Nicolai Mt and Brownsmead, Clatsop Co 11/27/2001

I drove to the top of Nicolai Mt this morning. It was
clear and cold with about 3 inches of crusty snow on
the ground. It was also birdless. I did find fresh
COYOTE tracks following fresh BRUSH RABBIT tracks...
All Nicolai Mt birds listed are from the road up and back.

There's still lots of standing water at Brownsmead.
A group of 31 GREATER YELLOWLEGS were working a single
puddle on Jackson Rd. Also on Jackson Rd were a single
CINNAMON TEAL and a single GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE.
Two PEREGRINES were, apparently, team hunting ducks and
MEW GULLS (they made sorties at both). One bird would
come in fairly high followed by the other coming in, maybe,
2 meters above the ground. Both appeared to be adults and,
judging by the sizes, a male and female.

Nicolai Mt 0820-0930hr
Birds seen (in taxonomic order):

Red-tailed Hawk 2
Ruffed Grouse 1
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 5
Golden-crowned Kinglet 10
Winter Wren 1
Dark-eyed Junco 4

Total number of species seen: 6

Brownsmead 0940-1100hr
Birds seen (in taxonomic order):

Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Greater White-fronted Goose 1
Canada Goose 400
Tundra Swan 41
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal 1 [1]
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-Winged Teal
Bufflehead
Northern Harrier 5
Red-tailed Hawk 15
American Kestrel 4
Peregrine Falcon 2 [2]
American Coot
Black-bellied Plover 15
Greater Yellowlegs 38 [3]
Dunlin 1
Long-billed Dowitcher 103 [4]
Mew Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Western Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Bushtit
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler 4
Townsend's Warbler 1
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird

Footnotes:

[1] Jackson Rd
[2] apparently team hunting
[3] 31 in a single group at Jackson Rd; 7 flew over waterhouse boat
ramp
[4] 48 in flock at Jackson Rd;55 at Ziak refuge

Total number of species seen: 49


--
Mike Patterson When I despair, I remember
Astoria, OR that all through history
celata at pacifier.com the way of truth and love have always won.
There have been tyrants, and murderers,
and for a time they can seem invincible,
but in the end they always fall.
Think of it...always.
- Mahatma Gandhi

http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/bird.html