Michael Sanchez, a 41-year-old middle school band director from Vancouver, Washington, was visiting Hug Point State Park on the Oregon coast in April when he took pictures of what turned out to be a blue rock thrush. It’s the first documented sighting of this rare songbird in North America.
Birding has been slow this week as shorebird migration ends and gull season winds down. A few new rarities were found this week.
WHITE-EYED VIREO
Michael Sanchez was just trying out his new camera when he captured something that sent shockwaves through the birding world. His photo of a small blue bird hopping around at Hug Point, near Cannon Beach, could be one of the first of this rare breeder from Europe and Asia in North America.
The vireo has yellow spectacles that set off the gray head, and two white wing bars. It spends much of the summer in dense second growth and wooded suburbs, gleaning insects with short hops or flights. Its song is a musical series of robin-like phrases that are endlessly repeated.
Other notable sightings this week include a female AMERICAN REDSTART that hung out at a second-story apartment ledge in inner SE Portland; a Marbled Godwit at Force Lake (Columbia and Clark County); and continuing AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVERs at Sturgeon Lake and Tualatin River NWR in Columbia, Washington, and Multnomah counties.
ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER
A second Blue Rock-Thrush was spotted on Southeast Farallon Island in San Francisco Co. a few days after the one reported from Hug Point in Clatsop County, but it’s too soon to tell whether this is the same bird. “As rare as these birds are, it’s not clear how a Blue Rock-Thrush could reach North America,” said Tim Janzen, secretary of the Oregon Bird Records Committee.
Other highlights of the week include a ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK at Whitaker Ponds in Tigard, a Barn Swallow at Vanport Wetlands, and an extra-early Purple-green Swallow at Irving Park. There’s also been a second Multnomah County RED KNOT at Rooster Rock and a Black-crowned Night Heron at 158th Marsh. The latter is unusual for early in the year in Portland. Irruptive finches continue to trickle in, with reports of Pine Grosbeak and Gray-crowned Rosy-finch at Noble Woods Park, and Bohemian Waxwings at Tualatin River NWR.
HARLEQUIN DUCK
A harlequin duck (Hytrionicus shotwelli) was found on a second story apartment ledge in SE Portland and reported by the homeowner. The enigmatic bird breeds along rocky coastal headlands and winters on fast-flowing mountain streams in Lane, Lincoln and Coos counties.
When it was first observed, the bird looked black from a distance but was clearly slate blue with white stripes and dots on its wings. Its erratically-moody behavior and its long absence from the coast have fueled speculation that it could be a new species in North America.
The harlequin’s intrepid journey across the Pacific was made all the more remarkable by reports that it also popped up on Southeast Farallon Island in San Francisco County, approximately 500 miles, as the crow flies, from its Oregon origin. This marks the second unofficial occurrence of this bird, which may have been blown off course during migration.
RED KNOT
The red knot (Kindling, 1827) is a large, chunky shorebird that breeds far north, usually above the Arctic Circle; its winter range includes a variety of coastal habitats worldwide. It has a rather anonymous look in its drab winter plumage, but is unmistakable in spring, when it wears robin-red on its chest.
The bird in question here is a subspecies, roselaari, that was found this summer on the mud flats of Hug Point State Park in Oregon. It was captured and banded using standard procedures that include a federal metal band on the tarsus or tibia, a clip of the distal portion of the 6th primary covert for DNA sampling, and measurements of the bill and head length.
The red knot is a rare but regular visitor to the Pacific Flyway, and its population in North America has declined significantly. It is listed as a conservation concern.
BLACK TERN
Black Terns are highly abundant in fall, often associated with large schools of larval and juvenile bay anchovy. This abundance suggests that they use the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGoM) as a significant migration staging area (Jepsen et al. 2021). Chemical contamination from agricultural and port activities, as well as oil and gas activity, can bioaccumulate in Black Terns and potentially impact their migratory behavior.
At ABC, all habitat conservation for migratory birds is based on sound scientific research. We need to know as much as possible about the breeding, stopover, and nonbreeding habitats that support species like Black Terns, whose population has dropped by more than 50% since 1966. ABC’s new effort to put geolocators on Black Terns will help sleuth out the reason for their decline and identify places where conservation action is needed.
BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON
This heron, which breeds in colonies, is found in coastal areas on five continents. It feeds on a wide variety of fresh and saltwater organisms, including fish, insects, clams, crabs, frogs, rodents, carrion, eggs, young birds, amphibians, squid, crustaceans and other aquatic vegetation. Its diet is primarily marine, but it also eats terrestrial and freshwater organisms. It is stocky and hunched, with short legs for a heron and a neck that, when extended, looks like it might exceed its body length.
The heron has been present at its favored spot at Sundial Road and Company Lake for several weeks now, and it appears to be beginning its annual migration to southern Oregon and the Great Lakes. It’s only the third eBird record for Multnomah County this fall and winter. Other rare sightings this week included a Loggerhead Shrike at its traditional location on Sundial and a Swainson’s Hawk in Scappoose.
SWAINSON’S HAWK
A hawk that rarely visits North America, a Swainson’s was spotted at Larch Mountain, a first Multnomah County record. It could have hopped across the ocean from northeastern Asia or Russia, or even snuck aboard a cargo ship, but it’s unclear why it’s in Oregon.
Michael Sanchez, a 41-year-old middle school band director from Vancouver, Washington, was using his new camera to take photos of waterfalls at Hug Point State Park when he stumbled upon an intriguing bird hopping around on the ground. Sanchez quickly realized that he had captured images of an extremely rare bird: a blue rock-thrush.
Other highlights included a continuing Loggerhead Shrike at Company Lake in Multnomah County and a Red-breasted Merganser at Vancouver Lake Lowlands in Columbia County. A Black-throated Finch also was spotted at the usual location near Larch Mountain.
AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER
A lone AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER was observed at Sturgeon Lake, a new Multnomah County record. The same general area saw the continuation of a Summer Tanager in SE Portland and a Rusty Blackbird at Arbor Lodge in North Portland, while a Marsh Wren didn’t sound right to a group at 158th marsh (the latest hotspot for shorebirds) and after recording and visual confirmation was refound at a feeder on Sauvie Island.
Another notable occurrence came at the coast as an Oregon 1st and potential ABA Area 1st record of Blue Rock-Thrush was photographed on the beach at Clatsop Co. This individual was of the westernmost philippensis subspecies, seemingly the most likely to reach North America. The bird was spotted foraging with Black Turnstones and Surfbirds on the mussel beds. The find was made by Michael Sanchez, a 41-year-old middle school band director who recently picked up photography as a hobby.
AMERICAN AVOCET
Avocets, like Stilts and Pipits, are known for their showy distraction displays. They sweep their long bills back and forth across the water surface to stir up insects, crustaceans, small fish, seeds, and other foods that they then scoop up in their bill.
Avocets feed in shallow pools along tidal marshes, lake shores, and other wetlands. They often join other shorebirds in large feeding flocks.
This elegant shorebird has a long, thin, upward-curved bill and long bluish legs. It is a very rare bird in Oregon. The female lays four eggs which are incubated by both parents. They nest on bare open ground in wet sand or gravel near bodies of water. They also sometimes nest on islands. This species is a summer resident east of the Cascade Mountains. It migrates in the winter to coastal areas.
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS
During the week of Memorial Day weekend, the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge saw a number of rare birds including BLACKPOLL WARBLER and CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER. A Lewis’s Woodpecker was also found at Powell Butte.
The big stunner, however, came when an ordinary talented photographer named Michael Sanchez photographed a Blue Rock-Thrush on the beach near Hug Point Falls in Clatsop County. This was a first for Oregon and the ABA area. It is particularly significant because the bird was of the western philippensis subspecies that seems most likely to reach North America.
It remains a mystery how the bird reached this spot, but it is intriguing to note that just a few days after the photo was made another ABA first occurred at the Farallon Islands off San Francisco, California. Could the two events be connected? It is possible that this bird escaped from captivity or hitched a ride on a ship.