Tweeters,

With the wife gone to a convention in Los Angeles I realized I had an
opportunity to make her feel bad for not getting to see that "Great
Bird". But what Great Bird? The McKay's Buntings are gone. The
Redwing is in the bag. The Baikal Teal refuses to show itself. There
is that Falcated Duck down in Eugene, OR that is so staked out even I
could find it.
Noah Strycker, young Oregon birding superstar
writes........................

"The Falcated Duck currently residing in Coburg is almost certainly the
same bird as was found in west Eugene last winter 14 Feb-6 Mar 2004 (and
was actually absent for two weeks during that period, so who knows --
maybe it was over in Coburg during those two weeks? The RV Park owners
apparently think the bird might have been there last year, from what
I've heard). As Tim pointed out, other FADU's in California have
returned multiple years to the same location, and the probability of
such a mega-rarity being duplicated within only a couple miles in
consecutive winters is low.

After the duck appeared last winter it was quickly accepted by the
Oregon Bird Records Committee as a "valid" record, following the example
of some other records from neighboring states, and there are indeed many
reasons to think it is a legitimately wild bird: its occurrence with
other asian species (EUWI), timing (January to March is the peak
occurrence of other asian waterfowl strays to Oregon such as Eurasian
Widgeon, Common Teal, and Tufted Duck), location (west coast, consistent
with other records of this species to the north and south and where a
wild FADU would be expected to show up) and habits (flighty like a wild
bird, apparently migratory). If a wild Falcated Duck were to make it to
the lower 48 states, this would be it. The evidence supporting the
"escaped cage bird" possibility seems to be rather slim in this case,
mainly consisting of the fact that such a possibility can inherently not
be disproved, and the fact that this species is apparently indeed kept
as a cage bird, though uncommonly.

So, officially, the ruling powers say that it's safe to add this bird to
your list, and feel good about it, as many have already done."

So if it's good enough for Noah who am I to pass it up? But it would be
nice to have a second target down there. We do an early Friday morning
check of the Oregon Birding List and, HOLY STRIGIDAE, a Northern
Hawk-Owl is in Bend, OR. I'm out the door and into the rain at 7 AM.

Five hours later the Falcated Duck is bagged in the distant pond. I had
it in mind that he was a teal, but he's bigger that a Widgeon. Pretty
bird. We left him with his bill under his wing.

We had taken two good swings at the elusive Emperor Goose of the
Creswell Sewage Lagoons and as it's only another 15 miles down the road
we should probably take a third swing. I gave it a good shot, but only
came up with one strange goose. It is the largest, nastiest looking
domestic thing ever. I believe that the Emperor Goose is gone and the
worker reports of a "different" goose are this "thing".

Now it's eastward to Bend up the McKenzie River. The snow is sticking
above 4000 feet.
At sundown I come upon a welcome sight. There are six SUVS parked along
the road with a half dozen scopes all pointed in the same direction,
with a dozen birders wearing big grins. It looks like they have treed
the bird up a small, fire-killed juniper. The Hawk-owl is showing
everyone how quickly and far it can turn its head. Owls are so special.

If you have the kidneys for it, and a reason to make it so, this could
be a two bird focus day trip.

Here are Hawk-owl directions

"Take business HWY 97 through Bend. Turn east on Hwy 20, and then turn
right
(south) on 27th street. This is a major intersection. Follow 27th
Street to Rickard Road. It will be a left turn directly after the
landfill. Follow Rickard Road for 1.8 miles and turn Right on Billadeau
Road. After 1 mile there will be a stop sign. Go straight. The road
changes its name to Horse Butte Rd. Follow this for 0.9 miles, turn
left on Sweetgrass Drive. After 0.3 miles turn Right on Calgary. Stay
on Calgary for 1.4 miles and turn left on Calgary LP. Drive 0.7 miles to
the intersection of Calgary LP and Jasper. This
is the intersection where the bird was seen this evening. The NORTHERN
HAWK OWL
was last seen flying off into an area of burned juniper forest chasing a
MERLIN. The bird has been seen mainly at dusk.

The owl is in a residential neighborhood, so please be mindful of
parking,
kids, etc. Also the owl is located in a winter deer range, please drive
safely."

Larry Schwitters
Issaquah