November 18, 2000 to March 18, 2001
by Jim Rogers

Some interesting birds have been seen in Curry County this winter, but it seems everyone has been too busy to get out there and keep track of what's going on. The relatively warm, dry winter weather has resulted in a lot more bird activity, or so it seems to me. I've been working in the woods all winter, cruising timber, surveying, and cutting brush to release conifer seedlings. The woods bird have been quite apparent during all these nice days. The pleasant winter weather has enticed some Eastern Oregon birds to spend the winter on the Coast. I didn't get my notes in on time for the last Storm Petrel, so I'll include a few records from the end of last year.

November 18: Terry Wahl found a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher on the Coos/Curry County line, possibly the same bird found by Rick McKenzie on the nearby Star Ranch on October 21. These birds breed in the upper Rogue area and in locations in Klamath County, but they usually head for Mexico and Central America in August and don't return until spring. Tooz Wahl spotted a rare Tropical Kingbird on the family ranch¯at least they're rare in most places but occasionally found in significant numbers on the Wahl Ranch. A Mountain Chickadee was spotted by Fred Hummel in Brookings. Occasionally one of these residents of the high elevations in Curry County will spend the winter on the coast. Maybe the shore pine is an acceptable habitat to these lodgepole pine residents. A very emaciated Snowy Owl was found on the Port Orford Heads (fide Tony Cotter). The bird offered no resistance to being picker up and it was taken to Dan Deuel's South Coast Bird Rehab facility in Bandon. He took it to the vet, but it died en route. I understand there have been numerous sightings this winter of Snowy Owls far south of their normal Arctic ranger because, I assume, of a lemming population crash.

November 19: Terry Wahl, Don Munson, and I did a little birding and managed to flush a Short-eared Owl near the confluence of Floras Creek and New River filling an important gap in Don's Curry Country Life List. We also discovered a Loggerhead Shrike at the Sixes estuary. While it's normal to see a Northern Shrike in Curry County, a Loggerhead is quite rare west of the Cascades.

January 7: Colin Dillingham, Alan Barron, and Terry Wahl birded the north end of the County and found some interesting birds spending the early winter here. From the Port Orford Heads, they saw Buller's Shearwaters and Sabine's Gulls, both rarely seen from shore. They found two Say's Phoebes, one on the Wahl Ranch near the mouth of Elk River and one near the Hughes House. A Loggerhead Shrike was still at the Sixes estuary where it was first discovered on November 19. There were two Northern Mockingbirds in the north half of the County, one visiting Colin's feeder on the south bank of the Rogue and the other hanging out in a large holly bush on Willow Creek in Denmark, where it was originally made known to the world by Lowell Franks on the Port Orford Christmas Bird Count. There's usually an occasional one of these Californians hardy (or crazy) enough to spend the winter in Curry County. An amazing ten Redhead Ducks were counted on Floras Lake! They have become quite rare, and it's very good to see that many in Curry County. A White-fronted Goose was observed wintering with the domestic goose flock at Euchre Creek. It seems most years there's a wild White-fronted or Snow Goose wintering with that flock¯the makings of a good kid book there, no doubt. A Turkey Vulture was seen at Floras Lake. Although the buzzards don't return to Curry County until late February/early March, there is an occasional one seen in December and January. Whether they're just passing through or hanging out, I'm not certain. However, I've never seen one feeding in winter, so I'd assume these are tardy migrants drifting south. An Osprey seen along the beach between Floras Lake and New Lake was, no doubt, the individual that has been spending the winter along the North Curry Coast the past few years. Two Golden Eagles seen on Langlois Mountain were a welcome sight to the birders, though they are viewed skeptically by some sheep ranchers because they will occasionally carry off a newborn lamb. Lambs born in the open fields are far more likely to succumb to the elements and lack of human assistance than to predation from Golden Eagles, but it does occasionally happen. A Rough-legged Hawk was kiting on the wind at the end of Cape Blanco. Sometimes several Rough-legs spend the winter in Curry County and sometimes several winters go by with nary a sighting. Two Palm Warblers at the blue silos on Floras Lake Road were not entirely unexpected. Palm Warblers breed in Canada and spend the winter in Florida and environs, but as of late some have been spending the winter on the West Coast¯and who can blame them? There's usually an occasional one wintering on ranch land in this area. Two Swamp Sparrows were also found near the silos (in the swamp) as well as a third at Beaver Marsh on Cape Blanco. Most Swamp Sparrows winter in the southeastern U.S., from Texas to Florida. They nest across most of Canada and the northeastern states. An extrememly early or late Barn Swallow at the Wahl Barn didn't stick around. I wonder if it ever found the rest of the tribe wintering down in South America?

January 17: I observed a Golden Eagle cruising over the old Miller Ranch near the north bank of the Rogue.

February 1: While recovering from minor surgery, Colin Dillingham was staring disconsolately at the boring Brewer's Blackbirds at his feeder on the south Bank of the Rogue when he was startled to see one that was noticeably different: a Rusty Blackbird -- Curry Country's first record. Only a dozen or so of the east of the Rockies blackbirds have been recorded in Oregon.

February 4: While watching the Rusty Blackbird, that was now known to be hanging out with the Brewers at Head Acres RV park, Colin Dillingham and Alan Barron spotted a bright yellow bird that turned out to be a Cape May Warbler, the second record for Curry County and the dozenth or so for Oregon. I don't believe there were any previous winter records just spring and fall. While heading to Gold Beach to chase these two rare birds, Carrie and I spotted our first Turkey Vulture of the year south of Giesel Monument.

March 2: The first Selasphorous hummingbird returned to our feeder on Elk River, a female Rufous or Allen's. A few days later, it was joined by a male Allen's, confirming our assumption that it was this species. We virtually never see a Rufous at our feeder anymore, and rarely elsewhere in the County, whereas Allen's used to be rare¯a phenomenon of global warming?

March 12: I saw a pair of Violet-green Swallows checking the nesting possibilities of a hollow madrone snag on the old Miller Ranch near the north bank of the Rogue. Wahls noticed the first Tree Swallows on their ranch on Elk River. The Say's Phoebe was still around at that time. Endless flocks of California Gulls have been migrating by, probably heading for the Columbia River for the smelt run and then on north to central Canada to nest.

March 18: Don Munson observed a Golden Eagle several miles up Pistol River. I've seen single birds up at the headwaters of Pistol River on several occasions, and Don reports seeing them in the Carpenterville area. I don't know if and where they might be nesting in Curry County.

Please phone me or fax me your Curry County bird observations at 332-2555 or mail them to me at 95187 Elk River Road, Port Orford, OR 97465. Good birding!