The Quarterly Journal of Oregon Field Ornithology
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OregonThe quarterly journal Birds of Oregon field ornithology Volume 32, Number 2 Summer 2006 Essay: The Field Trip Photo Gallery: Paul Sullivan....................................................63 Dunlin Kevin Smith...........................................76 2005-2006 ECBC Winter Raptor Survey Marbled Godwits Noah Strycker.....................77 Jeff Fleischer......................................................64 Inland Wandering Tattler Ben Young...............77 Site Guide: Weyerhaeuser Settling Pond Site on the From the Editor’s Desk North Spit of Coos Bay Jeff Harding....................................................78 Tim Rodenkirk....................................................68 Field Notes: Winter 2005 -2006 Short Notes North Coast - Wink Gross..................................................82 Unusual Willamette Valley Sighting of a Female South Coast - Tim Rodenkirk.............................................83 Cassin’s Finch Portland Metro - Eric Knight............................................87 Elmer E. Specht................................................73 Willamette Basin - Joel Geier............................................89 American Dipper Feeding on Salmon Eggs Rogue-Umpqua - Dennis Vroman....................................94. Roger Robb.......................................................74 North Central - Charles R. Gates....................................95 White-throated Swift Roost at Succor Creek State South Central - Kevin Spencer..........................................97 Natural Area Observer List......................................................................99 Roger Robb.......................................................75 2006-2007 Christmas Bird Count Schedule...........Insert: Oregon Birds is looking for material in these categories: Oregon Birds Articles deal with identification, distribution,ecology, The quarterly journal of Oregon field ornithology management, conservation, P.O. Box 10373, Eugene, Oregon 97440 taxonomy, behavior, biology, and www.oregonbirds.org historical aspects of ornithology and birding in Oregon. Articles Oregon Birds is a quarterly publication of Oregon Field Ornithologists (OFO), an cite references (if any) at the end of Oregon not-for-profit corporation. Membership in OFO includes a subscription to the article. Names and addresses Oregon Birds. ISSN 0890-2313 of authors typically appear at the beginning of the article. Editor: Jeff Harding (541) 451-2613 39127 Griggs Drive, Lebanon, OR, 97355 Short Notes are shorter contributions that deal with the Associate Editor: Don DeWitt same subjects as articles. Short Notes typically cite no references, Board of Editors: Alan Contreras, Matt Hunter, Dave Irons, Mike or at most a few in parentheses Patterson, Steve Dowlan in the text. Names and address of authors appear at the end of the Officers and Board of Directors: Short Note. President: Dave Tracy - Bend ( 2007) [email protected] Bird Finding Guides “where Secretary: to find a________ in Oregon” Mary Anne Sohlstrom - Salem ( 2007) [email protected] (for some of the rarer birds) and Treasurer: “where to find birds in the ____ Judy Meredith - Bend (2007) [email protected] area” (for some of the better Directors: spots). Sheran Wright - Bend ( 2007) [email protected] Jeff Harding - Lebanon ( 2007) [email protected] Reviews for published material Dan Heyerly - Eugene ( 2008) [email protected] on Oregon birds or of interest to Dan Gleason - Bend ( 2008) [email protected] Oregon birders. Committees: Photographs of birds, especially Publications: photos taken recently in Oregon. Open - Contact the President if interested Color slide duplicates are Archivist: preferred. Please label all photos Barb Combs, [email protected], (541) 689-6660 with photographer’s name and Membership: address, bird identification, date Anne Heyerly, [email protected], (541) 485-0880 and location of photo. Photos OFO Bookcase: will be returned if requested. Karen Bachman [email protected] (until 12/31/2006) Open for 2007 - Contact the President if interested The Deadline for Next Issue of OFO Family Weekends: Oregon Birds, OB 32(3) Fall Joel Geier, [email protected] 2006, is 10 December 2006. Judy Meredith, [email protected] Webmaster: Please send material directly Dianna Bradshaw, [email protected] to the Editor, Jeff Harding, Oregon Bird Records: [email protected] Secretary - Harry B. Nehls, 2736 S.E. 20th Ave., Portland, Oregon 97202 Printed on Cover photo: Snowy Owl, 13 December 2005, South Jetty Yaquina Recycled Paper Bay, Newport, Lincoln County. Photo/S. Dowlan Essay: The Field Trip Paul Sullivan - [email protected] I remember when our class of student electronic technicians came to Portland on field trips. We visited workplaces, walked through labs and factories, had lunch, met some workers, were talked to by managers, and were overwhelmed. All the highly technical talk was way over our heads the first time. We only caught fragments of what was talked about. We retained only a few “gee whiz” images. However, we went back to school with a better idea of where we might be working in a couple years. What can one say about field trips? School kids take them to the zoo, the firehouse, the local museum, the local woods or marsh. College students take field trips to visit museums, natural areas, and workplaces. Adults visit natural areas, agricultural experiments, demonstration projects, and institutions of public concern. Field trips are an educational experience. They are not rigorous educational experiences with long lectures discriminating academic fine points. They are not exercises like spelling bees or practicing multiplication tables. They are not regimented, controlled classroom experiences with a test at the end. Instead, they are meant to expose the participants to “real world” experiences. They are meant to take the broadcast students to a real radio station, the children to see real bears or real art, and the city council to see a real housing project. The education that comes from a field trip cannot be learned from a book. One cannot study books long and hard enough to get the knowledge one can learn in a couple hours on a field trip. Field trips have a long tradition in bird watching. Local Audubon chapters, bird clubs, elementary teachers, and professional guides all lead groups afield to learn about birds. These trips show participants real birds in the bush. The field trip makes the bird on the page in the book take on warmth, shading, movement, scent, and personality. The field trip shows participants the true size and proportions of the bird on the page, allowing comparison with other similar species. The field trip presents the bird in its habitat, giving it context. The field trip also shows participants the behavior of the bird, its courtship, nesting, feeding, etc. The field trip involves all the senses: participants see the bird, hear the bird, smell the habitat, and feel the local wind on their faces as they watch the bird. After a series of field trips, the participant begins to “know” the species, its behavior, habitat, range, and season. The student begins to build a sense of where and when to look for a particular species. It becomes a familiar friend, recognized by its posture at a distance. One comes to know Audubon Society of Corvallis field trip to Finley NWR 12 August 2006. Photo/P. Vanderheul the intangible “jizz” (general Continued on page 79 Oregon Birds 32(2):63, Summer 2006 East Cascades Bird Conservancy Winter Raptor Survey by Jeff Fleischer, Project Coordinator [email protected] Citizen-science has played an surveys were conducted by volun- to do winter raptor survey work important part in the understand- teers from ECBC, led by Chuck around the state. By starting with ing of bird populations at state Gates. a base of 22 established routes in and national levels. Efforts such the Willamette Valley and cen- as Christmas Bird Counts, spring With the overwhelming success of tral Oregon areas, I was able to and fall North American Migra- these three raptor survey projects, develop census routes and secure tion Counts, spring Breeding Bird it was only natural to think of the volunteers for 58 additional areas. Surveys, and numerous Breed- entire state of Oregon as the next As a result of this effort, a total of ing Bird Atlas projects around level of effort. During the summer nearly 6,900 miles were surveyed the country have led to wonder- and fall of 2004, I entered into for this new project. All areas of ful information gathered. Each partnership with ECBC and took the state were involved, insur- of these efforts has furthered our on the task of securing volunteers ing a nice representative sample understanding of bird populations. The importance over the years of the roles played by the hundreds and thousands of volunteers that have participated in these projects can not be understated and has resoundingly displayed the keen interest that the general public has for avian population dynamics. Project History During the winter of 2004-05, a new project, sponsored by the East Cascades Bird Conservancy (ECBC) with funding from the Oregon Field Ornithologists’ Fund for Ornithology, was conducted to determine relative abundance and distribution of the different spe- cies of birds of prey that winter in Oregon. This project was a statewide expansion of similar survey work that I initiated in Linn County during the winters of 2001-02 and 2002-03 (Fleischer, J., Wintering Birds