Towheeblog

Dr. Tom Love and I went off on a wild bird chase this morning.  This predawn excursion included a 515AM departure from McMinnville and Dr. Love had already been on the road some time from his home further north. By 630 we were birding the Lincoln  County Coast.  An earlier birder had already found the Whimbrel flock at Driftwood State Rec Area.  We just followed the direction his scope was pointing…two Bar-tailed Godwits among the slightly larger Whimbrel. Here is one of those vagrants, rusty chest among the pale-fronted Whimbrel, back row, right of center:Here is the second of the godwits, right front:Red-necked Grebe off South Jetty, in the Yaquina River at Newport…breeding plumage:At Boiler Bay Tin spotted a Horned Puffin among the many small flocks of Common Murre flying to and fro.  There was a myriad of murre, not to be contrasted with a muriad of murre. Also, there we had a lone Brown Pelican…rumor has it he didn’t like the food in San Diego and so came back north.

BACK HOME  After we returned to McMinnville the dog insisted on taking me for a walk. Poor Tom to go back to work.

Swifts were aloft, a robin was hauling food to its nestlings and an Anna’s Hummingbird sat on his sentinel post, projecting all the arrogance of a White House Press Secretary.Off the Lincoln County coast in our four stopping places the Common Murre, Pacific Loon and Pelagic Cormorant were the most numerous species.  Every Pac Loon was headed northward as were two Bonaparte’s Gulls.

Driftwood Beach State Recreation Area, Lincoln, Oregon, US
May 10, 2017. 15 species

Pelagic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pelagicus)  X
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)  2
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)  20
Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)  2
Sanderling (Calidris alba)  X
Dunlin (Calidris alpina)  20
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)  100
Mew Gull (Larus canus)  1
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  1
Western Gull (Larus occidentalis)  X
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  X
Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata)  2
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  X
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)  X
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)  1

Yaquina River–South Jetty, Lincoln, Oregon, US
May 10, 2017. 16 species

Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata)  X
Common Loon (Gavia immer)  1
Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena)  1     in breeding plumage
Brandt’s Cormorant (Phalacrocorax penicillatus)  X
Pelagic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pelagicus)  50     many nesting on Hwy 101 bridge
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  1
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  1     immature on north jetty
Common Murre (Uria aalge)  X
Pigeon Guillemot (Cepphus columba)  X
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  X
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  X
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)  X
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  X
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)  4
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)  1
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)  4

Depoe Bay State Wayside/Depoe Bay Whale Watching Center, Lincoln, Oregon, US
May 10, 2017.  6 species

Pacific Loon (Gavia pacifica)  X     migrating north
Pelagic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pelagicus)  X
Common Murre (Uria aalge)  X
Bonaparte’s Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia)  1
Western Gull (Larus occidentalis)  X
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  X

Boiler Bay State Wayside, Lincoln, Oregon, US
May 10, 2017.  11 species

Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata)  X
Pacific Loon (Gavia pacifica)  X
Brandt’s Cormorant (Phalacrocorax penicillatus)  X
Pelagic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pelagicus)  X
Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)  1
Common Murre (Uria aalge)  X
Bonaparte’s Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia)  X
Western Gull (Larus occidentalis)  X
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  X
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)  X
Brewer’s Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus)  X