ECBC taking over its role in promoting birds and conservation. Still, the name Audubon has enormous appeal and recognition. It too has many resources for its local chapters, grant programs to tap into, and a membership base that clearly has an interest in birds and their conservation but has not been actively engaged in Central Oregon for a long time. The structure of Audubon has also changed dramatically in recent years. Autonomy is given to local chapters where they keep 100% control of their finances, their projects and their membership. It is a local effort with support and a general mission directed from the national level. Members are able to join the National Audubon Organization and receive benefits including a magazine and the knowledge that they are supporting the mission and goals of this organization. However individuals are also free to join local chapters that are independent from, but affiliated with, the national organization. Their money goes to support the local organization and its mission. COAS has decided to fold as an organization. This has led the board of directors of ECBC to reevaluate the structure of ECBC and the possibility of taking back the Audubon name and their resources. No decisions have been made and we are asking you for your comments before the ECBC board conducts a vote in early September. Our members and projects are key to our success. We are known for our enthusiasm, our wide-ranging projects and the field trips we lead; at the State level we coordinate winter raptor surveys, the North American Migration Counts, OR Swift Watch and the Cascade Birding Trail. Locally we have built a name on successes with the Lewis’s Woodpeckers and the Kestrel nest-box studies. We have partnerships with local non-profits, City, State and Federal agencies. We are known for our friendly field trips where leaders and local experts sometimes outnumber the other participants. Whether we adopt the Audubon standard and become The East Cascades Audubon Society or remain as ECBC, none of this will change. The essence of ECBC will remain and we will continue to support our stakeholders: the birds and birders of this region. A major concern expressed to me about any change is the chance of losing the momentum and energy that is the essence of ECBC. We were born from a local need and are powered by energetic volunteers. It is a very special organization that is independent and free to act in a way it chooses. Passions run high. One thing that weighs heavily in my mind, as president of ECBC, is it’s future. We are completely run by a dedicated group of volunteers and as we grow it becomes harder to manage the organization. We require some degree of paid staff to take some of the burden away from volunteers and allow them to do the things they love; working on projects and with volunteers. Whatever direction we go, this will be a key goal. If we were to become a local and independent Audubon chapter (similar to Portland Audubon) we would have access to substantial resources and the opportunity to hire a part-time executive director. This would allow us to continue our projects and expand our outreach to the media and schools. It would allow us to keep doing what we love (and need) to do: work for the birds. So contact me and the board of directors of ECBC and tell us what you think of this decision that lies before your organization. Volunteer 2009 - We need you:
ECBC is an active organization. We have a number of projects that we carry out and we would like you to participate in them, get involved and meet some great people. We are featuring a few below that need little birding experience. See the web site for a full list of projects. We have one major fall project that we need volunteers for: The Raptor Surveys at Green Ridge, north of Sisters. These start the weekend of September 19/20, and we count the raptors as they migrate south along the ridge each weekend for the next month or so. Sharp-shinned and Coopers Hawks are most common but we get good numbers of Eagles, Merlin and Red tailed Hawks with a few Peregrine, Goshawk and others. There are plenty of other forest birds, great scenery and fun company. Contact Karen Sharples for more information. We are also looking for people to help with our annual event in November. This is much more than a fundraiser; it’s our chance to say a big thank you to all the volunteers who have helped make ECBC so successful. Please contact Diane Kook for more information. Two volunteers are needed for the Kestrel Nest Box Survey and 2 volunteers for the Bluebird Nest Box Survey for next year. This is not rocket science but you need to have an interest in the birds and enough spare time to devote to surveying the birds and reporting the information to the leaders of the projects. It is actually a great Experience and very rewarding. It doesn't get any better than getting involved in these birding projects with quality people for a common cause. Please contact Dean Hale at 541-388-1770 or 541- 815-6770. Also for the Kestrel nestbox study we have several spasre Kestrel boxes ... do you have a good location for one? Contact Dean.
In The News: Dave Tracey was featured in The Bend Bulletin for a story focusing on the popular birding-by-ear walks he leads for ECBC along the Deschutes River in Bend. Several people are currently writing articles about the Lewis’s Woodpecker project: The American Birding Conservancy and an article for Birds and Bloom. Spring bird migration in Oregon is often in direct contrast with the fall migration. While birds tend to take their time migrating south in the fall, the northern spring migration is always about being in a hurry. Fall birds often spend several days in one location. In the spring, you have to be quick to see a rare migrant because it is not likely to be there the next day. Waterfowl migration this year was abundant but provided few surprises. A ROSS'S GOOSE was seen east of Bend and a CACKLING GOOSE hung out at Drake Park for a few days. A total of 6 EURASIAN WIGEONS were spotted throughout the region. BLUE-WINGED TEAL seemed to be a little more common than normal and the numbers of GREATER SCAUP at Wickiup Reservoir were quite impressive. A RED-BREASTED MERGANSER gave a good show at Sawyer Park and a few HORNED GREBES were located at various locales. It was a big year for AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS with as many as 80 showing up at Houston Lake in Powell Butte. Houston Lake continued to be one of the best places to see AMERICAN BITTERN and that location also hosted a GREAT EGRET (seen in several other locations as well). One doesn't think of Sawyer Park as a likely location for SANDHILL CRANE but one was located flying over by Dave Tracy's Birding-By-Ear class on April 1. Seventy-six sandhills were found at Gutierrez Ranch in Crook County. A SEMIPALMATED PLOVER showed up briefly at Hatfield Lake and LESSER YELLOWLEGS were spotted there as well. Keeping with its common name, a single SOLITARY SANDPIPER made an unexpected showing at Calliope Crossing of all places. One does not expect to see PECTORAL SANDPIPERS in this area in the spring so a single bird near lower bridge makes this list. Three RED-NECKED PHALAROPES were located at Hatfield Lake. BONAPARTE'S GULLS, FORSTER'S TERN, and BLACK TERN were all seen in the region.
While mostly non-migratory, game birds can still make our rare bird list in the spring. CHUKARS were found in three Deschutes County locations including an unlikely sighting in Deschutes River Woods. RUFFED GROUSE were heard drumming in Crook County and GREATER SAGE-GROUSE made a welcome return to the Millican Lek after being nearly absent last year. SOOTY GROUSE were relatively easy to find in the Cascades and WILD TURKEY were found at Camp Polk and the GW burn. MOUNTAIN QUAIL were also heard in the burns around Sisters. A single BAND-TAILED PIGEON showed up at Dean Hale's house and EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES continue the invasion as they appeared in ever increasing locations.
We did find a few rare raptors in Central Oregon this spring. NORTHERN GOSHAWKS were reported from 4 locations in Deschutes County. SWAINSON'S HAWKS could be found in the eastern areas of the region along with FERRUGINOUS HAWKS. MERLIN were located in most urban areas and 3 PEREGRINE FALCONS were found in locations like Sawyer Park and Crook County. Cold Springs Campground hosted at least one WESTERN SCREECH-OWL and NORTHERN PYGMY-OWLS were found scattered throughout the wooded areas of Central Oregon. A BURROWING OWL stayed a short time east of Bend (much to the chagrin of many who were unable to get to that location until the next day, only to miss that bird). SHORT-EARED OWLS were counted at the GI Ranch in Crook County and a single GREAT GRAY OWL turned up near Sisters. Though the Woodpecker Wonderland Festival actually occurs during the summer season (spring season ends May 31), much of the scouting occurs in May. This, along with some other serendipitous encounters produced some good woodpecker sightings this spring. For one of the only times in history, all twelve species of Oregon woodpeckers were seen in our area in one season. The best sighting included a report of an ACORN WOODPECKER in Bend. This is only the second Deschutes County record for this species. AMRICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKERS were found in the burned areas around Sisters along with BLACK-BACKED, WHITE-HEADED, and PILEATED WOODPECKERS.
Nightjars, Hummingbirds, and swifts are popular with birders because some are uncommon and their lifestyles are so fascinating. COMMON POORWILLS returned to Central Oregon in May and WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS were found in multiple locations; most notably, Smith Rock State Park. VAUX'S SWIFTS were seen entering chimneys at Harriman St. in Bend and downtown Prineville among other locations. ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRDS continue to be more and more common in Bend while a single COSTA'S HUMMINGBIRD was located at Bend's Entrada Lodge. BLACK-CHINNED and CALLIOPE HUMMERS also graced us with their presence.
Passerines (perching birds) usually provide lots of entertainment during spring migration. They use Central Oregon's waterways and mountains as highways to reach the rich bounty of the northern regions. A PURPLE MARTIN showed up in Powell Butte during the NAMC. CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES were heard at Virginia Meissner Snow Park and a BEWICK'S WREN has taken up residence at Lower Bridge (this species seems to be expanding its range as it was reported from several other locations as well). A VEERY was found at Calliope Crossing and AMERICAN PIPITS were seen throughout the region near water features. HERMIT WARBLERS were abundant and a single NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH made a showing at Calliope Crossing. YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT were found at Kahneetah and in Crook County. WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS were reported from Bend and Redmond and the BOBOLINKS of Crook County returned to their nesting location at the end of May. TRICOLORED BLACKBIRDS were spotted in several marshes near Prineville and a late GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCH showed up at the top of Pilot Butte in early May. PURPLE FINCHES continue to easier and easier to find in Deschutes County.
Bird-a-fun: This was our first bird-a-fun fundraiser and it was a lot of fun. So far we have raised about $1240. Thank you all so much! In early May The Fledglings went birding all day for the Bird-a-fun fundraiser. The group consisted of Dave Tracey, Mary Yanalcanlin, and eight young birders (Selene/11, Sequana/9, TahKu/6, Kaya/3, Steen/7, Darius/5, Wren/7, and Opal/2). Everyone had a great time although a few of the "older" ones were worn out by the end of the day. A total of 62 species were identified. Mary wrote about it on herblog...http://lifeisanadventure.wordpress.com/ Later on in May, Judy Meredith with the Green machine found 85 species whilst scouting for woodpeckers close to Sisters Towards the end of June, The Vagrants (consisting of several board members) found 162 species as they dashed from the Santiam Pass to Summer Lake. Dean Hale and the Lek Meisters found a number of species in the High Cascades too. Greg Gilson and The Bird Guide kindly donated four pelagic trips to the people who raised the most money from this event. Funds are still coming in so we will announce the winners in the next newsletter.
Soon more Cascades Birding Trail Guides/Brochures will be available. If you don’t know about the Cascade Birding Trail—here’s the skinny: The Cascades Birding Trail was established in 2003, with much public input and collaboration, by a working group. They ambitiously defined 5 loop trails from Mt. McLoughlin in the South to the Columbia River in the North. Each loop of the trail is a self-guided driving tour directing travelers to the best places to watch birds and nature by using the brochure/maps. This February, the ECBC board decided the take on the responsibility to manage the Oregon Cascades Trail with the blessings of the original working group. By managing the Oregon Cascades Birding Trail, ECBC will use it’s organizational strength to shoulder the oversight of this wonderfully conceived and constructed Trail. It is ECBC’s hope that: Bird Tourism will grow as out of state visitors access the Trail through tourism portals along the trails.
ECBC will encourage young birders and their families locally. The almost 200 stops along the trail will foster an appreciation of habitat conservation for the birds that will continue for many years. Birding Ethics as defined in the brochure will be transmitted to new birders. Since February, despite the difficult economy we have raised enough funds to print and distribute more brochures. The long range plan for ECBC’s role in the management of the Oregon Cascades Birding Trail is to make the Trail a recognizable gem in Oregon and a sustainable fixture in the minds of Oregonians and tourists. Future plans include signage at the sites, and more of a statewide collaboration with the other Oregon birding trials, the 11 Oregon birding festivals and birding tourism in general. The Cascades Birding Trail Guide and the other Oregon Birding Trails are currently available on-line at www.oregonbirdingtrails.org Check it out!!
Report on Summer Lake Shorebird Surveys: by Steve Dougill ECBC partnered with ODFW to help census breeding shorebirds at Summer Lake WMA at the end of May. Eleven volunteers pitched tents or slept in the bunkhouse or trailers at Head Quarters for a couple of nights. It’s great to wake up to Bitterns calling from the marsh and to see a Harrier hunting low over the reeds. After an early morning coffee and bird walk where sharp eyes spotted two big horn sheep on the lower slopes of Winter Ridge, teams dispersed out over the wildlife management area to count shorebirds. Recent management work has concentrated on providing nesting habitat for waterfowl, especially ducks; however, the impacts on nesting shorebirds have not been formally assessed. With target areas to focus on and a free reign to go anywhere on the refuge we headed out into the marsh surrounded by calling Stilts and Avocets. Ashleigh, my eldest daughter, and I had a wet territory to cover. Up to our knees at times, we waded through mud, water and reeds, surrounded by birds. Willets displayed overhead and Stilts alarmed as we came across nests. One Sora Rail flushed from so close … but I still couldn’t find its nest. Other groups used bikes, or birded from dykes. Those that covered the salt flats saw good numbers of Snowy Plovers including three sets of young. Saturday afternoon we headed up onto Winter Ridge to spend a few hours in the cool of the forest. Despite the winds that had picked up, a few people heard Gnatcatcher. Later that evening we had a very extravagant potluck with enough food to feed an army. Also, everyone got to hear the ticking call of Yellow Rails out over the marsh. Sunday morning we finished up a few more areas and headed for home. Everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves and I certainly had a lot of fun. Next year we will do it again, so put it in your calendars.
Running a BBS route is at once a chore and a life experience that you'llnever forget. A route consists of 50 stops spaced half a mile apart. You spend 3 minutes at each stop (mostly listening but occasionally seeingbirds) and you need to hustle to finish all 50 stops by 10 AM. But you'll also find out that three minutes offers a decent amount of time to figure out what birds are at a given stop. The last minute of each stop is often pure enjoyment of standing in one spot and soaking it all in. You need to get to your route and get up early in the morning. On our Barnhouse BBS route Saturday morning, Wil and I got up at 4 AM sharp but sorry to say, we dawdled a bit while boiling up a pot of coffee and didn't get down to the starting point of the route until 04:50, eight minutes late. But the reward is listening at a time of day when birds are the dominant species. As Dawn's rosy fingers creep over the horizon in your first stops you'll hear American Robins for sure, and perhaps Hermit Thrush or Swainson's Thrush depending on where you start. Nighthawks and snipe might be calling, or Yellow-breasted Chats, or coyotes. For the first five to ten stops you can leave the binoculars in the car since the light is too dim to use them anyway. There's a definite sequence to when different bird species start calling in the morning, depending on the location of your route. You'll learn it by heart, and your life will be richer for that understanding. As the morning wears on, some species clam up while others start singing. You're never quite sure if it's the sequence of habitats of habitats that you're moving through, or the nature of the bird species, but it will become a part of your understanding. You'll get a few surprises each year, like the pair of Wilson'sPhalaropes that came flying in to land in a wetland at one high-prairie stop on a Saturday, but you'll also learn that there's a rhythm to your route. As you move along the route through different habitats, you'll find places that you'd like to return to someday. Chances are, you won't get around to revisiting these spots until you run the same route the next year, but at least these places will find their way into your perception, this one day each year! Your route might end on the edge of a remote wilderness area like the Barnhouse route that Wil and I ran on Saturday, or in exurban development like the Santiam route that I did with my daughter the following weekend. In the former case, you may experience remarkable solitude, where the only sound is the drumming of a Williamson's Sapsucker. In the lattercase, you'll have the equally remarkable experience of listening in a morning world where no one else is paying attention to the birds all around them. There are currently 34 vacant BBS routes in Oregon, see: http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBS/results/routemaps/oregon.cfm?CountryNum=840&StateNumber=69 to see which ones might strike your fancy. Woodpecker Festival News: | This article by Dave Irons sums up the essence of the festival so well … see |
The Second Annual Woodpecker Wonderland Festival 2009 By Oenta Gentry (freelance writer living in camp Sherman) Whether you call it a Goshawk, Northern Goshawk, or by its Latin genus species of Accipiter gentiles, nothing compares to seeing the white fluffy head of baby Goshawks peering out of the nest. A North American raptor, seeing the Goshawk as a chick long before it reaches its full length of 19 to 25 inches is a rare pleasure. If earlier in that same morning you had seen a baby Calliope Hummingbird, Stellula calliope, in its nest you would consider yourself twice blessed. The Calliope is the smallest bird in North America and the smallest long distance avian migrant in the world. Neither of these sightings were happenstance. They came after weeks of searching by trained field guides, many with the East Cascades Birding Conservancy, who went out looking for nests birders coming to Central Oregon hope to see. Going on an organized birding tour, the Woodpecker Wonderland Festival, in Camp Sherman and along the Deschutes this past weekend brought many such sights, not just of the areas eleven woodpecker species, but of all area birds. Guides and birders called out one by one the names of the birds they heard long before they saw them. Hearing the birdcall, everyone is poised, binoculars in hand searching for the fast movers in the sky or perched on trees. Camp Sherman is a popular site for Woodpeckers, being home to eleven species of breeding woodpeckers. As many as ten species remain year round. Dry Creek, which is on the tours, is one spot where all eleven species can be seen. Local birder, Madeline Landis took people on walking tours and saw seven species their first day. The Deschutes River Basin tour also saw seven species of woodpeckers and 59 species altogether. Some of the birders saw all eleven species for the first time in their life. We live on the dry side of the Cascades, which means everything depends on water. The west side is the wet side. Mount Jefferson, for example, receives 150 inches of rainfall per year, the Metolius Watershed, eleven inches. Much of the area has had fire on a regular basis which is key to bird’s survival. Downey Woodpeckers come in immediately after a fire. The beetles they feed on will come in even while the wood is still burning. Go out to a burn area and you can even hear the worms burrowing into the trees. Lewis’ also thrive after a burn and can fly and catch multiple bugs at a time. Time on a tour is spent learning bird’s habits. The Cow Bird, who got their name because they used to follow the buffalo, is a parasite who leaves its eggs behind in other birds’ nests never returning to care for them in any way. The larger Cow Birds often take food from the hosts’ chicks thus killing them off. The Yellow Warbler deals with the problem by building a nest over the intruding eggs, sometimes stacking nests as much as seven layers deep to protect its own survival. Whether you’re a front porch birder or like to get all the tools of the trade, a good pair of binoculars is a good first investment. Prices vary, but the lesser magnification binoculars see wider and the image looks brighter. 8 x 42 is a popular magnification for birding. Viewing larger raptors from a distance is better accomplished with a stronger magnification such as a 10 x 50. Birding, however, can be done anywhere, which the guides remind us while calling out birds on the drive back in the van. Males of Williamsons sapsuckers are black and females are brown as a tree. The Williamson female is quite different than the male. They are the most sexually dichromatic genus species in the world, which means the most color diverse. They may be related to a different genus and not the other sapsuckers, which has been a long ongoing debate and is still yet to be determined. Northern Flickers eat more ants than any bird in North America and have the longest tongue of any woodpecker for pulling ants out of hills. Pileated’s, which might be obvious being the largest woodpecker in all of North America, shred the most wood of all our woodpeckers. The Metolius has one of the highest concentrations of White Headed Woodpeckers in the range. What’s it like living in a hole in a tree? Despite outside appearances, the inside of the hole can be one to two feet deep. Parents can be seen going in and out of the nest cleaning by removing fecal sacs. Food is often grubs, and nesting materials can consist of slivers from the inside of the tree. Small as the opening is, there is still threat of predators. Snakes are a common threat as are bears whose sharp nails and teeth can widen the opening.
Upcoming ECBC Field Trips: Field trip information can be checked out [LINK]. Thet are fun and casual. Come and enjoy the birds with us. Aug 22 - Summer Lake for shorebirds Sept 13- Sisters and Possibly Hatfield. Sept 19-20 NAMC Sept 26 Bend for migrants Oct 18 - High Cascade Lakes Nov 8 - High Cascade Lakes Have you ever sat at Salt Creek Falls near Willamette Pass, a stunning and awe inspiring place, and waited for a black swift to make an appearance? Have you ever sat in total silence at Whiskey Springs with several other birders and watched birds come to water so close that you cannot look at them in binoculars? Have you ever heard the song of a Northern Water Thrush? Have you watched a Peregrine Falcon perch atop a dead snag on full alert, then stoop, glide low over a dike and pluck an unsuspecting blackbird for lunch? If that’s not enough, have you seen him land, pluck the feathers and then dine within easy binocular range? Have you ever stood with a number of very competent birders as they discussed the identity of an “empid” flycatcher then left wondering if they ever all agreed or knew? Have you recently high-fived with someone who has just seen a life bird or a new county bird? Have you looked at sandpipers at close range and argued if the legs were yellow or black, or if one had a bill slightly larger than the rest? Have you ever wondered why Calliope Crossing is such a popular birding spot? Or how to find it? Wednesday morning birders have experienced one or all of these events as well many others, all within the past couple of months. Wednesday morning birding continues to attract new birders, hold the interest and enthusiasm of the regulars and ferret out birds and birding opportunities for all levels of birders. Since the last newsletter 35 different birders have joined us for one or more outings. We have had as few as three and as many as twelve participants. On any given Wednesday we usually have a mix of experienced and learning birders. Some have just found out about us, some want to connect with other birders, some are new birders and some are exploring new birding locations. The Big Day record holder from New York was able to get five life birds in one morning with us. Closer to home, a somewhat familiar local birder from Prineville got his Bewick’s Wren for Deschutes County when he joined us at Lower Bridge. During the past few months we have seen in excess of 125 different species. Unusual species were Black Swift, Least Flycatcher Bewick’s Wren, Northern Goshawk, Hermit Warbler and Peregrine Falcon. Most local woodpecker species have been seen. Judy Meredith, founder and guiding hand produces a schedule that meets the desires of current and potential participants. Half-day trips are the norm, but one Wednesday a month we spend a full day. Truth be known, you should always bring a lunch or a snack item as birders frequently look at “just one more spot.” We meet every Wednesday Morning at Nancy P’s Baking Company, 1054 NW Milwaukie Ave. in Bend. That’s one block south of Newport Avenue next to Newport Market. Current meeting time is 7:00am. Meeting times are adjusted as the days lengthen or shorten. What can you expect to find on a Wednesday morning outing? First, short of a life-threatening event, we go rain or shine. A few weeks ago five of us stood in the middle of the road, in an old burn, rain dripping, no, make that pouring, off all of us and wondered what we were doing there. By mid morning we had seen about 15 birds, no, not species, total birds. A change of direction, a dose of sunshine and Calliope Crossing “made our day.” We carpool on all trips. Each rider makes a small gas donation to the driver based on the length of the trip. It is very affordable. Depending on the trip, meeting places are arranged so that you don’t have to make a trip to Bend if the tour is going your way. The Wednesday Morning schedule and meeting places is posted on the ECBC Website. We have no corporate logo or mission statement. We do have a goal: Enjoy birding and have fun in an atmosphere that allows experienced and new birders to share a great birding and learning experience. Please join us. We don’t guarantee birds, but we guarantee opportunities and a pleasant outing.
Summer/Fall Events: Recurring Events : The third Thursday of selected months is Birder's Night at the Environmental Center in Bend. For a schedule of talks and slide shows [see] for more info. - Wednesday Morning birders - see article above
More Dates: For more events see the ECBC web site
It has been another great year out at our Entrada LEWO nest box project site! Sixteen out of twenty six nest boxes were used by LEWO’s with thirteen of these raising young! Another two nest boxes, off site in nearby subdivisions, also raised young this year for a total of fifteen nest boxes! It is always such a joy to be a part of this project. Waiting and watching for the arrival of the LEWO’s, followed by their circular flight mating rituals, calls and drumming on the nest boxes, and then the ultimate, watching as the adults work at feeding and raising their young is simply a fantastic time! The young ones have all fledged the nest boxes at this writing, July 20th, but some can still be seen in the nest box project area flying around with the adults, learning how to “flycatch” for their food. Fun stuff!
Many thanks to all of the volunteers who gave of their time and talents this season! I simply could NOT do it without each and everyone of you!
Here are some results from Jeff to show the five year summary | Survey | Routes | Miles | Total | | TOTAL | BIRDS / | | Month | Surveyed | Surveyed | Hours | | BIRDS | MILE | | | | | | | | | | Nov 04 | 12 / 80 | 945.5 | 72:40 | | 969 | 1.02 | | Nov 05 | 46 / 110 | 3,272.6 | 211:05 | | 3,668 | 1.12 | | Nov 06 | 58 / 120 | 4,174.1 | 256:40 | | 3,479 | 0.83 | | Nov 07 | 47 / 122 | 3,486.7 | 216:45 | | 2,770 | 0.79 | | Nov 08 | 55 / 123 | 4,346.3 | 245:50 | | 3,384 | 0.77 | | | | | | | | | | Dec 04 | 60 / 80 | 5,153.4 | 302:15 | | 5,243 | 1.01 | | Dec 05 | 88 / 110 | 6,688.3 | 402:05 | | 7,570 | 1.13 | | Dec 06 | 102 /120 | 7,688.0 | 457:50 | | 6,412 | 0.83 | | Dec 07 | 97 / 122 | 7,606.7 | 433:45 | | 6,145 | 0.80 | | Dec 08 | 94 / 126 | 7,040.8 | 418:25 | | 5,698 | 0.80 | | | | | | | | | | Jan 05 | 76 / 80 | 6,623.8 | 410:40 | | 6,577 | 0.99 | | Jan 06 | 98 / 110 | 7,408.9 | 430:00 | | 7,484 | 1.01 | | Jan 07 | 103 / 120 | 7,827.2 | 463:20 | | 6,391 | 0.81 | | Jan 08 | 103 / 122 | 8,064.5 | 445:35 | | 5,941 | 0.73 | | Jan 09 | 109 / 129 | 7,916.5 | 484:05 | | 6,843 | 0.86 | | | | | | | | | | Feb 05 | 77 / 80 | 6,629.7 | 438:35 | | 6,242 | 0.94 | | Feb 06 | 98 / 110 | 7,295.1 | 440:25 | | 7,490 | 1.02 | | Feb 07 | 97 / 120 | 7,401.0 | 426:15 | | 4,924 | 0.66 | | Feb 08 | 105 / 122 | 8,013.2 | 429:20 | | 5,406 | 0.67 | | Feb 09 | 101 / 129 | 7,841.0 | 443:25 | | 5,942 | 0.75 | | | | | | | | | | Mar 05 | 54 / 80 | 4,536.3 | 284:10 | | 3,473 | 0.76 | | Mar 06 | 75 / 110 | 5,809.2 | 363:45 | | 5,181 | 0.89 | | Mar 07 | 76 / 120 | 5,598.4 | 330:35 | | 3,682 | 0.65 | | Mar 08 | 66 / 122 | 4,951.2 | 294:30 | | 3,517 | 0.71 | | Mar 09 | 66 / 129 | 5,195.2 | 309:45 | | 3,181 | 0.61 |
and the winter total ... (the numbers below represent bird sightings and not numbers) | 04 - 05 | 279 / 400 | 23,888.7 | 1508:20 | | 22,504 | | 05 - 06 | 405 / 550 | 30,474.1 | 1847:20 | | 31,393 | | 06 - 07 | 436 / 600 | 32,688.7 | 1934:40 | | 24,888 | | 07 - 08 | 418 / 610 | 32,122.3 | 1819:55 | | 23,779 | | 08 - 09 | 425 / 636 | 32,339.8 | 1901:30 | | 25,048 |
North American Migration Count - Contact [ Chuck Gates] - September 19 and 20 The Fall North American Migration Count (sponsored by the ECBC) will be held on the weekend of September 19 & 20. This state-wide migration count collects data on migrating birds that pass through Oregon. This data has been collected for more than 15 years and the ECBC is in the process of collating this data to establish the condition of migrating birds in the state. You can get involved in this project regardless of your experience level. Go to the ECBC website, click on the Projects tab, and find the link for NAMC. You can then choose which county in which you want to participate and find the contact information for the coordinator for that county. Conact the coordinator and he/she will let you know how you can help. Get involved and you'll have a great time.
Kestrels - Contact Dean Hale article by Don McCartney We are having another good year with 54 active boxes out of a total of 95. This is one short of the record. However, it is going to be quite a challenge to keep these seasons of 50+ boxes coming, as the pressure of human encroachment is slowly chipping away at some of the best habitat. It's like the "low-hanging fruit has already been picked" and it is going to be more difficult to find replacements for the lost habitat. I have several K-boxes in storage that would love to have a home At the end of May, Jim Anderson, Dick Tipton and Don McCartney were banding Kestrels at Squaw Flat on Wilt Road. One of the two boxes was active, with two live nestlings and one dead nestling. Usually the parents of a box of nestlings will appear rather quickly once humans invade their nest box. But not this time, as there were no parents to be seen or heard. It definitely seemed that the box had been abandoned. We planned that after two more days, the box would be observed again for an extended period of time and the box re-examined.
After two days, Dick Tipton carefully observed the box at a distance, and again there were no parents to be seen. The box at that time contained two relatively healthy nestlings, but the carcass of the third had been consumed. Rather than let the nestlings starve to death, Dick took the two survivors to Gary Landers, a licensed raptor rehabilitator. Assuming their good health, at an appropriate time Gary will contact Jim so that the young kestrels can be banded. When Gary feels that the time is right, the Kestrels will be returned to the wild. These two Kestrels are alive today, thanks to the extra efforts of Dick Tipton. What a guy!! Dick is licensed to handle Kestrels under my ODF&W Scientific Taking Permit 137-09. ... More kestrel Info by Miriam Lipsitz The Delicious Fire which occurred in 1990 is located north and west of the Tumalo Reservoir and encompasses a little over two thousand acres. Although it cleared a huge swath of National Forest land, it also provided some brand new excellent quality Western and Mountain bluebird habitat, and by a stroke of great good fortune, access to that area was not far from Don McCartney’s door step.
Don had moved to Central Oregon in 1996 and while exploring the general area where he had recently moved, found himself driving the quiet forest service roads of the Delicious Burn, which he learned had been named after nearby Delicious Street. As he looked around, he saw bluebirds - lots of them. Responding to the birds’ need for cavities, Don became busy building nest boxes for all the cavity nesters he had seen in the area. He built sturdy boxes for chickadees and nuthatches, kestrels and of course, the bluebirds. Over a period of time, he built a total of 30 bluebird boxes, 20 chickadee/nuthatch boxes, and 10 kestrel boxes and placed them in the burn. | Don also learned the hard way that protecting those boxes from vandalism and sport shooters is critical, even in an area as remote as this. He repositioned the boxes so that they are all but invisible from the forest service roads and the birds responded by setting up housekeeping immediately. They raised families and came back year after year. Records were kept and statistics sent on a yearly basis to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. |
When the kestrel nestbox and banding project grew to a point that Don needed to spend more of his time taking care of it, volunteer Rachel Cornforth took over part of the bluebird trail at the Delicious Burn, and several years later another volunteer, Miriam Lipsitz joined the project. For the last few years Rachel and Miriam have divided the Burn, each monitoring one half of the 26 boxes during nesting season. Today the Delicious Burn bluebird monitoring project is still going strong. There is, however a need for new volunteers. This area holds great attractions for bird lovers. It is remote and breathtakingly beautiful with mountain views that even the bluebirds admire, and the chance to see other nesting birds can be counted on. The project does require a commitment of one visit per week throughout the nesting season plus some recordkeeping. But if there were enough interested volunteers, this might make a great team possibility. For more information, please e-mail Dean Hale: mep@q.com, Miriam: hollyhob@earthlink.net, Rachel: dhcgrc@comcast.net
Thanks to all of you that volunteered to count swifts for us in early May. The rough results are in and I wanted to share them with all of you. As most of you know, numbers in the spring are less than those in the fall. Roosts that may be a "hot spot" in the fall may not even host swifts in the spring and generally there is less of a "show" of concentrated birds as compared to the fall. However, the birds do come through and we did manage to count them. This is the first time that I know of that this was done in the spring so thanks for helping to make it happen. Unless any of you protest, Larry or I will be contacting you to help in the fall as well.
In the table below are the results as well as my working list of known Oregon roosts. Those highlighted in yellow were not covered this spring and I may be missing information about them, so anything you can add would be helpful. Also, include any others you may know about. We'll work to cover more this fall. Additionally, below is the list of results from other sites along the migration corridor from what Larry Schwitters, the leader of Vaux's Happening in Washington, has worked hard to round up.
Here's a couple of websites to keep tabs on the project:
In Oregon, I have been coordinating this project as a board member for the East Cascade Bird Conservancy: http://www.ecbcbirds.org/Projects/OregonVauxsSwiftSurvey/tabid/108/Default.aspx
We have Larry Schwitters to thank for coordinating this entire effort from Mexico to Canada: http://vauxhappening.org/Vauxs_Happening/Vauxs_Happening_Home.html | Locale | Roost location | Past high counts | Spring 2009 data | | | | | date | total | | Adair Village | old heating plant stack from former military hospital | | | | | Albany | various sites? | 1004 | 5/2/2009 | | | Albany | house 416 4th St (Pat and Carol Joerger) | | 5/1/2009 | 5 | | Corvallis | First Presbyterian Church (Madison Ave) | 4500 | 5/2/2009 | 0 | | Corvallis | Wiegand Hall at Jefferson and 30th street. | ? | 5/2/2009 | 320 | | Corvallis | Whiteside Theater | | 5/2/2009 | 23 | | Cottage Grove | Village Green | 250 | 5/2/2009 | 7 | | Eugene | Agate Hall on U of O campus | 16487 | 5/2/2009 | 1165 | | Eugene | Old Warehouse ? | 238 | | | | Eugene | various residential chimneys? | 110 | | | | Independence | | 130 | | | | Junction City | Laurel? | 1565 | | | | Mapleton | Lion's Club/Library | | 5/2/2009 | 49 | | McMinnville | 2 story bldg at Third & Davis St. | 800 | | | | Medford | Voorhies Mansion at Eden Valley Orchards | hundreds | 5/4/2009 | 33 | | Monmouth | ? | | | | | Mt. Angel | High School chimney | | | | | Oregon City | various sites? | 1670 | | | | Portland | Chapman Elementary School | 20031 | 5/2/2009 | 1407 | | Portland | Duniway Elementary School | 4450 | | 0 | | Roseburg | Pottery Shed of the Arts Center on Harvard Ave | 3973 | 5/2/2009 | 40 | | Roseburg | Umpqua Valley Arts Association chimney? Same as pottery shed? | 4000 | | | | Roseburg | Umpqua Community College | | 5/2/2009 | 0 | | Roseburg | St. Georges Episcopal Church? | | | | | Salem | “Capital place” | 2750 | | | | Silverton | Palace Theater (historic site) | 1735 | 5/2/2009 | 0 | | Silverton | 108 1st St. (2009) | | 5/2/2009 | 50 | | Toldedo | residential chimney | | | | | | | | | | | Eastern and Central Oregon | | Bend | 644 NW Harriman St. (Christmas Presence) | | 5/2/2009 | 185 | | Prineville | Bowman Museum (3rd and main) | | 5/2/2009 | 40 | | La Grande | Foley Building | | 5/2/2009 | 1020 | | La Grande | other site? | | 5/2/2009 | 0 | | La Grande | Catholic Church Chimney | 1250 | 5/2/2009 | 0 | | Union | High School chimney | | 5/2/2009 | 14 |
Conservation Committee - Bringing Back the Wetlands by Eva Eagle ECBC has always been committed to bird habitat improvement, and our partnership with the Deschutes Land Trust has given us a good opportunity to do that at Camp Polk Meadow Preserve.
For the past two years, we have spent one Saturday in May pulling invasive weeds at the Preserve in a joint effort with local teen groups. This work has helped prepare the meadows for the Land Trust’s most ambitious project to date: re-meandering Whychus Creek through the Preserve, turning much of the dry meadow areas into wetlands.
This May the construction crew began to dig a new channel for the stream in the area where we have pulled weeds. This October, ECBC will be looking for volunteers to join other groups in planting thousands of riparian plants in the new wetlands-to-be. Our planned workday is October 3, so put it on your calendar. It should be a fun occasion and an opportunity to learn up close what’s involved in this project. We’ll begin by birding at 8am and by 10am we’ll assemble for the planting project. We’ll work till 1pm at the latest and kick back for bag lunch in the meadow. Please plan to join the group on October 3rd.
News from other Local groups: No group works alone and we would like to introduce you to a range of other conservation / wildlife groups in Central Oregon that are active and support out mission. If you are active in a group not represented here and would like to contribute a regular piece, please contactThe Nuthatch .
ONDA and ECBC Team up for a “Harty” Helping of Hawks!
Rising almost 8,000 feet from the desert floor, Hart Mountain soars above the high desert plateau. Flanked by the Warner Valley wetlands to the west, Hart Mountain Wildlife Refuge offers a sanctuary for over 300 species of wildlife, including pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, sage-grouse, and mountain quail. This 278,000 acre wildlife refuge is managed by only 2 staff and an army of dedicated volunteers. In May a group of 11 ONDA and ECBC volunteers spent 3 days at the refuge helping to inventory raptor nest sites. Data on nesting raptors at Hart Mountain has not been collected since 1985! So there was a lot of ground to cover and little time. To survey the area effectively the group divided into three teams; each team being assigned a different part of the refuge. Needless to say the volunteers couldn’t cover everything. That being said 17 active nest sites and three breeding territories were identified. The nesting species found included Golden eagle, red-tail hawk, American kestrel, prairie falcon, Northern harrier, great-horned owl, long-eared owl, short-eared owl and common raven. Everyone had a fantastic time and the weather was extremely cooperative.
ONDA Releases Strategy for Wind Energy Development in Oregon’s High Desert
ONDA and five other conservation groups release a report: Oregon’s High Desert Wind Energy: Opportunities and Strategies for Responsible Development.
Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA) and five other conservation groups released a report titled Oregon’s High Desert Wind Energy: Opportunities and Strategies for Responsible Development. The report uses Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis to outline where and how large-scale wind power generation could be approached in Oregon’s high desert while still conserving sensitive wildlife habitats and important natural landscapes. “ONDA supports renewable energy development and believes that such development can help reduce our fossil fuel consumption and help address climate change while creating sustainable economies for rural communities throughout eastern Oregon,” said Brent Fenty, Executive Director of ONDA. “However, there is an urgent need to analyze where wind power potential is the highest and wildlife and social conflicts are the lowest. Such an analysis will ensure that projects can be developed without degradation of desert wildlands and damage to sensitive wildlife populations.”
The report was created through the mapping and analysis of the areas identified by the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory as having the best wind power potential. This data is compared with sensitive natural resources such as Greater sage-grouse breeding areas. The report includes a narrative outlining the nature of the potential conflicts with wind energy development as well as Best Practices and guidelines to minimize impacts.
ONDA’s hope is that the report will be used by the wind industry, local and state planners, and the public to help site future wind projects responsibly. ONDA drew heavily on studies that have been conducted across the nation regarding the impacts of wind energy and potentially-impacted sensitive wildlife (e.g. sage grouse, raptors, and bats) in formulating its recommendations. Fenty added that, “this report was designed to be used by multiple audiences. Local, state, and federal regulators will be able use the report to work with developers to guide how and where wind power facilities are permitted. And conservation groups and local citizens will be able use the report to prioritize areas most important for protection while also recognizing areas where environmental conflicts are least significant.” In addition to ONDA, the report is endorsed by Audubon Society of Portland, Defenders of Wildlife, Hells Canyon Preservation Council, Oregon Chapter Sierra Club, and WildEarth Guardians.
Baby Birds Abound- Kevin Lair, Wild Birds Unlimited With the arrival of summer, young birds are now venturing out on their own. Unfortunately, sometimes tragedy strikes and baby birds need humans to lend a helping hand. But oftentimes while we have nothing but the best intentions, we can end up doing more harm in our attempt to help. Most baby birds do not need rescuing, so it is important to determine if the bird is truly in need of assistance. Fledglings might be on the ground because they are learning to fly. By "rescuing" them you might interfere with the course of nature. Watch for at least two to three hours for the return of the mother or father bird. If no parent returns during that time, you may have found an orphaned bird. If the bird is not in danger from predators, you should leave it on the ground. If it appears to be a nestling that has fallen from the nest and you can locate the nest, then return the baby bird to the nest. Birds cannot smell a human scent so the parents will not reject their baby if you touch it. If you are confident you have found an orphaned bird, call a professional wildlife rehabilitator. It is illegal under federal wildlife law for you to have a wild bird in your possession unless you are a licensed rehabilitator. We can help you locate a rehabilitator if one is needed. Caring for a bird is not an easy task and should be left to people who know how to do it best. If you must temporarily care for the orphaned bird, put it in a cardboard box in a quiet spot to minimize stress. If the bird is featherless add a heat source such as a heating pad or warm bottle covered by a towel. Unless instructed by a rehabilitator, do not attempt to give the bird food or water. USFWS - News from Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, -byMarla Bennett Sage grouse lek counts occurred daily from March 16 to April 30. The data has not yet been studied. Mid-May is the peak of pronghorn fawning; many does and fawns are apparent near headquarters. Females usually breed at 16-17 months old. Gestation time averages 250 days—one of the longest in ruminants of North America, exceeded only by elk and bison. Pronghorn females invest in their offspring at a higher level than any other North American ruminant. Twins are usually produced, weighing approximately 18% of maternal weight. By weaning time in late August, a pronghorn mother raising 2 offspring has supported the mass equivalent of 120% of her own weight. The most notable event at Hart Mountain this spring has been the amazing amount of rainfall. Thunderstorms occurred almost daily between May 30 and June 17, totaling an amazing 3.5 inches of rain. The poor winter snowpack has been supplemented by the blessing of spring rains. It is possible that all the summer water holes won’t go dry after all. The rain not only watered needed forage, but also refuge roads. All but the main road were impassable for most of June. ECBC cancelled its bird point counts, vegetation mappers, Joint Fire Science researchers, BLM surveyors, and Fish and Wildlife archaeologists all had to cancel or postpone their June projects.
I am very happy to report that the active red-tailed hawk nest made it through the heavy equipment phase of stream restoration at Camp Polk. Bill Mitchell and Carol Wall have been keeping an eye on it all along and they both sighted (at different times in early July) a fledgling standing on the nest rim, contemplating his first flight – with both parents soaring overhead. So that’s exciting! Also – numerous nest surveys were conducted (by ODF&W wildlife biologists as well as DLT staff with extensive nest searching experience) throughout June – before equipment moved into heavily vegetated sections of the project area. No active nests were ever found in trees or shrubs that had to be removed (BTW – most of the veg was salvaged and transplanted along stretches of the restored channel).
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| ECBC 16 Kansas St, Bend, OR. 97701 Help support ECBC and become a member today [Join] You can make a donation right now with this secure web service. |
In this issue A major decision for you Vollunteer opportunities Spring field Notes for Central Oregon Bird-a-fun news Woodpecker Festival report OR Cascade Birding Trail news Summer Lake Shorebirds Breeding Bird Surveys Events - happenings - field trips ECBC Project News News from other groups
The Board ...
Local Info: Information on ECBC projects and volunteer opportunities, [see] Sign up for COBOL, the local listserver for staying connected with Central Oregon's birds [link ] Local yard bird project [link ] Local rare and unusual bird photos [link ] Where to go birding in Central Oregon [link ] Recent COBOL archive [link]
Fundraising: As a non-profit we rely on you to help keep the organization alive. Currently we are seeking funds to hire an Executive Director which would solidify the organizations base and allow it to grow. Please help us reach this important goal.
Volunteering: We have many volunteer opportunities ranging from bird surveys, conservation work days, and helping on booths at county fairs. Other needs include working with bird data, contacting members, writing grants, and sharing ideas. [Contact ] Diane Kook, our volunteer coordinator.
Suggestions & Comments:
Please send any comments about this newsletter and how we might be able to improve it to the [ECBC]
Checklists:Checklist for Central Oregon birds [get it] Checklist for Deschutes birds [get it]
Businesses:Does your buisness want to support ECBC and bird conservation in the local area? Please contact us for the benefits we can provide your company by becoming a supporting member.
Guided Trips:ECBC offers guided trips for individuals and small groups for $150 in Central Oregon. You drive - we lead. These are led by local experts who will try and find your target birds. All proceedes go to ECBC. Contact [Steve Dougill] for more information.
Help Needed on Red Crossbill sightings I teach at Pacific Lutheran University and I work on Red Crossbills
(specifically song divergence). This summer I am trying to record the songs of as many of the call types as possible. I would greatly appreciate any information that anyone has about red crossbills. They will likely be settling down to breed soon and so if anyone hears
crossbills singing or observes behaviors that suggest that they are likely to remain in a given area to breed I would greatly appreciate an
email to indicate where they were observed.
Also helpful is information about developing cone crops. They specialize
on seeds in conifer cones and so if there is a large cone crop in a given area this can be a good indicator that crossbills may breed in that area in July - August. It would be very helpful to know about cone crops for the following conifers - Ponderosa pine, Engleman spruce,
Douglas fir, Western hemlock, Sitka spruce.
Thanks for your help.
Julie Smith smithjw@plu.edu
| The ECBC is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to helping birds and their habitats. Although we are based in Central Oregon, we organize several Sate-wide projects and are strong advocates for conservation. We encourage you to visit us at http://ecbcbirds.org and become a member of this growing and energetic organization. As always, enjoy the birds! |
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