Sundial Island at the Sandy River

I have been trying to get to Sundial Island all winter to do a bird survey, the weather finally cooperated today the 24th of January.

For some more information I posted last week about this area and some excerpts from Lewis and Clark's journals try this :  Sandy River

I started off from Camas at 8:15, it is a quick 20 minute paddle across the Columbia. Huck agreed to go along as bow ballast.  The keen observer will note I am paddling the canoe backwards.  A trick when paddling alone is to do just that. It places you closer to the center of the boat, helpful in wind and current.

I hope to visit this island two times per season.  I was disappointed in the number of birds seen, perhaps a slow day.  I wonder if the winds that are common this far up the river keep bird numbers down. There are however lots of great habitat spots. I found only one flock of juncos.  Juncos were a bird I was expecting to see in larger numbers.  I also expected to find some Savannah Sparrows. 

A look upriver from Camas.

And downriver as well.  Lewis and Clark saw huge numbers of geese, swan and ducks here.

The island looked much like it did when it was connected to the mainland.  Except the trails are gradually being overgrown, a few of the marginal trails I once hiked are all but gone.

A Bald Eagle was enjoying an overlook of the Sandy River.

The eagle decided I was not a threat.

A Great Blue Heron relaxing along the restored eastern fork of the Sandy River created an eerie scene.

American Robins were singing away.

There are still good numbers of woodpeckers out there, Hairy Woodpeckers were common.

After a 5.25 mile loop I was happy to find my canoe.  It is not that close to the water, it is sitting up on a bank.

This is my map of the whole delta, it is available on the ECAS web site under Multnomah County, Sandy River.

My bird list:


Sundial  Island, Multnomah, Oregon, US
Jan 24, 2016 8:40 AM - 1:40 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.25 mile(s)
Comments:     overcast, one very slight and brief rain shower for maybe 10 min, some sun, no wind, high 40's temp.
28 species (+1 other taxa)

Bufflehead  3
Common Goldeneye  1
Common Merganser  1
Double-crested Cormorant  3
Great Blue Heron  3
Bald Eagle  3
Red-tailed Hawk  3
California Gull  1
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)  1
Anna's Hummingbird  1
Belted Kingfisher  3
Downy Woodpecker  4
Hairy Woodpecker  8
Northern Flicker  5
Pileated Woodpecker  1
American Crow  3
Black-capped Chickadee  35
Bushtit  50
Brown Creeper  3
Pacific Wren  3
Bewick's Wren  2
Golden-crowned Kinglet  20
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  6
American Robin  6
European Starling  7
Dark-eyed Junco  12
Golden-crowned Sparrow  5
Song Sparrow  7
Spotted Towhee  4

Thanks for visiting!

Reedsport CBC

The first Reedsport Christmas Bird Count occurred on Wednesday the 30th.  I have never birded that far south on the coast, so I thought I would volunteer to wander the North Spit of the Umpqua River. This area is part of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.

My area was to cover the interior of the spit, not the beach.  I knew it might be limited as to birds and wet with all the rain that has hit Oregon. And I could have predicted the bird list,  but you never know what is there until you look.

A map of my area:






Information on the geology of the dunes:

Dune Geology

As you can see I was able to access only a small portion of the area I was assigned.  I would like to have had the time to bird behind the beach dunes, or at least time to see if there was a trail there.

A view looking south into the deflation plain.

Meadowlarks, juncos, and White-crowned Sparrows were birds seen in these areas.  Flyover Ravens, crows and a few eagles also said hello.

I had the brilliant idea to attempt to cross this nice sand flat and bird the woods nearer the beach.  My dog, Huck, was walking out in front of me.  The sand under him turned to jello, he turned, looked at me and decided this was not a good idea. He dashed back to solid ground.  I took one more step and went down to my shins.  The sand was far to soft to risk a crossing, I was lucky to get back to solid ground with both my boots still on my feet.  Of course being me I still tried a few other spots, there was no solid trail to be found.

To give me time to bird the entire area , I got a lift to the center of the spit in a jeep.  The driver decided to do some exploring after I was dropped off.  He was the first to discover soft sand.  I caught up to him and found this sight.  We tried to dig it out, no success. He said he would be okay and sent me on my way.  I birded on.  Six hours later Russ came in with his rig and yanked him out.

Western Meadowlark was my first bird on the checklist.

These are the areas on spits I love to find.  A nice bog.  These areas are a magnate for the birds.  

Fox Sparrows, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Varied Thrush, Northern Flickers, Dark-eyed Juncos, White-crowned Sparrows, Black-capped Chickadees, Song Sparrows and Spotted Towhees were all using this one little bog.  I stay at these sites for as long as I can in the hopes a rarity pops up. 

I was walking through brush south of this bog when I flushed a bird into a big Christmas tree sized Douglas-fir.  The bird landed in the center of the tree. I could not see the bird well, it was hard to identify. It finally dawned on me I was looking at a Virginia Rail sitting in a fir tree.  Wish I was able to get a photo of that..

The dominate bird of the area:

Yellow-rumped Warbler

A first-year Bald Eagle.

Not a Swainson's Thrush ....

but a Hermit Thrush.

Birds seen and a rough guess on my numbers, I left my data sheet with the compiler..


Mallard  5
Surf Scoter  2
Bufflehead  9
Common Goldeneye  2
Common Merganser  2
Double-crested Cormorant  3
Great Blue Heron  3
Northern Harrier  2
Bald Eagle  3
Red-tailed Hawk  2
Virginia Rail  1
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Western Gull  2
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)  3
gull sp.  4
Downy Woodpecker  2
Northern Flicker  6
American Crow  4
Common Raven  8
Black-capped Chickadee  12
Chestnut-backed Chickadee  6
Pacific Wren  2
Marsh Wren  7
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (caerulea)  1     seen on edge of river in brush.  Hanging with Yellow-rumps.  Blue back. white outer tail
Golden-crowned Kinglet  10
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  7
Wrentit  3
Hermit Thrush  1
American Robin  2
Varied Thrush  5
Yellow-rumped Warbler  90
Fox Sparrow  6
Dark-eyed Junco  60
White-crowned Sparrow  12
Golden-crowned Sparrow  15
Song Sparrow  10
Spotted Towhee  10
Western Meadowlark  8
Red Crossbill  12



Thanks to all the organizers, I had a blast and will be back next year. Since it was the area's first CBC, the organizers asked for tips to help with count next time.  

The bird area marked on map might be accessed from the north jetty on a falling tide.  Go in and get out before tide cuts you off.  

How to bird the area between the plain and the beach dunes?  It probably depends on water level, this year was an exceptionally wet December.  Maybe the area is an easy access with out the soft sand.  It is hard to guess how best to bird that area without more exploration.

Thanks for the visit!

Walk out onto the sand he says, looks easy he says....

Beach trip: Clatsop County

On Saturday, July 11th, I went down to the beaches in Clatsop County  to look for shorebirds.  I was hoping to stumble across some Asian stints that might have wandered down the wrong coast.

I access the beach in Gearhart at 10th St. and head north.  I wander as far north as I can then usually come back down the beach and head back to Hwy 101 at Sunset Beach.  There were lots of Caspian Terns on the beach. I like the look of their bills and head.  

 Caspian Terns are the one bird that regularly protest dogs on the beach, if one passes by Huck, they usually swing over and give him a "get off my beach" squawk.

It is often mentioned that Least Sandpipers feed by picking up food right in front of their feet, Westerns will reach farther out in front to grab food. A trait useful in id'ing birds at a great distance.  Notice how big the feet are on a Least.  Another point made by many is that Least usually have toes shorter than the bill, Long-toed Stints have toes longer than their bill.  What I do not often hear is this measurement does not include the claw.  The overall length of middle toe and claw is longer in the stint than the Least, but if you are using the toe to compare to bill length, exclude the claw.

My what big, non-webbed feet you have!

Western Sandpipers have tiny little feet. Which I think is one reason why they look like they are reaching so far out in front of their bodies when they feed. They also look a bit front heavy, which I think is compounded by those small feet.

Small semi- webbed feet of a Western.  The stints (Red-necked and Little) have feet that are not webbed. You may need a photo of their foot to prove your case on a Little Stint or Red-necked Stint.

Falling-forward eating style of a Western.

I searched not just for stints, Common Ringed Plover look like Semipalmated Plover.  One difference is the lack of webbing between the middle and outer toes.  I had a tough time getting a photo of the diagnostic webbing on this Semipalmated Plover.   Differences in width of breast band and  slight differences in head pattern that give a more contrasting mask pattern are also clues.  

There has been a discussion of Stint Fever on ID Frontiers lately, mainly about a possible Long-toed in NW California. . The best comment I liked was rather than force a bird into an id, you probably will recognize a rare peep when you see it simply as being different.  Not all agreed, but it is a good point to remember.  Study you local birds and the odd ones will pop out at you.

For the calls of a Common Ringed Plover check these out:

Calls of Common Ringed Plover

How many species are flying by?

 Looks like Sanderlings have tiny feet as well, big thick legs though.  And note the webbing on the Western.

That afternoon I went back out to the beach, probably just before two other folks who posted about this day revisited the beach as well. A dozen Whimbrel were there. I would really like to know how to setup my camera to take better pictures of birds on a gray day with a bright background, maybe there is no solution.  I just leave it on auto and hope for the best.  I manually focus.  Problem is I have to lighten the photos when I get home, otherwise  the birds are turn out as dark blobs.  The fly-by photo was not lightened and in same lighting, so not sure why.  I guess I should look at the setting the camera picked for that picture!

I went over to the river beach and found this poor raccoon just doing circles in the sand, I hope it was okay.

The enforcer was on duty to be sure we behaved. 

I received a text that a huge number of Heermann's Gulls were in the Hammond Boat Basin.  I went over to check them out, I have been trying to figure out how to age them.

Sibley (in my printing) says they may have a third-year plumage cycle.  Howell says they do have a third cycle.  As they get older seems you are able to see more white crescents around the eye.  Other features include more white on tips of secondaries. I have read Howell's book on their cycles, I can't decide if the is a second-year bird or third-year bird. The bill is not very bright, that might be clue that it is younger?  All Heermann's Gulls get a brown tint to their plumage as they bleach out of gray in the tropical sun.

Heermann's Gulls have a PB molt  from May or so into September/October. I can see some fresh feathers and some old brown ones on many of the birds.  I was thinking this was a third-cycle gull since I can see the tertial and scapular crescents and some white around the eye.  I am not sure what that black and white is down near the tail, A primary growing in or what?  If all these gulls are in their PB molt, they must lose their white heads at the end of the molt. Vast majority of the gulls were adults, I did see a few first or second-year birds out over the ocean.

Thanks for the visit.  Westport Pelagic next weekend with a Newport Pelagic mid-August, should be fun.  I have heard reports of large amounts of feed fish offshore this year. Will see if that is bull or not.