Following on the theme of the early signs of spring, Natalie and I can
add a couple of examples from our four-day trip down the Oregon coast and
into the northwestern corner of California. We just arrived back home
today, after counting 30 Red-tailed Hawks on our route from Gold Beach,
Ore. up the coast and then inland along the Umpqua River and then north
on Interstate 5.

Early arrivals:

Yesterday we saw Turkey Vultures heading north in three places. The
northern most was in Oregon just north of Brookings near the Indian Sands
area along Hwy. 101. The other two were near the small town of Smith
River in northern California.

This afternoon we found four White-tailed Kites at the Umpqua Wayside
observation area for Roosevelt Elk, and it appeared to be two mated
pairs. In fact, we watched one pair attempting to mate.

Another sign of the coming spring could be seen in the skies over Salem,
Ore. this afternoon when thousands of Canada Geese were in the air and
flying northward.

We had quite a few highlights on our trip, including the best look at an
adult Red-shouldered Hawk we have ever had as the hawk was along Hwy. 101
near Smith River, Calif. We doubled back to look at the hawk and to snap
a couple of photos and ended up watching it move to a fence post in the
field where it was hunting and make a catch, then fly off into the trees
behind us to consume its meal.

The best single birding site of the trip was at the mouth of the Smith
River in California, where we saw Black Turnstones, Rock Sandpiper,
Common Terns, a vocal Black Phoebe (our second in two days, after seeing
another near the old mill site on the Rogue River on Saturday) and many
other species. If you venture down to the northern California coast, this
is an easy to reach and excellent site to check out!

Also yesterday viewing from the top of Cape Sebastian on the Oregon coast
we saw thousands of alcids along with all three scoter species feeding in
the ocean below. There were tons of Pigeon Guillemot feeding there, and
in the brisk winds blowing there we also enjoyed seeing some raptors at
work among the trees - Cooper's Hawk and Red-tailed Hawks mainly, with a
couple of others moving so fast that we couldn't ID them.

Other notables:

- A small number of Great Egret near the dunes outside Coos Bay, Ore.
- Three Great Egret on the Rogue River, including one many miles up the river
- 150-plus Yellow-rumped Warblers near the north jetty of the Rogue
River, many of which looked like they were starting to molt into breeding
plumage
- A Merlin hunting those warblers near the Rogue River

Excellent birding!

Rob McNair-Huff ---------- mailto:rob at whiterabbits.com
White Rabbit Publishing -- http://www.whiterabbits.com/
Mac Net Journal ---------- http://www.macnetjournal.com/
The Equinox Project ------ http://www.whiterabbits.com/weblog.html