Curry County

October 10, 2018 2 By Audrey

I’d survived a pelagic trip and a night in the dorms. I was five hours from home and ready for my next adventure. It was the perfect time to visit Curry County, one of the counties in Oregon I’d never previously birded in.

This is my favorite kind of birding. New county, all new birds, no schedule and completely on my own agenda. I could sit for hours looking for sparrows if I wanted to. And of course I did want to. There were reports of Clay-colored Sparrows in the area so I had good reason. I spent a lot of time at Arizona Beach State Recreation Site.

My favorite sighting started with a soft warbling song I heard through the trees and brush. I thought it might be a catbird, but eventually I caught sight of the little songster.

An American Dipper! There was only a tiny portion of stream flowing and it was right above it singing its little heart out. I may have melted.

Back at the pond across the highway there were two Blue-winged Teal best identified as they’re flying away.

And many unmistakable Black Phoebe.

I got a good look at this young Red-shouldered Hawk looking for a meal.

And on the way out I saw a HUGE flock of California Quail.

“Chicaaaaagoooooo!”

I saw a few sparrows.

Golden, golden, song, white-crowned, golden

But it took a many tries to get this blurry photo of a Chipping Sparrow.

To find shorebirds it was suggested I try out Floras Lake, especially at the end of the trail by Floras Creek through the grassy dunes.

It was beautiful. But unfortunately both times I visited winds were blowing 20+mph.

Reenactment at Cape Blanco State Park

Not ideal shorebirding conditions. So instead I drove farther south to Gold Beach “where the Pacific meets the Rogue” and where I met a few birds like this bright Yellow Warbler.

Still no shorebirds or terns I could find, but eventually I spotted a sparrow flock that looked interesting. Indeed.

Clay-colored Sparrow!

It looks similar to Chipping Sparrows but has pale lores and is more buffy. They’re an unusual treat to see in Oregon and I was thrilled to see this one.

Back in Port Orford I stayed at the Castaway By the Sea Motel that has thin walls but excellent views.

In the bay below I found Common Murre, a few gulls, and three types of loons that I’ve included all together in one convenient photo.

The largest-billed loon on far left is a Common Loon, the one in the middle with the chin strap is a Pacific Loon, and on far right with the upturned bill is a Red-throated Loon (not to scale). If only they would always swim together like this.

Such good times. I left Curry County having seen 70 species! On the way home I stopped at Cape Arago State Park in Coos County for Harlequin Ducks.

And I re-visited Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge for White-tailed Kites that were missed during the shorebird festival. They were very distant but there were two!

Bringing me to 101 species in Coos County. Not bad. And because there are a lot of places to stop in the four hours from before home, I decided to stick with the shorebird theme and visit the American Avocet at Finley National Wildlife Refuge.

If this isn’t a shorebird festival, I don’t know what is.

Tweets and chirps,

Audrey