2014 Annual Meeting
by Pamela Johnston, President
We had the Annual Meeting at Bandon, and couldn’t pass up the chance to have a pelagic trip in addition to the land trips that happen wherever we go. The weather wasn’t promising, but Tim Rodenkirk, Russ Namitz, and Tim Shelmerdine helped birders to find all the Jaegers, South Polar Skua, from 10 to 25 of each; Pink-footed, Buller’s, and one Flesh-footed Shearwater; about 60 Sabine’s Gull; Arctic, Elegant, Common, and Caspian Terns, and Fork-tailed Storm-petrel, Leach’s, and 4 Ashy Storm-petrel, the second Coos Co. record.
Thanks to Harv Schubothe, who arranged the location, Bandon Community Center, the catering, the registration, and brought together our trips and their leaders. Thanks to Eric Clough and Rick Foster of Cape Arago Audubon Society, who served drinks for the social hour, and our great speakers, Roy Lowe and Dan Gleason.
Roy Lowe’s talk, “Three Decades of Seabird Conservation on the Oregon Coast,” told the story of the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex, those offshore rocks you see along the coast. Each one that is separated from the land is a part of this system, and they are the nesting grounds of thousands of birds. Roy has been involved bird surveys for those three decades, and told a fascinating story of just what it takes to get out and census birds. Think wetsuits…
Dan Gleason’s topic was “It’s Not in My Field Guide.” He took that phrase in several directions, answering your questions and questioning your answers. His slides ranged between informative, hilarious, and challenging. He addressed bird-related myths (hitch-hiking hummingbirds) and misunderstandings (do Black Vultures smell carrion?), and in his words, “some of the adaptations and behaviors that aren't in the guides.”
We had excellent birding weather. With Tim Rodenkirk, Roy Lowe, and Harv Schubothe, we visited sites between Bandon Marsh NWR and the South Jetty of the Coquille, viewed the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex, and went to Ni-les’tun Tidal Marsh Restoration, where work is still ongoing but wildlife is taking hold. Russ Namitz lead trips to Curry Co; the famous blue silos on Floras Lake Loop Rd, Floras Lake and campground, the Floras Creek mouth, where Floras Lake Creek and Floras Creek converge to create New River, and the nearby ocean beach. The more exciting birds seen include Lapland Longspur, Say’s Phoebe, American Golden Plover, Elegant Tern, and Black Turnstone.
June 2015, come join us in the Roseburg area!