July to November, 2001
by Jim Rogers

Since I was away this summer, doing wildlife surveys, I missed getting the Bird Notes into the Storm Petrel. Therefore I'll go back to July to fill you in on what interesting birds I know of that have visited Curry County since the start of the Fall migration.. Some of my records are unclear as to who first found the bird so if I credit somebody for a bird found by someone else, I apologize.

July 13 - Don Munson observed a Franklin's Gull south of the mouth of the Chetco River. Franklin's gulls nest over in Harney County, primarily in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. They are rarely seen in western Oregon. I'm aware of only two other records in Curry County.

July 29 - Mr. Munson observed several Forster's Terns at the mouth of the Chetco and ...

August 23 - he found several at the mouth of the Rogue. These terns similarly breed over in Eastern Oregon, especially Malheur, but are far more widespread and abundant than Franklin's Gulls. There are half a dozen or so records for Curry County in August and September.

August 3 - Terry Wahl found an Ash-throated Flycatcher in Langlois. These birds are known to nest in the upper Rogue and Umpqua watersheds but are rarely seen on the coast.

Late August - Don visited Whetstone Butte which is on the east edge of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area near the Curry/Josephine County line. He observed Rock Wrens there along with birds we see here in the lowlands.

A Black & white Warbler remained in the vicinity of Don Munson's home in southwest Harbor until August 20. This eastern warbler is rarely found west of the plains. There are a half-dozen or so records for Curry County.

September 8 - Don observed a Bobolink at Lone Ranch State Park. This blackbird rarely shows up west of the Rockies. However, there are localized colonies in eastern Oregon, the main one being near the P Ranch at the south end of Malheur N.W.R. When the occasional one shows up on the coast, we don't get to see them in their elegant black and white suits.

September 9 - Don found the first Clay-colored Sparrow of this Fall at Chetco Point. These sparrows of the plains occasionally show up here in Curry County. They resemble Chipping Sparrows which are fairly often seen here, but usually not at the same time. Chipping sparrows are here in the summer, but rarely in the spring or fall, whereas the occasional Clay-colored that shows up tends to spend the winter here and leaves in the spring. He also found the first Northern Mockingbird of the season in Harbor. An occasional one of these hardy Californians makes its way north of the border and spends the winter in Curry County.

September 15 - The annual Fall North American Migration Count turned up some very good birds and high numbers of some species, among which were 225 Sooty Shearwaters, 1268 Brown Pelicans, a Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Terry Wahl), 2644 Heermann's Gulls, 4 Black Swifts (Sharyn Becker), 5 Say's Phoebes (S.B.), 77 Red-breasted Nuthatches (they seem very numerous this year), and last, but definitely not least, a Northern Waterthrush (Don Munson & Buzz Stewart)! Buff-breasted Sandpipers breed way up in the Northwest Territories and migrate through the central plains. Occasionally one strays to the coast. Black Swifts are rare migrants through the state. Say's Phoebes are uncommon migrants along the coast and nest in several locations in eastern Oregon. The Northern Waterthrush is mostly found east of the Rockies, but it does nest in a few isolated locations in Oregon. Very rarely, one is seen on the coast. There was a lot of bird activity over the ocean, but sparse coverage precluded a realistic count.

September 17 - Don Munson found an American Redstart at the Brookings sewage treatment plant. This warbler breeds primarily east of the Rockies, but an occasional one or more make their way to Curry County. Don also observed a Sabine's Gull off Cape Ferello. This little gull breeds in the northern Arctic and winters off South America. They migrate well offshore.

September 19 - Don located a Say's Phoebe at Lone Ranch State Park.

September 24 - Don observed a Parasitic Jaegar off Cape Ferello for a rare sighting of this pelagic bird from shore. A visit to Lone Ranch turned up a Palm Warbler and a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

Late September - Terry Wahl spotted a Say's Phoebe on the Elk River ranch. He subsequently located a second on the Elk River ranch and another on the Langlois Mountain ranch, the latter in mid-November. He also observed his first Palm Warbler of the season and has seen quite a few through the present.

October 1 thru present - Terry observed between one and eight Lapland Longspurs on the Elk River ranch. These tundra-nesting birds find the open pastures of local ranches to their liking in the winter.

October 3 - Terry Wahl spotted his first Tropical Kingbird of the fall on the family ranch on the lower Elk River. He subsequently found 3 others through November 15, two of which were on the family ranch on Langlois Mountain and the other on the Elk River ranch.

October 5 - On another visit to Lone Ranch Mr. Munson found another Black & white Warbler which was still present on November 5. On the same day Terry Wahl and I found a Clay-colored Sparrow on the Elk River ranch. Terry subsequently observed at least 4 more on the same ranch through November 10.

October 6 - Don Munson and Ken Goldwater found a Northern Parula at Winchuck Wayside. This eastern warbler occasionally shows up in Oregon.

October 13 - A Long eared Owl visited Don Munson's residence along the beach in south Harbor. This relatively rare owl is only found in a few known locations up in the mountains in Curry County.

October 15 - Another Clay-colored Sparrow was found by Mr. Munson on Oceanview Drive.

October 20 - Alan Contreras visited from Salem and found a Blackpoll Warbler next to the old Brookings Plywood log pond (next to Fred Meyers). This eastern warbler occasionally shows up in Curry Co. in the fall.

October 21 - Tim Rodenkirk, Kathy Castelstein, Dave Lauten and Alan Contreras came down to northern Curry County and spotted a juvenile Gyrfalcon on the beach near Floras Lake. These large falcons of the far north are rarely seen south of northern Oregon. They also observed a Sandhill Crane, a species that is rarely found in western Oregon, but seems to be found almost every year somewhere in Curry County. A Tropical Kingbird was one of several that have been observed in the county this fall. Like the Brown Pelican and Heermann's Gull, these birds breed in Mexico and migrate north along the coast in the fall. Most observations are of single birds, though small groups have been seen. The erstwhile birders also found a Clay-colored Sparrow, a White-throated Sparrow and a Swamp Sparrow.

October 25 - Don Munson and Ted Bezzerides visited Chetco Lake and found 3 Clark's Nutcrackers, a bird whose occurrence in Curry County is not well known since they are usually found in the remote mountains.

October 30 - Terry Wahl observed a lone Cattle Egret on the Elk River ranch. These birds of Africa originally migrated naturally across the Atlantic to South America and made their way north . They are abundant in the Imperial Valley of California. Some years there may be a dozen or more wintering in Coos or Curry County while in most years there are none.

October 31 - Terry spotted an American Tree Sparrow on the Elk River ranch. These eastern sparrows winter in very low numbers in northeast Oregon, but rarely show up on the coast.

November 1 - Don Munson and Ken Goldwater found a Worm-eating Warbler south of Harbor! I'm aware of only one other record for Oregon which was observed at Malheur N.W.R. This warbler is rarely seen outside of the southeastern United States. On the same day, Terry Wahl found a Chestnut-collared Longspur on the Elk River ranch. These birds nest on the plains and are very rarely seen west of the Rockies. There are only a half-dozen or so records for Oregon, one of which was found by Terry on the same ranch on October 13, 1999.

November 3 - Harry Nehls came down from Portland and found an Ash-throated Flycatcher at the mouth of Sixes River, a very late occurrence!

November 5 - Don Munson reported the Black & white Warbler was still at Lone Ranch along with a late Black-throated gray Warbler and a late Orange-crowned Warbler.

November 6 - A Harris's Sparrow in full breeding plumage showed up at Alice Pfand's feeder in Port Orford. It is still there at the time of this writing in the company of 3 White-throated Sparrows. These sparrows of the plains are rarely seen in Oregon but there are several records in Curry County.

Please phone, fax or mail your bird observations to me at (541) 332-2555; 95187 Elk River Rd., Port Orford, OR 97465. Thanks.