Some Springtime Wildlife News: Birds, Wolverines, and Wolves

In This Edition:

- New Wolverine tracks confirmed in Wallowa County

- Some Baker Birds

- Wolf News
[Edited and added Tree Swallow on 4/25/11]
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New Wolverine tracks confirmed in Wallowa County

From ODFW:

Wolverine tracks confirmed in Wallowa County for first time

April 22, 2011
Wolverine tracks in the snow, April 17, 2011. Dr. Magoun’s glove is at left for size comparison. (ODFW Photo)

ENTERPRISE, Ore.—For the first time in recorded history, biologists have confirmed that tracks found in the Wallowa Mountains of Northeast Oregon are those of a North American wolverine.

Wolverine (USFWS Photo)

Researcher Dr. Audrey Magoun found the wolverine tracks in the snow on April 17 while hiking to a remote camera site set up to detect wolverines. She followed the tracks for about a mile until they left the river bottom headed into the high country.

“From the size of the track, it is probably a male,” said Magoun who has dedicated her career to studying wolverine since she received her Ph.D. in 1978.

“This is the first confirmation of a wolverine in Wallowa County,” said Vic Coggins, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife district wildlife biologist. “We’ve always thought it was good habitat, and we’ve had reports but nothing we could verify until now.”

Magoun also believed the habitat conditions were right, which was why she and research assistant, pilot and husband, Pat Valkenburg, undertook this winter’s survey in the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

“There is a breeding population in the Payette Forest in Idaho and a breeding population in the North Cascades in Washington,” she said. “In fact, we couldn’t believe wolverine wouldn’t be here. They travel large distances.”

As part of the survey, 14 baited field camera sites were set up and several aerial flights made. None of the cameras have yet yielded a photo of a wolverine, but 80 percent of the cameras had photos of American marten and a few native red fox were detected. Biologists believe these animals are probably the native foxes that were once common in the Wallowa Mountains.

Researchers Dr. Audrey Magoun and Pat Valkenburg set up a typical wolverine camera site. (ODFW Photo)

Coggins is interested in the data on marten and red fox in the higher elevations. “It’s great to know what species are using these areas—it’s indicative of the health of the habitat and helps with management decisions,” he said.

According to Magoun, the next question is: Is this a lone wolverine or is the area occupied? She hopes to be back next winter field season to try and answer that question.

Funding and logistical support for the survey comes from an Oregon Conservation Strategy Implementation Grant (federal State Wildlife Grant), The Wolverine Foundation, Inc., the Wildlife Conservation Society and private individuals including Magoun and Valkenburg, Alaska residents, who use their own plane for aerial surveys.

The wolverine was listed as threatened by the Oregon Game Commission in 1975, grandfathered as a state threatened species (May 1987) and reaffirmed by rule in 1989. It became a federal candidate species on Dec. 14, 2010.

In 1936, the wolverine was thought to have been extirpated from Oregon. In 1965, a male was killed on Three Fingered Jack in Linn County. In 1973, a wolverine was trapped and released on Steens Mountain, Harney County. In 1986, a wolverine was trapped in Wheeler County. In 1990, a dead wolverine was picked up on I-84 in Hood River County. In 1992, a partial skeleton was recovered in Grant County.

For more info please see:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website.

Wolverine. (From the Wolverine Foundation, via USFWS)
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Some Baker County Birds

A few observations and birds that have been arriving or passing through recently:

Cliff Swallow, Petrochelidon pyrrhonota, (at UPS Freeway ponds along Best Frontage Road on the Baker City Boundary, May 11, 2008)

Cliff Swallows have been back at the Phillips Ranch area cliff site since about the first week of April, but many more now. They are also at other sites down the canyon, but not all of their sites, and in lesser numbers. You can find their "gourd-shaped mud nests" on cliff faces and under the sides of highway bridges.

(Tree Swallow, Tachycineta bicolor, Peach Road, Ladd Marsh, Union County, OR, May 8, 2009)

Cavity nesting Tree Swallows have been back even longer, since about mid-March. You can often see them over the UPS/Freeway ponds, or perched on the fence wire there. If you live outside the city, especially near water, they may use nest boxes put up for bluebirds.

Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus, with curious young (Hwy 86, Keating Valley
Baker County, OR, April 23, 2010)

The Great Horned Owls in the cliff nest along Hwy. 86 have one fairly large chick visible now, but I couldn't detect any with the two Barn Owls in the nest there on Earth Day.

Barn Owls, Tyto alba, in cliff nest on Hwy. 86, April 22, 2011 (Apologies for the intrusion!)

There were five or so Yellow-rumped Warblers in the lower Powder River Canyon on Earth Day at the Bishop Springs rest area, apparently feeding on small insects associated with the catkins in the upper canopy of the large old poplar there. I always take time to check the old tree for interesting birds when passing through in spring and summer. Also the rocks to the north and the two brush-choked gulches that join the Powder River there will often have something to offer. Two Song Sparrows and some Cliff Swallows were about the other day, but later in the year one might find a Black-headed grosbeak passing through, or summer resident Bullocks Orioles, Rock Wrens and Western Kingbirds. Joanne Britton, Jim Lawrence and group heared a Canyon Wren there on April 23rd (perhaps a first) Golden Eagles are often in the vicinity, and may be seen anywhere near the Powder River canyon.

Yellow-rumped Warbler, Audubon's Warbler, Dendroica coronata auduboni, (Highway 86. Lower Powder River Canyon at Sparta Rd., Baker County, OR, May 4, 2010)

There was an American Avocet on one of the UPS/Freeway ponds yesterday.
American Avocet, Recurvirostra americana, (Chandler Lane, Baker County, OR, May 14, 2010)

Western Bluebirds have joined the Mountain Bluebirds in the Sparta area, where more wildflowers are blooming. (See previous posts for photos.)


Yellow-headed Blackbird, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus, (Ladd Marsh, Union County, Oregon, May 8, 2009)

Yellow-headed Blackbirds were seen on their breeding grounds in the valley on the 16th and 17th and Joanne Britton's bird group saw a Lincoln's Sparrow on the Powder at the weigh station on the 16th, as well as bank swallows and White-fronted Geese elsewhere. The White-fronted Geese were still on the sewage ponds on the 19th. I saw 3 Curlews on Sunnyslope Road on the 17th, and Joanne Britton's group observed one somewhere in the valley on the 16th.
Long-billed Curlew, Numenius americanus, (Schetky Road, Baker County, Oregon, April 28, 2008)

Ruddy Duck, Oxyura jamaicensis, (Ladd Marsh, Union County, Oregon, June 18, 2010)

The Common Goldeneye and Common Mergansers have left the ponds and the Powder River it seems, but Ruddy Ducks, Cinnamon Teal, Shovelers and Lesser Scaups have moved into the Baker Valley.

Lesser Scaup, Aythya affinis, (Middle UPS/Freeway pond on Best Frontage Road, Baker County, Oregon, April 23, 2011)

As noted in "Birds of Oregon" reference, the Ring-necked duck may be confused with the scaups. But as they say "The black back, white crescent on the side just in front of the wing, and white-ringed bill separate the drake male ring-neck from the scaups." Note the lack of the front crescent and light gray, instead of black back in the Scaup photo above. See: Bluebirds & Buttercups Proclaim Spring's Arrival in Baker County for comparison Ring-necked duck photo.

18 or so Ruddy's, perhaps my favorite dandy of the duck world, appeared in small flotillas last week at the sewage ponds, 18 on the 19th, and 16 more at the UPS/Freeway ponds on Earth Day (only saw two there on April 23). Still a few Ring-neck ducks, Gadwall, and Buffleheads around. Redheads were there on the 8th, but haven't seen them since.
Ruddy Duck, Oxyura jamaicensis, (Ladd Marsh, Union County, Oregon, June 13, 2010)

[I may add more information about these species as time permits.]
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Wolf News

Heres one article of many that should be posted.

What the federal delisting for wolves means for Oregon's packs, ranchers
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N.E. Oregon Birds: Song Sparrows & American White Pelicans

There is so much "going down" that most of us couldn't possibly keep up. I've been busy trying to observe birds migrating through, but also listening to news reports on my iPod, putting off taxes, and reading e-mails, some of which are disturbing to say the least. It's a mixed bag, so to speak.

This blog concerns two Oregon birds. I hope to get back to other important matters soon. Besides--it's Spring, and spring things are so much more pleasant than decadent and corrupt American politics.
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Two N. E. Oregon birds of interest.

Song Sparrows

Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia) are a common year-round resident of our N.E. Oregon area, even inhabiting neighborhoods in Baker City where thick brushy habitat can be found, preferably near flowing water in riparian areas. You might catch a glimpse of one along the Powder River or irrigation ditches, like Settlers Slough, especially so in winter. If you maintain a good deal of shrubby habitat in your yard, as in forsythia, lilacs, Oregon grape, and etc., you may have them there too. They are often seen in my yard, especially in winter when food is scarce, because I put out millet and the commonly found bird mixes (like Audubon's).
Song Sparrow on School House Road, April 5, 2011

The problem in seeing Song Sparrows, is that they are what people might call "shy," and they don't appear in flocks. Normally, when you are lucky enough to see one, if you are not putting out seed, it is because you heard them singing or caught a glimpse of one before it drops down into the shrubbery and vanishes. They feed on a variety of insects, seeds, and fruit, and breed over a large area of North America from S. Alaska, across most of Canada, in the Western US, and the northern Mid-West and the North-eastern states.

Song Sparrow on Peach Road, Ladd Marsh, April 9, 2010
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American White Pelicans
American White Pelicans on Ladd Marsh fish pond, Union County, OR, 4/6/11

American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) are relatively uncommon, oddly beautiful, five foot long white and black fishers of primarily Western North American lakes and ponds. In Oregon, I first encountered them at the Malheur National Wildlife "Refuge," about 11 or 12 years ago, or perhaps an earlier trip in the mid-ninetys, where a large flock was cooperatively fishing in two or three ranks stretched across a medium sized pond that evidently contained fish. They would drive the fish from one side of the pond to the other, swimming rapidly, often with their long pouched bills in the water, bagging what they could. It is a sight that I am unable to forget.

Peach Road, Ladd Marsh, Union County, OR, June 18, 2010

On a trip to La Grande yesterday, a fairly miserable day weather-wise, I drove through Ladd Marsh on Peach Road and found 7 or 8 of them on the small fishing pond. As I watched them swim around the pond, which also contained two Double-crested Cormorants who were happily catching small fish, three of the pelicans suddenly lunged at one of the cormorant competitors.

Three White Pelicans confronting a Double-crested Cormorant fishing competitor.

The cormorants left shortly thereafter.

Fortunately for cormorants, the White Pelicans don't possess, and couldn't use modern firearms. The pelicans haven't aways been so lucky. According to "Birds of Oregon" (Marshall, Hunter, & Contreras, OSU Press, 2003-2006), "American White Pelicans were historically shot because they were blamed for decline of commercial fish stocks, even though [it] prefers fish of low economic value (Evans and Knopf, 1993)." Other threats are fluctuating water levels from drought and irrigation uses, habitat loss, human disturbance, powerlines, botulism, and other diseases. Due to their numbers and the various threats, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife lists the American White Pelican as a Sensitive Species. Distribution in Oregon is variable, but primarily east of the Cascades, with the largest concentrations in Harney, Lake, and Klamath Counties.

Bluebirds & Buttercups Proclaim Spring's Arrival in Baker County

[Hope to edit, and perhaps add a photo or two tomorrow, but it is plenty long already. Click on photos for enlargements. Chris]

Somewhere, I have a small framed pastel drawing of a springtime scene engulfing a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "I have an appointment with spring!" The quote is found in his journal from March 3, 1853. Here is an expanded and edited version:

"As soon as those spring mornings arrive in which the birds sing, I am sure to be an early riser, . . . . I have an appointment with spring. She comes to the window to wake me, and I go forth an hour or two earlier than usual. . . . When we wake indeed, with a double awakening--not only from our ordinary nocturnal slumbers, but from our diurnal--we burst through the thallus of our ordinary life, we wake with emphasis."

After those long, cold, too often cloudy and snowy days of winter in Baker County, it is an appointment that many of us, in the northern latitudes the world over, are all to eager to keep--and none more so than myself. Despite whatever the calendar may say, the arrival of spring never seems so certain as that, but then to me, spring has never truly arrived until the buds of the buttercup burst open in the sagebrush, when the neighborhood yards begin to sparkle with the color of crocus, and when a few long, warm sunny days urge me to emerge from my shameless winter lethargy so as to begin curious adventures in our beautiful but besieged natural world. This year, after a few false starts, spring arrived, for me at least, with a celebratory bang on the last day of March and the first day of April.

I took advantage of those startlingly warm and sunny days to explore for early spring things and revel a bit in the beauty of Baker County. Here are a few of the things I found those two days.

Riding east on Highway 86 just after passing the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center and shooting range, a pair of sometimes elusive Sage Thrashers (Oreoscoptes montanus) dropped down off the barbed wire fence on the north side and scurried into the deeper sagebrush. Before reaching the top of the hill, I found another singing on a fence post and stopped to photograph it. He didn't let me get close enough for a terrific photo, but here is a Sage Trasher singing along that highway from April of last year.
Sage Thrasher
Because these excellent singers spend a lot of the time scratching out a living on the ground searching for insects, they are described as elusive, and more often heard than seen. They are actually not very difficult to find though in some of the healthier big sagebrush stands along the highway from before the Interpretive Center and on east past Ruckles Creek Road in the spring (more of a challenge thereafter). After spending the winter from se. California to Texas and portions of Mexico, they return to Baker County in late March and early April.

Another little treasure harbored by the sagebrush is one of our earliest spring wildflowers--the modestly sized but dazzlingly cheerful and hard to miss Sagebrush Buttercup (Ranunculus glaberrimus).
Sagebrush Buttercup

As it does well in somewhat disturbed or early seral communities it can be found amongst the grazed sagebrush and weeds on the BLM managed Goose Creek grazing allotment (the dogs and I hiked the dirt road west from the Sparta Road), and on up through the healthier but well grazed sagebrush areas east of Sparta. A walk along Seismograph road and some of the spur trails (or east Sparta Rd. on the ridge) will provide viewing for a few interesting plant communities, especially eroded rocky scabland areas. Most buttercups are slightly to very toxic to many mammals, but less toxic young Sagebrush Buttercup plants are used to varying degrees by wildlife and sometimes by stock animals.
Sagebrush Buttercup

Another very early wildflower that some might miss, is the unassuming little Gorman's Biscuitroot (Lomatium gormanii). It is also called "salt & pepper."
Gorman's Biscuitroot
I find them on rocky ridge tops, scablands and nearby well drained hillsides in Grant and Baker Counties. Although always found east of the Cascade's, they range north into Washington, further south in Oregon and east into Idaho. It is blooming now in areas near Seismograph Road east of Sparta.

The starchy roots of some Lomatiums were utilized as a food source by Native Americans.They were cooked and eaten or ground into a type of flour and used to make biscuits and cakes. Lomatium gormanii has a deeply buried, large round radish-like root that one report lists as being used by the Nez Perce Tribe.

I also found one lonely clump of Lanceleaf Springbeauty (Claytonia lanceolata) near Seismograph Road east of Sparta.
Springbeauty
A widely distributed species in the West, they too are among the very earliest spring flowers, emerging soon after snowmelt. I normally see them much higher in the mountains. The root, a globose corm, is said to be quite tasty, although it is much better to leave them to brighten the next year's spring (unless you happen to be actually starving).

Springbeauty, Santa Rosa Range, Humboldt County, NV, June 7, 1996

Mountain Bluebirds and Violet GreenSwallows in Sparta

Sparta Butte, April 1, 2011 (Migratory birds make a living here in early spring despite the snow)

There are many beautiful birds in the world, and a few of them live and breed right here in Baker County. One of my favorites for irresistible eye-pleasing beauty, and the best that blue has to offer, is the mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides).

Mountain Bluebird, "Downtown" Sparta, 4/1/11
This insect eater nests throughout much of Oregon from slightly west of the Cascades to most of eastern Oregon, where it is more common. "Birds of Oregon" (Marshall, Hunter, & Contreras, OSU Press, 2003-2006), states that "important factors determining habitat selection are availability of suitable nesting cavities and open terrain (Farner, 1952)." With some shame (Hey, forgive me, I grew up in the chaparral of S. California!), I learned part of this first hand when I cut down a slightly burned dead Aspen in a "free" (is anything really free?) firewood area on the Fishlake National Forest about 25 years ago, only to find that it contained an active nesting cavity with four young mountain bluebirds at fledgling stage. A more favorable experience was watching these gorgeous birds fly from a perch high in a conifer to just a yard or so in front of me at 10,000 feet in the Pahvant Range of Utah, in order to pick up young grasshoppers in a clearing. Aside from ignorant humans (as in cutting down their nesting trees), a major threat to the species in lower elevation areas near human habitation are the alien and highly competitive European starlings and house sparrows, which also use up available tree cavities or bird boxes. Heavy grazing and fire suppression also takes a toll on the Aspen patches that are often used for nesting. Fortunately, it breeds over a wide area of the American West in cavities from sagebrush-(older) Juniper communities to near timberline and readily accepts bird boxes put up for its use outside of towns and cities.

The two birds below were refurbishing this nest box on Sparta Lane on April 1st.

Mountain Bluebird, female on nest box, Sparta, Oregon

Mountain Bluebird, male on nest box, Sparta, Oregon

Another migratory bird, the Violet-green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina) has also returned to Sparta, despite the largely snow-covered ground. Flying insects are be at a premium, but they must know what they are doing. I have identification photos from Sparta on April 1, 2011, but here is a better, closer one.
Violet-green Swallow at nest box, ne. of Elgin, June 15, 2007

The "Birds of Oregon" reference mentioned previously states that "Unlike the Tree Swallow it commonly nests in niches and cavities on urban buildings and readily uses nesting boxes in residential areas. Its soft twittery call notes are a familiar pre-dawn sound as they fly about overhead. A very early spring migrant concentrating about streams and wetlands where emerging insects can be found until warmer weather allows them to move into more upland areas."

Waterfowl in the area.

Migratory waterfowl, moving through to more northern latitudes, are also still abundant in the Baker City area.

A true harbinger of spring as far as timing is concerned, is the Canvasback (Aythya valisineria).
Canvasback, Kearney-USFWS photo

A dozen or so seem to regularly appear about the time of the (spring) vernal equinox on the middle pond along the Best Frontage Road at the edge of Baker City, where they were last week. These have been the premier table duck of culinary connoisseurs in the past (and present), but the taste is said to depend on just what these ducks have been feeding on. Their table status among hunters, i.e., the "gold standard" (Birds of Oregon), aka "Lordly Canvasback" ("The Book of Birds," National Geographic 1939), reputation and habitat shrinkage have taken a large toll on populations though, and the Canvasback populations still appear to be declining or perhaps stable in Oregon. They are easily confused with the Redhead (Aythya americana), another not-so-common Baker County migrant. The head slopes into the bill and is not so red as in the Redhead, whose head is more abruptly round, and their "canvas" back is much whiter. Below is a Redhead for comparison.
Redhead, Tule Lake, Ladd Marsh, May 1, 2008

Other spring favorites.

The diving Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) is now common in local ponds and especially in the lower Powder River canyon, with courtship displays easily observed. They also congregate along the Snake River prior to spring. Their clear nictitating membrane allows them to see very well underwater in their dives for food--a clear advantage in that environment, especially in the often muddy water of the Powder River in springtime. Their diet consists mainly of small aquatic animal life, but they do partake of plants. They nest in trees near high elevation lakes.
Common Goldeneye on a cloudy spring day in the Powder River.

The Bufflehead (Glaucionetta albeola), aka "butterball" or "buffalo-head," is also fairly common now on local ponds, although they are probably leaving soon for breeding areas in Canada and Alaska.
Buffle heads, Female left, Male on right, on Best Frontage Road-UPS Pond #2, March 22, 2011.

Birds of Oregon (reference) states that "The Bufflehead is N. America's smallest diving duck, giving it the advantage of being able to nest in abandoned holes of Northern Flickers, a plentiful resource off-limits to larger cavity-nesting ducks." They feed on aquatic insects and their larvae, but also other small aquatic animals, as well as seeds and other aquatic plant material. It also nests in trees or nest boxes near water at high elevation lakes.

Lastly for now, another spring-time migrant that has been here for several weeks, and is also leaving, is the Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris). These fast flyers have been common on the Best Frontage Road ponds, and the often overlooked pond along S. Airport Road at the Britt Sand and Gravel plant in the last month (along with others, including Common Mergansers).

People most often think that "Ring-bill" would be more appropriate due to the fact that the ring around the neck is rarely seen, while the ring around the bill always is. I found the duck in the following photo, which shows the ringed neck, on the dredge ponds above Phillips Reservoir back on June 12, 2008. As noted in "Birds of Oregon" reference, the Ring-necked duck may be confused with the scaups. But as they say "The black back, white crescent on the side just in front of the wing, and white-ringed bill separate the drake male ring-neck from the scaups."
Ring-necked Duck on dredge pond above Phillips Reservoir.

Ring-necks are uncommon breeders in Oregon, favoring boreal forests of upper Canada and se Alaska. They are more vegetarian feeders than others in the genus. They nest on floating or emergent vegetation or on islands close to water (previously cited "Birds of Oregon" reference).
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Decorah, Iowa, Eagle Cam
Provided by Cathy Nowak, Fish & Wildlife Biologist and more, at the ODFW Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area in Union County. Click on Decorah Eagles link:

Decorah Eagles

Total views: 11,167,542
First hatch 4/2/11.
24-hour collage of first egg pip and hatch
Second hatch 4/3/2011.
First glimpse of second hatchling
Third hatch expected in a couple of days.

The Raptor Resource Project brings you the Decorah Eagles from atop their tree at the fish hatchery in Decorah, Iowa.

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Bird Meeting in Baker City

From Joanne Britton:

There will be a meeting at the library at 9:30 AM April 9th to recruit birders, talk about where to find birds and IDing them, getting people involved in various counts, and doing a little walk along the river to look for birds. We will also plan other little trips around Baker to bird and practice skills. This will be very informal. Bring your binoculars and pass the word.
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Enough for now.
Blog will return to backlog on Obama's War on Libya, and other harsh realities, soon enough, but I hope this one has been a pleasant break.

Spring Bird Migration in Baker County, Part 1

Lazuli Bunting Male, singing in breeding habitat east of Sparta, Baker County, June, 2008.

Writing about spring migration in Baker County is something that can become a bit formidable, due to time and the numbers of birds available. Instead of presenting information on all the migrants I have photos of, which are at least several, the task has been broken down into segments.

As I'm beginning this project a little past the peak, perhaps, of the migration, it seems that writing about a few birds that are passing through right now might be most useful to anyone who is interested.

If you are interested, and would like to attract birds to your home, there are at least two factors to consider. Food and habitat.

Perhaps the most important is readily available food for birds that are currently on an energy intensive migration from many miles away, and who in many cases will have many miles to go. This is not likely a high priority item in the budgets of many Baker County residents, but if you want to see many migrating and other interesting birds at your home, it is essential, because they will not linger unless food is available. At this time of year, an important and sought after energy source is "black oil" sunflower seed, because it is rich in fat, carbohydrate, and protein, which will help many birds replenish depleted energy supplies and provide other needed nutrients after an exhausting trip. They also will readily eat the millet-sunflower mix such as that provided in the "Audubon Park" mix sold by Bi-Mart and the millet mixes sold by D&B and other and other retailers. The Bobolink in La Grande is an excellent source of all types of feed, feeders, bird boxes, and expert birding advice. This shop is at 1102 Washington Avenue, La Grande, OR 97850-2534, Phone: (541) 963-2888. Another expert birding friend of mine here in Baker County, Jim Lawrence, goes there for good value, and the owner, Trent, as an expert birder, can answer questions that the other retailers can't. Black oil sunflower alone is available from Bobolink, D&B, as well as Bi-Mart and some feed stores. For goldfinches (AKA "wild canaries" around the West) and pine siskins, I often will put out one or more specialized "thistle" or "nyger" seed feeders, the two most common of which are nylon socks and normal looking feeders with a small opening that the narrow bills of the two birds are adapted to.

If there is food available, birds will stay long enough for you to get a good look at them. I put feeders in both the front and back yards. As I spend an inordinate amount of the time at the computer, checking e-mail, processing photos, and sometimes writing, I have a flat, open feeder stationed just in front of the window by my computer desk, which in this case, also doubles as a dining room table. Also, out front in the tree beyond that, are other feeders. Right now, I have three black-headed grosbeaks squabbling as they seek out sunflower seed in my window feeder. An hour ago, there were six of them on the feeders I can see out the window.

In the back yard, I hang a seed feeder of some sort, along with hummingbird feeders. Hummingbird feeders can double as oriole feeders, especially if you can find the feeders with bee guards that fit over a tube. When you remove the bee guard, the orioles can easily access the sugar water that they will utilize as if it were wild flower nectar that they cherish. Additionally, and importantly, I also throw out millet-sunflower mix onto the walkways and grass in both back and front.

The persistent intrusions of the introduced fox squirrels are a real challenge, and they are ingenious at finding ways to get to the feed, but some feeders are designed to foil them, and hanging a feeder on a thin long wire also helps, as will well designed caging of the feeders. Good luck out-foxing the fox squirrel!

The second, more problematic, but no less important item you can provide is habitat. A mix of old growth trees which may provide both insects and seeds, like conifers, birch, and, god forbid, the ubiquitous and messy elms, will help bring in many migrants like warblers, tanagers, and lazuli buntings. Others, like towhees, some finches, and sparrows, like the cover provided by brushy borders around grassy open areas. Many of the commonly used ornamental shrubs will do, but it is best to chose those with edible berries, or hummingbird-attracting flowers (Forsythia and Japanese quince come to mind).

While not really a neo-tropical migrant (basically a bird that travels far south to warmer and friendlier climate in winter), the migratory, sleek, and beautiful cedar waxwings will also visit your home one or more times a year if you plant the shrubby, small-leaved ornamental junipers that you can find planted at 11th and Westview here in Baker City (see photo below). I have them in my yard, and the waxwings have visited many times since the New Year. (These plants require less water than most, but flourish in good sunshine for a decent part of the day. Waxwings also prefer Oregon Grape, an easily maintained native, that has berries in the fall and winter, as well as showy clusters of yellow flowers in the spring. Unfortunately, the introduced pest bird, European starling, will often strip the shrubs of berries before the waxwings arrive.

Now onto a few of the migrant birds that are in Baker City right now.

Western Tanager, Piranga ludoviciana (A. Wilson, 1811) :

Family: Thraupidae, -- Tanagers
Order: Passeriformes
Class: Aves

Western Tanager, Male, Monument Rock Wilderness,
Baker County, OR, May 19, 2008

I've had three male tanagers here yesterday and the day prior. They are among our most beautiful and colorful birds and, in my exerience, only stop here in May, on their way to local and more northern coniferous forests, although they also frequent deciduous forests. Previously, it was thought to be related to the next group we will look at, the Cardinals and relatives, but further research has muddied the waters as to their close relations. Locally, they inhabit ponderosa forest, especially older trees, and also riparian cottonwood groves. Like many birds, they are secretive and once sighted will disappear into dense foliage. The females are more subdued, and lack the red-orange colorationon the head. They primarily feed on fruit and insects and their song is easily confused with that of the Amerian robin (at least by me).

Lazuli Bunting, Passerina amoena (Say, 1823), :

Family: Cardinalidae, -- Cardinal-Grosbeaks, Cardinals, Grosbeaks, Saltators
Order: Passeriformes
Class: Aves

Lazuli Bunting, Photo taken through screen door window on cloudy day, Baker City, May 11, 2010

This bunting, related to the well known red northern cardinal, is also among our most gorgeous migratory song birds. I've never encountered so many as in this year, from my yard during the last two weeks, on down to Richland. They inhabit riparian areas adjacent to more arid scrub, like sagebrush, in the higher portions of the interior western U. S. The males, with their bright blue heads and buff to cinnamon breasts are unmistakable, but the females, once again more drab, with blue tails and less distinct wing-bars, are less often noticed. The males are very territorial and will quickly respond to recorded calls during breeding season. They primarily feed on seeds, for which their bill is adapted, but also feed on insects. They, like the next bird, to which they are related, like a sunflower-millet mix at the feeder.

Black-headed Grosbeak, Pheucticus melanocephalus (Swainson, 1827):

Family: Cardinalidae, -- Cardinal-Grosbeaks, Cardinals, Grosbeaks, Saltators
Order: Passeriformes
Class: Aves

Male Black-headed Grosbeak, Baker City, May 17, 2010.

The large bill of the colorful Black-headed Grosbeak is specialized for breaking open seeds and eating fruits, although, as the next photo will show, they also eat insects (normally during the breeding season). Like most birds of the Cardinal family, these grosbeaks are monogamous, and they have sharp. clear songs. They have flooded my feeders during the last few days, with, as noted above, as many as six males and females being visible out the front window Their preferred habitat is mature deciduous woodland, which is becoming scarcer by the day, as population growth, grazing, and generally poor habitat management puts increasing pressure on the regeneration of these woodlands. The photos below give examples of female Black-headed Grosbeaks.

Female Black-headed Grosbeak, after having caught an insect in the maple tree out front.

Female Black-headed Grosbeak, trying to figure out how to get into feeder with a squirrel guard (actually, a bit of a problem).

Bullock's Oriole, Icterus bullockii (Swainson, 1827)

Family: Icteridae, -- American Blackbirds, New World Blackbirds, Orioles
Order: Passeriformes
Class: Aves

Bullock's Oriole, 1st Year Male, Baker City Backyard, July 23, 2009

The western Bullock's oriole is closely related to the eastern Baltimore oriole, and will, occasionally, hybridize with it. The family includes the meadowlarks, blackbirds, and grackles, the latter which may become familiar to you in the ensuing decades, as climate change becomes more pronounced. Even though you will observe their many well constructed sock-like nests hanging from high cottonwoods or even in much lower willows in the riparian areas of Baker County during winter, most people rarely see them, even with their bright coloration. I find them to be highly secretive, vanishing into the foliage of nearby trees or shrubs of their usual habitat once they observe the human presence (who can blame them?). They eat primarily insects, although they do like nectar, as mentioned above. Winters are spent in Mexico and points south, but you can find large numbers of them in the lower Powder River canyon during summer. Last year, a pair nested in the neighborhood.

American Yellow Warbler, Dendroica petechia (Linnaeus, 1766)

Family: Parulidae, -- New World Warblers, Wood-Warblers
Order: Passeriformes
Class: Aves

Yellow Warbler, American Yellow Warbler, in cottonwood, Loenig Lane, Baker County, OR, June 9, 2009

In my experience, the yellow warbler is the most common of our local warblers. Perhaps I think that is so because their bright coloration and territorial nature makes them easy to spot. Anyway, I love them, and their presence assures me that things could be worse. They always come through Baker City in May, and I can find them in my old European weeping birch and the problematic old elm trees here at home. Once you find them in neighborhood trees or along the riparian corridors, you will soon enough remember their high-pitched song. They are primarily insect eaters (insectivorous) but may also partake of berries or nectar. In Baker County you can find them during the breeding season in riparian habitats of willow and cottonwood, including along irrigation ditches where these plants grow.

Cedar Waxwing, Bombycilla cedrorum Vieillot, 1808

Family: Bombycillidae -- Waxwings
Order: Passeriformes
Class: Aves

Cedar Waxwing, 11th St. & Westview, Near Indiana Avenue, Baker City, Baker County, OR, January 2, 2010

Cedar Waxwings are another of my favorites, and perhaps the most "handsome" of our north east Oregon birds. No human artist could have come up with a more pleasing design. This year, they have blessed me numerous times, as opposed to earlier years, but perhaps I am just paying closer attention. A small flock was visiting my elms this week. Like solitaires and robins, they go to the bitter extremes in berry eating, favoring, among others, the berries of the ornamental junipers, that even the starlings won't often touch. They are a highly migratory species, searching high and low throughout the northwest for favored fruits during winter. They also will eat the buds of trees like maples, and some flowers and insects. "Sleek" is the word most commonly used to describe them, and I can't disagree. They most often breed in brush along streams and neglected fields. The scientists say that the red appendages on their secondary flight feathers are composed of waxy droplets, hence their common name. The much less common Bohemian waxwing also inhabits our area. The Bohemian waxwing looks a lot like the cedar waxwing, but its rufous under-tail coverts and larger size help identify it.

More on migratory birds in later editions I hope.
Cedar Waxwing

(Blog edited 5/19/10)

Baker Birds: Gray-crowned Rosy Finches

In This Edition:

- Gray-crowned Rosy Finches at the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center

- More on Corporations as Persons (Corporation Running for Congress Satire)
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Gray-crowned Rosy Finches

I first encountered the Gray-crowned Rosy Finches well over 20 year ago, back in my rock-hounding days. We were exploring the Darwin Mining District in the Darwin Hills of Inyo County, California when we encountered a gray, brown and pink bird that was apparently roosting in the old mine shafts. A check of the old Audubon bird guide showed them to be Gray-crowned Rosy Finches. That was my last confirmed visual sighting until yesterday.

Gray-Crowned Rosy Finch
Rosy Finch on railing in front of Interpretive Center.

Gray-crowned Rosy Finches, while widespread, are uncommon and rarely seen. If you subscribe to the OBOL (Oregon Birders On Line) list or the birding list out of EOU in La Grande, you will read occasionally of sightings, usually in the country north of Wallowa, but sometimes east of Cove near La Grande. Thats a long trip for a long shot sighting, so local birders were pleased to find out that the Gray-crowns had been sighted in front of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center before Christmas. Interestingly, I first heard that the birds might be there from some none-birding friends visiting from Elgin around New Years. A call to Cheri, who woman's the front desk at the center, confirmed that they were showing up periodically, and had been since around late November.

A few of us made separate visits to the area, including the front entrance to the center, off and on for several weeks without success. Then last week, Sheri saw them again in late afternoon, and they were seen around the same time for several of the succeeding days. Finally, yesterday's visit paid off. After no luck initially while hiking around the center, I went in to speak with Cheri. She said it was about 4 minutes before the time they seemed to be showing up--3:40 PM. I went inside to poke around and 2 to 3 minutes later they appeared. Unfortunately, about the same time, they were immediately scattered due to the fact that the resident Kestrel (sparrow hawk) came looking for dinner. (Two are known to have crashed into the front windows this winter with one fatality--wondering if they were trying to escape the Kestrel?) about 5 or 6 came back briefly and the left seemingly to the back of the building. After trying to find them again, around the building, I noticed one lingering on the railing in front of the building. After I got back up there, it remained long enough for a very short photo session. Due to the calm, half-tame nature of the birds, I was able to get close enough for a decent photo prior to its flying off in search of its friends.

My feeling is that because these Rosy Finches have an affinity for rocky hillsides and talus, both found at the Interpretive Center, and are known to roost communally during winter in mine shafts (of which their are several in the area), bridge supports (like supports found below the building) and buildings, they are likely showing up in the late afternoon to be close to their communal night-time roost.

Primary area to find the Rosy Finches (Dirt is on the lens, not the building!)
Finches, when present, are usually on the railing, supports, or rocks near the walkway.

More about these finches
The three North American species of Rosy Finches, the Gray-crowned, Brown-capped, and Black Rosy Finch, were once considered to be a single species, but have since been separated back to the three individual species. Within the Gray-crowned species, there are 3 or 4 subspecies. The birds at the Interpretive Center appear to be the Gray-cheeked or Hepburn's subspecies, but the Audubon Society of Portland recognized the Gray-crowned Rosy Finch population that is endemic to the Wallowa Mountains and surrounding area as a separate subspecies, the Wallowa Rosy Finch. As the Hepburns and Wallowa subspecies closely resemble each other, at least according to Gabrielson and Jewett, and intermingle on their N. E. Oregon wintering grounds, I can't say with any certainty which subspecies the Interpretive Center's birds belong to, although it is likely a Gray-cheecked/Hepburn's, due to their higher numbers.

To see the Wallowa subspecies alone in its breeding range, one must travel to the alpine zone of the high peaks in places like the head of Big Sheep Creek or the summit area of Brown Mountain. (See the chapter on these birds in "The Birds Of Oregon, by Gabrielson and Jewett, 1940, reprinted as Birds of the Pacific Northwest in 1970.) There they describe their chilly summer breeding grounds:

"The habits of this small finch have made it a species of peculiar interest to ornithologists. It seeks the cold and austere heights for its summer home and there, about the perpetual snow and ice, builds its nests in crevices and crannies in the rocks and forages for food on the surfaces of the snowfields and glaciers. [where] they feasted on chilled insects that had fallen benumbed on failure of their endeavors to cross the frozen areas."

If you would like to see one of these attractive and uncommon finches, late afternoon at the Interpretive Center entrance is your best bet. Remember that there are no guarantees and that their visits, in groups of 5 to 20, have been sporadic since late fall. It is likely that they will be heading back up toward their breeding range before long, especially if the weather stays unseasonably warm. If you head out that way, remember they close at 4 PM.



Learn more about these finches:

All About Birds/Cornell Lab of Ornithology
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gray-crowned_Rosy-Finch/id This site shows the "Interior" subspecies, which lacks the large gray cheek of our birds.

Birds of North America Online
http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna.html/species/559/articles/introduction

BirdWeb
http://birdweb.org/birdweb/bird_details.aspx?id=453

California Department of Fish and Game
nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentVersionID=17741


From the Morgue


As mentioned above, a few weeks ago a Rosy Finch flew into one of the large windows at the entrance and died. The Bird Conservation Network estimates that "At least 100,000,000 [that's one hundred million] birds are killed and even more are injured every year across North America by collisions with windows." (http://www.bcnbirds.org/window.html)



Some of these deaths can be prevented if a pattern of some sort can be placed on your clean, clear wndows. My persoal solution, that seems to work well while fitting my character, is not washing them. ;-) Let that film and spotting thicken up a bit! Not quite the same as a decorative film, but it is effective and economical.

The Bird Conservation Network Recommends:

"Reflective Windows: Put something on the outside of the window to alter the appearance of the entire window. The coverage must be total and allow for openings no larger than 4 inches (10 cm) across.

Options:
1) Hang strips of 1+ inch wide paper / ribbons / string / mobiles every four inches
2) "Frost" or "etch" the glass using techniques popularized by decorating books and websites
3) Sponge or stamp on a decorative pattern with soap or thinned window paint
4) Cover the windows with "CollidEscape" perforated film to make windows visible to birds while allowing those inside clear view to the outside
5) Cover the window with decorative films"

If you do find or receive a dead bird, not one legally hunted of course, be sure to call ODFW to see if you can legally possess it. Besides non-natives like house sparrows and starlings, it is generally unlawful to possess native birds without a permit.
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More on Corporations as Persons
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(Murray Hill Incorporated is Running for Congress Must See Satire!)
Click Here: http://www.youtube.com/user/murrayhillcongress#p/u
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Edwards says Amend the Constitution
On January 27, 2010, Congresswoman Donna Edwards announced that she would introduce an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to undo the damage caused the the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. FEC.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysUr0fj3aRY

Join this effort:

http://freespeechforpeople.org