When I got home from a dentist appointment, I read a post to the Tweeters listserv that“Christy Kuhlman found and photographed a Rustic Bunting at Cape Disappointment on December 3rd. It was with a flock of juncos at campsite #44.”
Wow! A Rustic Bunting would be a “Life Bird” for me (and would certainly keep me in the running for remaining in the “top ten” of the number of species seen by eBirders in the American Birding Association area this year). The Rustic Bunting is an “Old World” bird, breeding across northern Eurasia from Scandinavia to eastern Siberia, and spending its winters in Japan and eastern China. Occasionally, an individual makes the migration down the west Coast of North America, and this is one of those birds.
I decided to drive on down to the Cape to look for a Rustic Bunting that had been seen there a week ago. There’s never assurance that a wayward bird will stick around for a while, or if it will just be a “one-day-wonder”. And, the term “Cape Disappointment” can’t bode well, can it?
It’s a two and a half hour drive from Olympia to the Cape, where the mighty Columbia River passes into the Pacific Ocean. The north side of the river mouth is in the State Park, and I arrived a little after noon.
The bird had been seen among flocks of juncos in the campground loops. There are few people camping in the 45º F rain and mist. Even the yurts are unoccupied.
What was surprising was the birds on the ground! Sparrows and juncos commonly feed on the ground, but today the park’s grounds were literally crawling with Townsend’s Warblers, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, and Red-breasted Nuthatches.
The phenology of the area’s Sitka Spruce trees was just right for their cones to release millions of small, winged seeds. This bounty brought the “tree-top” birds to the ground, and provided some great views. Many of the birds continued to feed in the spruce boughs, of course.
Finally, at 1 p.m., I observed the bird with a large mixed flock of Oregon Juncos, Chestnut-back ed Chickadee & Townsend's Warblers at campsite No. 118. The flock was pretty 'flighty' and spooked easily, so I stayed back and let some of the other birders in the area know that I’d found it. That means that you get to see crappy, cropped photos . . . Better than nothing, yes?
This bunting is distinguished by a white stripe above and behind the eye, with white under the dark “cheek patch”. This bird was, indeed, a “Lifer” for me, my 662nd species in North America (north of Mexico), and the 610th species I’d seen this year. I’ve now seen 91 avian species in my “Peregrination” year that I’d never before seen, and this bird is certainly the icing on the cake.
At 3 p.m. the Bunting showed again at campsite No. 64. And those of us who re-found it alerted the other birders.
A Portland Birder and I each *may* have scattered a bit of birdseed to encourage site fidelity in the area . . .
It was a day well-spent with some good birders from Washington and Oregon. All involved hoped that the bird would stay in the area to be included on the Columbia Estuary Christmas Bird Count on December 15th. That would be a great “twitch” on the Count: Best of Luck!!
Cape Disappointment State Park eBird checklist is Here
No comments:
Post a Comment