Nature Notes From Crater Lake
Volume 17, 1951
Unusual Bird Records
By Charles F. Yocom, Ranger-Naturalist
POORWILL (Phalaenoptilus
nuttalli)
On September 6, 1951, Dr. Donald C.
Lowrie and I found a dead poorwill on the rim road on Dutton Ridge one
mile east of Sun Notch at an elevation of 7250 feet. Apparently this
bird had been killed by a car sometime during the night, for it was
quite fresh at 8:30 A.M. when we found it. The skin was damaged beyond
salvation, but the wings and tail were saved and placed in the
study-skin collection at park headquarters. The blackish area in the
middle of the crown, the back of the neck extensively marked with black,
and a dull blackish-gray back suggests that this bird was a dusky
poorwill (Phalaenoptilus nuttalli californicus). So far as I
could learn, Dr. Donald S. Farner collected the only specimen ever
previously reported in the park.
LEWIS WOODPECKER
(Asyndesmus lewis)
The Lewis woodpecker migrates through
the park each fall. The following observations record the start of their
fall migration for 1951: September 2, one juvenile at 7700 feet of
elevation of Llao Rock; September 6, two adults at 7430 feet near
Reflection Point, 20 within ten minutes at the same elevation near
Sentinel Point, and four near 8000 feet at the base of Mt. Scott.
AMERICAN PIPIT
(Anthus spinoletta rubescens)
Pipits pass through the park on their
way south. I observed them at higher elevations near the rim as follows:
on September 2, three at 8046 feet in a sedge meadow on Llao Rock; on
September 6, one at 8938 feet on top of Mt. Scott and six on the pumice
slide on the west slope of this mountain. On September 3 three
individuals, perhaps the same I had seen the day before, were seen on
the very summit of Llao Rock by Dr. R. Whitaker and Don Holloway of
Washington State College, naturalist assistant Roy Lee Rogers, and the
park naturalist.
CEDAR WAXWING
(Bombycilla cedrorum)
Few cedar waxwings have been observed
in the park. I saw a single bird on the rim near Sentinel Point on
August 12.
BREWER BLACKBIRD
(Euphagus cyanocephalus)
Records for this bird within the park
are rare although they are common near Fort Klamath. On September 6, Dr.
Donald C. Lowrie and I saw two. One was seen at 8:30 A.M. hunting
insects among the Newberry knotweeds one-half mile southeast of Sentinel
Point. Another was seen at 1:30 P.M. on the pavement west of the
Administration Building. A bird was seen at 7:00 P.M. in the same
general area, but this was probably the same individual seen at noon.
SAVANNAH SPARROW
(Passerculus sandwichensis)
I saw three savannah sparrows on the
grassy summit of Llao Rock on September 2. This may be first record of
these field-loving birds on this lofty summit, although the park
naturalist informs me that he has seen them at lower elevations, namely
in Copeland Meadows.
