December, 2001 to January, 2002
by Jim Rogers

Some great birds have been found in Curry County in the late fall/early winter season since the Harris' Sparrow showed up at Alice Pfand's feeder on November 6 in Port Orford. Some of the more noteworthy include: December 6: A female Scarlet Tanager showed up at Don Munson's feeder in Harbor. He immediately began putting pieces of fruit on the feeder, fruit being the favored food of tanagers. The bright yellow bird stayed around long enough for quite a few birders to add it to their lists (no. 316 for my Curry County list -- thank you very much, Don).

December 16: Don Munson was watching, in amazement, a flocks of at least 14 Anna's Hummingbirds buzzing around feeders at a house in south Harbor when a much larger yellow bird flew to the feeder, a female Orchard Oriole for the second Curry County record! Orioles often drink from hummingbird feeders. If you see a yellow or orange bird the size of a large sparrow or thrush visiting a hummingbird feeder, it is probably an oriole of some kind. A couple of weeks ago, Don Munson took John Bischof to see the oriole and a male was there as well. As far as I know, the are still visiting the feeders (1/27) at the NW corner of Oceanview Drive and Gregory Lane.

December 29: Some good birds were found on the Port Orford Christmas Bird Count. The weather was perfect -- warm, clear, calm and dry. We again tied our record of 140 species and, with enough skilled birders to thoroughly cover all of the habitat, including boating out to the Orford Reef, we could probably find 150+. One of the more depressing finds or trends is the near absence of Harlequin Ducks. We used to find a dozen or so at Rocky Point, several around the Port Orford dock, another small flock at Cape Blanco, and a few at Blacklock Point. This year the only ones found were two at Blacklock (good job, Al and Joan). For the past several years we have seen few, if any. We've had an over-wintering Osprey since 1996. There summer-nesting residents usually head for southern California and Mexico in September. The Gyrfalcon located by Don Munson at the end of Cape Blanco was a first for the POCBC. This was presumably the same one first observed on October 21 near Floras Lake by Tim Rodenkirk et al. This large falcon of the far north is very rarely seen down here in Curry County. Amazing numbers of Herring Gulls (1588) were found from Port Orford to New River. Most were found by Don Munson and John Bischoff at the mouth of Sixes River. Birders who are first learning the gulls frequently misidentify Western Gulling as Herrings, but these were bona-fide Herring Gulls. We often see quite a few migrants in the spring and fall, but wintering Herring Gulls are rather rare. Barred Owls first showed up in Curry County in the early 90's and have been found on the CBC the past three years. These aggressive owls have replaced Spotted Owls near the edge of their habitat, driving them further into the shrinking old-growth forests. Acorn Woodpeckers were again found in the snag patch in the old-growth forest along the Grassy Knob road. There had not been seen on the POCBC since 1981 until last year. Good job, Sharyn! Twice as many Brown-headed Cowbirds (2) spent the winter in in North Curry as did last year. For a detailed copy of the Port Orford Christmas Bird Count, send me a self addressed (34 cents) enveloped.

January 8: An immature Harris Sparrow showed up at Glen Sevey's feeder in Hunter Creek. January 12: Two very early Turkey Vultures were spotted south of Port Orford by two birders named Dan and Ann whose last names I didn't catch. I apologize profusely. There have been other reports of Turkey Vultures being seen in Western Oregon this winters.

January 12: Tim Rodenkirk found 30 swallows in Port Orford, 10 Barn Swallows and 20 Tree Swallows! What were they thinking! Curry County is a rather inhospitable place in January for these birds who should be in South America, as I am sure they have discovered by now. I understand there have been numerous sightings of errant swallows along the West Coast this winter.

January 17: Terry Wahl found 5 Marbled Godwits at the mouth of the Rogue. Two miles north, he spotted 2 Turkey Vultures.

January 20: Terry spotted a Short-eared Owl on the family ranch on Langlois Mountain. This species is occasionally seen in Curry County. I assume an occasional one winters here but leaves in early spring to nest east of the Cascades. The owl is still seen often from the ranch house.

The Say's Phoebe that Terry first spotted on the Elk River ranch in late September hasn't been seen since mid-January.

A Northern Mockingbird has been wintering in Brookings, but I don't know when it first showed up. There usually at least one of these Californians in Curry County in the winter, but I'm not aware of any remaining here after mid to late April.

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