okaugust

Malhuer NWR - HQ - 5/13/2023 I did spot what I'm 100% sure is a Black-chinned, reported by others, and that's what I think 2. is, but I could not for the life of me seem to get them in the right light to get the gorget color to confirm the others. #2 has the bill and body of the Black-chinned, but the rest aren't quite so clear. I know my home hummers pretty well, but getting out of my element a bit here on location so not so confident. Thank you! 1. 2. 3. 4.

Thanks much!

Doing some traveling back to my former home area of Sheridan/Johnson County, WY. Our Audubon chapter there did a book launch for a children's bird book one of our board members wrote with my photos in it, which was exciting, but what I was most thrilled to do was see some friends and go birding at my old haunts, so vastly different from the Pac NW. Greater-sage grouse, lek, grassland/sage area IBA we set up, the monthly bird walk spot, all incredible still. I was on my way south now in CO for my daughter's master's grad from CU this week (I know, that's a lot of detail you don't need but hey, it's working up to be a great week lol) and just leaving the IBA, took a side road out of in the grassland area working southeast of Buffalo, WY and ambling down a dirt road in the RAV when this hawk flushed from a culvert. My immediate thought was it was a harrier, because the over tail markings were dark edge, white band, dark top, but then it perched and my exhausted eyes (18 hour drive from the coast Friday) realized it was a buteo, I chalked it up to a Red-tailed Hawk as that's default, and kept going, but the more I look at it and the more I think about the tail band, I wonder if it might be a Broad-winged. They were not common but did pop up during migration when I lived there. However I've only ever seen them 2-3 times, so not all that familiar. Thank you!

I staked out there too for a couple of hours yesterday, both in the little bay area then walking to the jetty and back. One was spotted there the day before, but even though I had dowitchers practically walking around me all over as the tide went out, no luck on a Red Knot in the mix. I love any excuse to keep looking though, lol, and it's a great spot.

Thanks! Wishful thinking on my part. 🙂 The quest continues!

April 28th, 2023 Wireless Rd - which is this wacky little farm road just south of Astoria, OR that is along Youngs Bay where they sometimes spread fish guts on the grassland (though haven't this year), and the potholes of water and grazed pasture attract a fantastic assortment of birds. Red Knot has been reported here 2-3 days this last week. I've been out 3 times hoping to spot it without luck. There are a lot of dowitchers right now, primarily Short-billed, about half of which are showing good breeding plumage with coloring similar to the Red Knot. I've been ruling out most of what I see based on bill length and lighter coloring along the sides of the head. Unfortunately this one has its bill sunk deep into the mud. It's the only shot I have of this particular bird. About the time I have myself convinced it a Red Knot, I change my mind and decide it's a Dowitcher. Then repeat that in reverse. Both of the birds are newer to my purview in the last year, with Red Knots more so, and I'm just not that familiar with either to rule them out I suppose. Thank you in advance! Note: I haven't adjusted the color on either of these, just one cropped and the other original. There is another bird right behind it that is likely a dowitcher, which should be enough to tell me this is probably one as well. The recent reports don't have photos accompanying.

Thanks, awesome help as usual! I did see a flock of Dunlins fly off with the black starting on their bellies, which is what made me think, yah, maybe not. It's good to have some in breeding plumage again finally!

Ft Stevens State Park, "Parking Area D/Trestle Bay" area, which is an offshoot of the Columbia River just a couple miles in front the South Jetty, as the tides goes out it becomes a great place for shorebirds. Shorebirds that migrate here in spring are coming back in, like Whimbrel, and those that winter here then continue on north starting to get breeding plumage, like Dunlin. There are several large flocks of Dunlin moving around, and over winter by the jetty in the 1000s, but birds like Sanderling, Western Sandpioer I just haven't been seeing as many of. Anyway, this odd fellow sticking his neck out I figure is a Dunlin, but it seemed large and I think the posture is giving me pause. The other birds to the left are (I think) Long-billed Dowitchers, though we are (I think) getting to the point in the season were we start to see Short-billed more. But for size comparison anyway, there they are. Thanks in advance!

If you ever come out this way, NW OR or SW WA, let me know, or even surrounding areas, we're pretty mobile. Would love to show off the area and birds. This trail is a hidden gem, and I just tumbled onto it a couple of weekends ago. It feels like....the place we've been looking for. A few more photos if you like. https://okaugust.smugmug.com/2023-03-20-Soapstone-Trail-Nehalem-Fish-Hatchery/

Ya'll are awesome. Thanks for all of the work you put into this. I haven't been ignoring you I work 4 10s and was waiting for a quiet not completely worn out evening to try to listen. Aidan I think I hear what you mean at 1:13, but I wonder if that's me or a bird. But maybe a couple more sounds just after as well. The pesky squirrels we have our here is at the end of the longer one. They almost always get me at first thinking it's a bird. Though I think there might be a Pileated Woodpecker in there too I didn't pick up, because I was so focused on the other calls. There definitely was a week later. I sound like I'm moving through a swamp, which isn't far off from some of our mountain habitats. I'm not sure I'm willing to claim this one just yet. I'll probably end up back up in that area more than a few times in the near future listening and hoping for a glimpse to confirm. Usually if I can see and hear the bird at the same time, it helps me lock in the connection (poorwills being an exception), and I'm pretty good at birding by ear, but this one I still don't think I trust the recordings + my own ears. At least it's a beautiful place to be. Lots of newts too! Many thanks to all of you on this quest!

Thanks for putting that together. Oddly the first time I clicked one of the links, I could hear it, but now not on any of the three. Again, it might be my IT skills, or today it might be the tinnitus, so I'm going to reboot and see if that resolved the issue and take another listen tomorrow and hope one or the other issues resolves itself.

On the :49 audio, they are at :01.57. On the 2:57 audio at .05.65. On that one Merlin doesn't detect the jays until :18.93. I haven't used other software, I'm almost at the range of my IT skills as it is. I will look into it though. Thanks for listening!

This would be a lifer for me, and the Mountain Quail are reported in this area, Soapstone Trail, Clatsop County, OR, 3/20/2023 - they are elusive though and more often seen than heard. I've never heard or seen one before, so by audio only I'd like to be 100% sure. My local friend and eBird reviewer indicates he does hear Mountain Quail. That being said, both times the recording picked up Mountain Quail it also heard Canada Jay. I'm trying to tune my brain to differentiate but one, they are very similar in my mind, and two, I'm wondering how possible it might be that the jays are mimicking the quail? If I were more familiar with the quail by ear, I'd be more sure in calling it. Sorry too, I am usually in a fair amount of rain gear so every move sounds like a lot of noise on the recording. And of course you really have to turn it up, I'm recording with an iPhone 6. Also hoping the links work, I feel like I relearn this every time I do it. 👵 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u-fVg6k8F7zEpMvHKNhFTJtXo9D85IOg/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v6nC13Re4EfMa_Gk8kqFJrD2cTq_GUvS/view?usp=sharing Thank you!

Thanks so much!

Thank you again! As luck would have it, we diverted to Westport, which is always good birding anyway, because of a YBLO, and got great looks at it as well. It started out much farther out, then just made its way right up to us. I've only seen one twice before, the first time in CO very, very, VERY far off through a scope, and another last year in OR, but just one look. This one was much more gratuitous about photos!

Thank you!

Westport Marina, WA 3/25/2023 I'm usually better with loon ID, but some of the coast species I'm still getting more familiar with. This one almost looks like the front half is a Red-throated and the back half a Common. The bill doesn't seem chonky enough for a Common, and the lighter coloring on the front are giving me pause. Thank you in advance!

Tokeland Marina, WA 3/25/2023, at a glance I assumed this gull would be a Western, but the lighter coloring of primaries and the darker colored eyes are giving me pause. I don't think it's light enough to be strictly a Glaucous-winged Gull. We get so many hybrids it's likely that but thought it was worth asking for other opinions. Thank you!

March 25, 2023 Tokeland Marina, Tokeland, WA We where here to see a wayward Laughing Gull (and did, and it gave us some great looks), and while I was watching the gull fly around and a host of shorebirds, this 737 of a bird flew over. I snapped one shot before I lost it. I showed some nearby birders who declared it a Whimbrel, but my first thought was Long-billed Curlew. Both would be FOY birds, both have been reported in that area. It looks bulky enough and a little more compact, that I could believe Whimbrel, but trying to compare other flight shots of both birds and the bill just looks too long and streamlined for a Whimbrel. FWIW, we came back by after hitting a couple of other spots and DID see a Long-billed Curlew along with the rest of the shore birds that had moved to the other side of the peninsula as the tide came in. That one I'm much more confident is a curlew. Thank you,

Thanks both of you. Admit the photos are sketchy at best. I appreciate the feedback!

Saturday, February 11, 2023, horrible photos, so apologies in advance, but I thought it was worth a try to see if there is enough definition for a better soul than me to ID. This was taken in the Brownsmead area east of Astoria, OR. It's mostly low lying pastures and sloughs, riparian areas moving up into some hills and pines, within a mile or two from the Columbia River. I was snapping photos of a Red-breasted Sapsucker on a tall pine, turned back into the road to look at the big flock of European Starlings in the field across from me, when something flew within feet of my head, so close I heard the soft but solid "woomph" of wing beats, it was pretty incredible. The starlings went silent, the flock took to the air and then came back down with seconds, and I just snapped one shot of the raptor as it went further across the sky and back to the south. There are all kinds of raptors out here, from Peregrine to Merlin to Kestrels, Rough-legged, Red-tailed, Red-shouldered, Sharp-shinned and Cooper's, and don't forget Northern Harriers and Bald Eagles. It was fairly small-medium-sized. I almost lost it in the flock of starlings. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

I was pretty excited about it too. We almost went for one a couple of years ago from WY to ID but it stopped being reported. I was actually out from work sick when both were first reported, but held off because I really didn't feel well. But I got to the area, no cranes at all. Spent 45 minutes talking to a land owner, who said they weren't seen yesterday, and by that time they came in. It put me a little late to try for the Brambling, with more rain and bad light in the woods, but i gave it a go and after 90 minutes of stamping around in the rain, found it too. One of our favorite long time sayings, back when we started riding motorcycles, "I've been wetter....and colder...." LOL

Woo! That's exciting. I've been hoping to spot one, as they get reported there occasionally. I've managed three life birds in about 24 hours. Common Crane, Brambling and now the Cassin's. Super excited, thanks!

January 8, 2023, Barview Jetty, OR This is taken about 1.25 miles in from the end of the jetty on the ocean end, as it becomes the channel into Tillamook Bay. The high seas and winds and rain squalls had pushed Red Phalarope and Ancient Murrelet into the channel. The conditions were pretty rough for even seeing what was going on, with a lot of rain and sea spray and wind. I was mostly looking and shooting and hoping for the best. By the time I got done I was covered in salt. I drove back down to a small parking area where people mostly explore and fish and spotted this guy. I was thinking at the time it was another Ancient Murrelet, but I was getting better shots using the car as a wind break and staying in it. My next thought was Marbled Murrelet, but the beaks wrong. Then Rhinoceros Auklet, but while the coloring is similar to the young ones I've seen, the bill again doesn't seem right. That brought me to Cassin's Auklet, which I've never seen before, but I'm not seeing the eyebrow and blue eyes, which looking through eBird photos, doesn't always show up. Thoughts? e Just for fun, the conditions I was working with. This was in the afternoon, when things had settled down some. eBird checklist if you want to check my homework. https://ebird.org/checklist/S125717824

Thank you, I will give that a try! I appreciate the help. 🙂