Bird Feeder

Fall is here and time once again to fill the bird feeders. We are just a bit inland, so we don't get shorebirds at the house, nor do they eat seeds, but you see them flying all over. When we clean crabs at our fish cleaning sink, the gulls find out pretty quickly. They hang out on the roof next door and wait until we are done. Then its a mad dash and the crab parts are gone in a few minutes. Our fuchsia bushes attract many hummingbirds during the summer, Anna's are here year round but we get the Rufous here too. It also attracts the neighborhood cats, so I have put a fence around the fuchsia to slow them down.

So the tube feeders went out a few weeks ago. I wait until I see the first of the migrating birds, the Brown Pelican. I've already had some interesting visitors that I never see during the summer. Our range is quite unique as we are close to the ocean, riparian and woodlands. There are tons of birds here, but they are all specific to their natural habitats. Adding a feeder brings the marginal birds to our yard. I have a feeder less than 10 feet from my desk, so I get quite a show all day long.

The Steller's Jay has been here the most. Never see them until the feeders go out. Scores of Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees jump from the apple tree to the feeder, grab a seed, back to the tree to open it and eat it, then back to the feeder. This goes on until the Steller's Jay comes and scares them all off. Yesterday was the first appearance of the Red-winged Blackbird, a group of about 5 were feeding for a while. I also saw a Starling, I know, I hate them too, but this was the first time I saw one in it's Fall plumage. Golden-crowned and White-crowned Sparrows won't feed close to the house, they like the feeder out by the fence. A Northern Flicker will stop by too, sitting on the fence to see all the action.

The best bird activity I've seen so far has been the confused Oregon Junco. These birds are ground feeders. You see them hoping around under the feeder picking up the seed that drop from the feeder. So the chickadees were all over the feeder and apple tree. There is a lot of lichen on the apple tree, so a few chickadees were storing seeds in the lichen. The Junco hopped into the tree and was just watching the chickadees eating the seeds out of the lichen. It started to hop around the tree looking for seeds too, knowing genetically that this could not be. It did figure out that the seeds were stored and started eating them.

I have another feeder on the north side of the house, out the dining room window that has yet to be discovered. The birds will find it when the south blowing winter winds pick up as it's protected from the wind.

So get a feeder out at your house. Make sure you put it where you can see the birds when you're inside, isn't that why you feed the birds in the first place?

If you want to see the migrating sea and shore birds, now is the time in Pacific City. The Brown Pelicans are on the surf line all day and rest in the river at night. Lots of grebes in the river too. The sunsets are rush hour for the geese, very noisy as they fly from feeding to resting areas.

Come on down to Pacific City and visit all our birding areas. It will take a few days, so rest here at The Craftsman B&B and update your life list of all the birds you saw during the day.

Birding & Blues

We invite you to attend this years Birding and Blues Festival. Held April 3, 4 and 5, this years version is later than in the past. This will give you a greater chance at seeing more birds. The songbirds weren't around all the t much in February, when the festival was held before.

The days are filled with lectures, field trips and boat tours. The music will also be fantastic with headliners, Ty Curtis Band playing Friday night and Lloyd Jones Quartet on Saturday. Live Slide Guitar by Rob Richter at the Delicate Palate Bistro Friday and Twist wine on Saturday.

Part of our sponsorship of this event, we are hosting one of the speakers here at The Craftsman B&B. So come on down and join us, for birding, for blues or both. We are within walking distance to the events. Park your car and enjoy the sounds of nature and the blues.

One of the rarest wild goose populations has a new wintering ground.

Here is an update on a blog I wrote last fall, you can read that here.

Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge has been selected to receive $800,000 from a federal land conservation fund to acquire 80 acres of pasture land that is one of just two wintering sites used by the entire world population of the Semidi Islands Aleutian cackling goose, which numbers only about 140 birds. The parcel is located just north of Pacific City.

The Nature Conservancy's initial purchase of the property, the Martella Farm just a mile North of The Craftsman B&B, was done in a timely manner while the US Fish & Wildlife Service worked to secure funding to purchase it from the Conservancy, without profit, and add it to the refuge.

“Acquiring this land for inclusion in the refuge is essential to the long-term protection of the Semidi birds, as it will permanently protect one of their most important wintering sites,” said Roy Lowe, project leader of the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex, which includes the Nestucca Bay Refuge. “Providing long-term secure wintering habitat for Aleutian cackling geese was one of the main reasons the refuge was established.”

“This property was a top national priority for addition to a refuge because its habitat is so critical for the remaining Aleutian cackling geese,” said Russell Hoeflich, Oregon director for The Nature Conservancy. “We congratulate the Fish and Wildlife Service for this refuge addition and thank them for doing an excellent job of protecting the incredible natural diversity of the Oregon coast for future generations.”

Addition of the parcel to the refuge will also help secure high-value habitat for thousands of other migratory birds that spend time around Nestucca Bay, where as many as 4,000 geese have been observed using pasture land. As refuge land, the newly acquired tract will be grazed to maintain the short grass pasture habitat that is essential for the geese, thus contributing to the local dairy farming economy and at the same time, helping to address depredation by the geese on nearby farm lands, Lowe said. The community of Pacific City is rapidly growing toward the site and a new housing development is being built just above it, increasing the need for protecting this important open space, he added.

I'm not allowed on Refuge land, being a bird dog, but I can tell you where to go to see the birds hanging out in the greatest town on the Oregon coast.  Come visit me this winter while the rare geese are munching in the fields.

Nestucca Bay Wildlife Refuge

It's that time of year again.  Every night just after sunset the skies are full of migrating geese.  We have a local gaggle that hang around all year, but now, I'm talking a ton of geese.  They fly over the house, squawking at each other.  That is how they keep in contact in the dark.  They are flying back to  The Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge after a day of flying and munching on their way South for the Winter.  Started in 1991, the refuge provides a sanctuary for a portion of the declining Dusky Canada Goose population and for the endangered Aleutian Cackling Goose. The Refuge has seen many changes over the years, including the recovery of the Aleutian Cackling Goose, Bald Eagle, and Peregrine Falcon, and the restoration of 82 acres of tidal marsh and 50 acres of forest land.  It was just for the birds, but now, they have developed it for people to visit too.

In 2004 the Oregon Dept. of Transportation awarded a grant to the USFWS to design and construct visitor facilities on the Nestucca Bay Refuge. The completed project includes two parking lots; a paved, wheelchair-accessible trail that leads to an elevated viewing deck; road improvements; interpretive panels; and a single vault restroom. The paved Pacific View Trail and Deck, perched atop Cannery Hill, affords visitors a sweeping view of the Pacific Ocean, Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge (Haystack Rock at Pacific City), Nestucca Bay Refuge, the Coast Range, and the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway, US 101.

Next weekend will be the Grand Opening!  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in partnership with the Pacific City Arts Association, will host a celebration of Wildlife and the Arts on Saturday, Oct.11.

The refuge will open at 9 a.m. Refuge staff will be around until 2:00 p.m. to answer questions and guide you through the area.  This is going to be exciting, there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10:45 a.m. Guided walks around the site will be from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Here is your chance to explore the new Pacific View Trail. 

Beginning at sunrise, the Lincoln City Chapter of the National Audubon Society will sponsor “The Big Sit,” a nationwide bird-a-thon, where the object is to tally as many bird species seen or heard during a 24-hour period while those recording sit in a 17-foot circle.

Here are some events that will take place next door to The Craftsman B&B at the Nestucca Valley Presbyterian Church (if their construction is done in time).  Most likely at The Bible Church next to the Post Office.

Beginning at 2 p.m., Roy Lowe, Project Leader for the Oregon Coast Refuge Complex, will present the “Natural History of Nestucca Bay Refuge." This visual presentation will include an historical background of the new refuge and why it is important to wildlife.

At 3 p.m. Jeni Foster, a lecturer on the Chautauqua circuit, will present “BirdSong: Birds as metaphors in American folk music,” a performance/lecture sponsored by PCAA. Foster will explore the symbolism of birds within the rich heritage of American folk music and illustrate how the dynamic language of metaphor is essential to poets and songwriters.

Numerous galleries, restaurants and businesses throughout Pacific City will be showcasing wildlife works of art. Enjoy touring all of them throughout the day beginning at 11 a.m.

The refuge is located on the west side of Highway 101, approximately six miles south of Pacific City. To visit the refuge, turn west off of Highway 101 onto Christensen Road and proceed a half mile to the parking lot. 

So make a weekend of it.  Stay with me, I don't think I'll ever get to go out to the Refuge, I don't think dogs, especially bird dogs are allowed.