December 31, 2007
2007 Year in Review
We had a pretty good year on the Lower Columbia, full of unusual events, new discoveries and remarkable returns.
It's probably appropriate to start with the news that's generated the most buzz even though it comes at the end of the year and that would be the ARCTIC LOON which was found in Blind Slough, Brownsmead in early December. It's been so cooperative that nearly everyone who has come to see it has gone away happy. Other divers are also hanging out along the slough in higher numbers including COMMON, PACIFIC and RED-THROATED LOONS, WESTERN GREBES and lots of juvenile DOUBLED-CRESTED CORMORANTS pretending to be Yellow-billed Loons.
Way back in February and March the big news was along the beach. Remarkable numbers of RHINOCEROS AUKLETS and HORNED PUFFINS were washing up dead. No comprehensive explanation has been put forth, though poisoning and disease were more or less ruled out. At least 3 MOTTLED PETRELS and a THICK-BILLED MURRE were also found on beach surveys.
In May, word came through the scientific journals that the Saddle Mountain populations of COPE'S GIANT SALAMANDER were genetically distinct enough to constitute an evolutionary unit. The distribution of Cope's Salamanders in the Oregon Coast range is not well understood, so I undertook a mission to find them in places not previously reported. Lee Cain and I started along the South Fork of Quartz Creek where Ronald Nussbaum had found them in the early 1970's, but where none had been reported since. We found lots of them. Over the course of the summer and early fall I was able to confirm Cope's in at least 5 other streams including northeastern Tillamook County for a first county record.
David Bailey found a LAUGHING GULL on Del Rey Beach in August which was relocated about a week later at Seaside Cove. At least I'm pretty sure it was the same bird relocated.
In butterfly news this was another CALIFORNIA TORTOISESHELL year with obvious northward movements in the spring and a fairly strong southbound movement . The fall movement included some strong VARIEGATED MEADOWHAWK movements when the wind blew from the east. Odd-year GREAT ARCTICS were noted on Saddle Mountain, but wet, cool weather made finding them a bigger challenge than usual. A PERSIUS DUSKYWING was found in September in southeast Clatsop. September is unusually late for this species. The apparent freshness of this individual suggest it may have been from a rare 2nd brood.
A couple of storms in late November and early December made some remarkable changes to the local landscape. The December storm combined the energy of a North Pacific cyclone with two Japanese typhoons and blew for 36 hours straight with winds gusting to 120mph. Acres and acres of trees blew down, some pushed over at the roots, others snapped at the trunk. It's unclear how folks will respond to the changes, though I suspect mostly through "salvage", leaving way too many naked slopes and landslide/erosion hazards. The hazards of bare slope logging were made evident by the massive landsliding between Westport and Clatskanie, though forest managers are still in denial.
The Columbia Estuary Count was marked by a couple of notable returns. The BARROW'S GOLDENEYE that has spent 7 winters in front of the Astoria Dairy Queen was there again this season. More surprising was a RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER in the very same tree where one was seen last year. We are assuming it's the same individual.
Posted by mbalame at December 31, 2007 10:30 AM