For Sunday's Columbia Estuary Count, the weather was better than expected, with temperatures in the high 40's, showers and manageable amounts of wind. We also had a fair turnout of participants an got most of the areas covered.We had trouble finding gulls. Duck hunters were so thick that all the ducks had moved out to the middle of the bay. This combined with the aftermath of the cold snap from a week ago made for a real find-the-birds challenge. We finished the count with 116 species and about 44,000 individuals, plus 6 additional species seen during the the count week window.
The most unusual species seen were a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW at Wireless Rd that has been cooperative enough that many folks have been able to get a look at it and a BAIRD'S SANDPIPER.The Baird's Sandpiper is a regular fall migrant, but the peak movement is in August and September. Most have moved on to South America by now. Lee and Evan Cain found the bird mixed in with Dunlin and Western and Least Sandpipers. They saw it at close range and heard the distinctive call notes. The bird was relocated the next day in a flooded field on Wireless Rd. This is the first convincingly documented occurance on a Christmas Count in Oregon. There are only a very few additional records from California.We once again recorded very late BROWN PELICANS on the count though the numbers seen on the Friday before the count were much higher than 5 reported on count day.A ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was seen at Astoria Airport. A NORTHERN SHRIKE was at King Avenue. Five EURASIAN COLLARED DOVES were seen at a feeder near the Skipanon Boat Basin.In other Christmas Count news: Tillamook Count reported 135, Coos Bay 152. Leadbetter Point has not yet reported numbers.
The most unusual species seen were a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW at Wireless Rd that has been cooperative enough that many folks have been able to get a look at it and a BAIRD'S SANDPIPER.The Baird's Sandpiper is a regular fall migrant, but the peak movement is in August and September. Most have moved on to South America by now. Lee and Evan Cain found the bird mixed in with Dunlin and Western and Least Sandpipers. They saw it at close range and heard the distinctive call notes. The bird was relocated the next day in a flooded field on Wireless Rd. This is the first convincingly documented occurance on a Christmas Count in Oregon. There are only a very few additional records from California.We once again recorded very late BROWN PELICANS on the count though the numbers seen on the Friday before the count were much higher than 5 reported on count day.A ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was seen at Astoria Airport. A NORTHERN SHRIKE was at King Avenue. Five EURASIAN COLLARED DOVES were seen at a feeder near the Skipanon Boat Basin.In other Christmas Count news: Tillamook Count reported 135, Coos Bay 152. Leadbetter Point has not yet reported numbers.
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