Page 14 ff. Tte, ;- - February 1,2012
Birdwatching o,ffers never-ending challenges
I love watching birds, perhaps
with the exception of the trillions of
robins (Turdus migratorius) flock-
ing to my house.
On most days I can watch
about a dozen or so species in my
backyard but when I can add a new
species to my life list, that's when
the excitement begins.
Just the other day I added bird
#344 to my life list with a snowy
owl (nyctea scandiaca). These
owls are Arctic, circumpolar birds
but a few will occasionally make
their way south into the Lower 48
in winter. Snowy owls rely on ro-
dents, mainly lemmings, to sur-
vive the cold winters farther north.
Lemmings follow a boom-and-bust
cycle, which can determine whether
the owls are forced to move farther
south in search of food.
Since there have been many
reports of snowy owls in the U.S.
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this year, it would make sense that
the population of lemmings has
crashed. However, biologists found
that the lemming population this
year was at an all-time high, allow-
ing for a very successful breeding
season for all Arctic raptors, includ-
ing snowy owls. They determined
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that the population boom caused
overcrowding and competition
at the typical wintering grounds,
pushing inexperienced birds farther
south into the Lower 48. Life bird
#344 appears to be a juvenile.
There have been several mem-
orable life birds for me. Earlier this
year while out birding near an aspen
stand, a great gray owl (strix nebu-
losa) flew near me. The great gray
is the largest of the owls, standing
24 to 33 inches high. I got to watch
both adults do a food exchange, and
eventually located the nest with two
young.
The coast is a great place to
search for life birds and I've add-
ed many to my list from there. Of
course, if you take a trip to Alaska
(20 new birds) or Hawaii (12 new
birds), you'd be sure to expand your
life list.
One of my more memorable
birds was a Bohemian waxwing
(bombycilla garrulous)that I saw
in Denali National Park, Alaska
several years ago. When I point-
ed it out to my wife I believe she
laughed, thinking I made the name
up (which I have a habit of doing
occasionally). Another birder came
by and verified my sighting and was
extremely happy, since this bird was
#500 on his life list.
I'd always wanted to get to
Texas during a spring migration,
and I got to do that last year, add-
ing about 30 species to my life list.
The most unique bird I saw was a
yellow-billed cuckoo (coccyzus
americanus), the brightest a ver-
milion flycatcher (pyrocephalus ru-
binus) and the noisiest were a pair
of cactus wrens (campylorhynchus
brunneicapillus).
One bird I wanted to add to my
life list was a scissor-tailed flycatch-
er (tyrannus forficatus). Although
they are quite common in Texas,
we don't have them in the Pacific
Northwest. It took a while but I fi-
naliy started seeing them sitting on
powerlines. Other life birds I saw in
Texas were canyon towhees (pipilo
Photo by Scott Staats
A young snowy owl sits on afencepost after a long trip south.
fuscus), white-eyed vireos (vireo
griseus) and Chihuahuan ravens
(corvus cryptoleucus).
Spring and fall migrations are
your best bet to see a wide variety
of birds and perhaps a few "lifers".
To increase your chances of seeing
new birds, attend one of the many
bird festivals. The 31 st Annual John
Scharff Migratory Bird Festival and
Art Show will be held from April
12-15 in Burns. Spring migration
brings thousands of birds to Harney
County and the Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge.
Birders will see shorebirds,
waterfowl, cranes, raptors, wading
birds and songbirds: Many of the
birds stop to rest and feed in Ore-
gon's high desert country before
continuing north. There are over a
dozen tours during the festival that
last from two to nine hours.
One of my favorites was the
High Listing Tour. Expert guides
take birders out in the basin and
up into the snow-covered forest to
list as many species as possible.
Our group saw about 85 species.
Highlights included burrowing
owls (athene cunicularia), tens of
thousands of snow geese (chen
caerulescens), sandhill cranes (grus
canadensis), barn owl (tyto alba),
ferruginous hawk (buteo regalis)
and Savannah sparrow (passerculus
sandwichensis).
Now is the time to consider
starting your own bird list. Most
birders keep a life list, which is a
list of every bird they've seen or
heard in their life. After a few years,
adding new birds will take a bit lon-
ger so you might also want to keep
other lists, such as state, county and
backyard. Then, each year, you can
look at the lists and get an idea of
when certain species will be arriv-
ing. All you need to get started is a
pair of binoculars, a field guide, a
• See Staats, page 15
