Text: Birds of Thornton Creek, Lincoln County, Oregon

Birds of the Coast Range of Lincoln County, Oregon Vol. I: Birds of Thornton Creek

Material In Electronic File But Not in Print Version

++++=comment line that was not in print version
*page=page number in the original printed version (e.g., page 100=*100, so to search for p. 100, search for *100).
At the start of a Study Area section or a Table for a site, I have added the approximate latitude and longitude for the center, and the Oregon Natural Heritage Program Hexagon number.

CORRECTIONS TO ORIGINAL PRINTED VERSION:

1) For GOOSE SPP., November 1989 records were added to table, based on comments in the text

2) I have deleted all mentions of Volumes II and III after *4--see ++++ comments on *4.

Also see Faxon and Bayer (1993) Journal of Oregon Ornithology 1:71-80 that gives 1991 results for Thornton Creek.

Studies in Oregon Ornithology No. 8

Birds of the Coast Range of Lincoln County, Oregon Vol. I: Birds of Thornton Creek

Darrel Faxon and Range D. Bayer

1991

Gahmken Press, P.O. Box 1467, Newport, Oregon 97365-0112

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Gahmken Press is Looking Forward to the 21st Century!

Studies in Oregon Ornithology (SOO)

These monographs attempt to document the ornithology of Oregon in clear enough detail that they hopefully will still be useful a century or more from now. Correspondence concerning manuscripts for publication in this series should be addressed to Gahmken Press, P.O. Box 1467, Newport, Oregon 97365.

The SOO series and Gahmken Press are not affiliated with either the "Oregon Fund for Ornithology" (1988 Oregon Birds 14[4]:315) or Oregon Field Ornithologists.

COVER: Looking up at the crown of a Douglas-fir through a mixed-forest canopy along Thornton Creek Road on 9 September 1990. Upper left: red alder. Upper right: bigleaf maple.
++++ PHOTO not yet available. ++++++++++++

______________________________________________________________________

            Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Faxon, Darrel, 1948-

    Birds of the Coast Range of Lincoln County, Oregon / Darrel Faxon  
  and Range D. Bayer.
       p.   cm. -- (Studies in Oregon ornithology ; no. 8)
    Includes bibliographical references and index.
    Contents: v. 1.  Birds of Thornton Creek
    ISBN 0-939819-08-2 (pbk. : v. 1 : alk. paper)
    1. Birds--Oregon--Lincoln County.  2. Birds--Coast Ranges.  
  I. Bayer, Range D., 1947-   .  II. Title.  III. Series.
  QL683.O7F39  1991
  598.29795'33--dc20                                        91-26509
_____________________________________________________________________

*ABSTRACT

Faxon, Darrel and Range D. Bayer. 1991. Birds of the Coast Range of Lincoln County, Oregon. Vol. I: Birds of Thornton Creek. Studies in Oregon Ornithology No. 8.

Incidental to his outdoor activities such as farming, fern-picking, and horse logging, Darrel Faxon made 17.4 years of detailed observations at Thornton Creek during 1973-1990. He determined bird presence, not bird abundance, and made about 99,800 records, where a record is one bird species found during one day.

Depending upon the calendar month, Faxon averaged 19-24 observation days/month, 13-34 bird species/day, and 34-66 species/month. He noted an average of 101 species each year.

Faxon found 12 species only during casual observations prior to 1973 and 179 species in 1973-1990. He detected 47 waterbird species, so most birds he noted were terrestrial. 30% of waterbird species and 20% of terrestrial species were recorded in only one year, and just 16% of the waterbird species were seen in 16-18 years. However, Faxon noted the majority (50.4%) of terrestrial species in 16 or more years.

For each species, daily relative frequencies of occurrence for each month and average monthly relative frequencies of occurrence for the 1973-1981 and 1982-1990 periods are given. Further, arrival and departure dates are listed for each species for each year, if appropriate.

Faxon's records indicate that many migratory terrestrial species are often not present in the 10 days following their arrival or prior to their departure. Thus, determining arrival or departure dates may be very dependent upon daily observation effort. For example, if there are inadequate daily observations, then the actual arrival date may be missed, and it may be several days or a week before the species may re-appear. This inconsistency of presence after their "arrival" results in many species not being found on their "average" arrival date.

Although Faxon did not record a spring migration wave, he usually noted a major movement of passerines during August-September. In fall, his records also indicate that some raptors appeared to be migrating through.

In addition to his bird observations, Faxon recorded daily precipitation from 1975-1990, and monthly totals are given.

Keywords: Birds, Coast Range, Lincoln County, Migration, Precipitation, Terrestrial Birds, Waterbirds.

++++ start of p. *4 in SOO 8 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

BAYER'S PREFACE (Faxon chose not to write a Preface)

SCOPE.--I had originally planned to have the "Birds of Thornton Creek" as a chapter in a monograph including all records for the Coast Range of Lincoln County. However, the amount of material has steadily increased, and it is now to the point where I am having a very difficult time working with it. Accordingly, I decided to split the material into three volumes:

               Vol. I:  Birds of Thornton Creek,
               Vol. II:  Birds of Other Sites,
               Vol. III:  Site Comparisons and Species Accounts.  ++++
++++  Because the volume of material was too great, I abandoned  +++++
++++  Vols. II and III.  More Coast Range material was published in ++ 
++++  Journal of Oregon Ornithology Nos. 2 and 3--more is left +++++++
++++  to finish up. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

BACKGROUND.--Darrel's interest in birds has been markedly influenced by Ira Gabrielson and Stanley G. Jewett's 1940 "Birds of Oregon," and Darrel used bird common names from their book for his 1973-1975 field notes.

I sent the first draft of the "Birds of Thornton Creek" to Darrel in February 1983. Since that time there have been at least five revisions, and I had hoped that each of the 1989 and 1990 revisions would be the last because the calculations and recalculations necessary for each revision were not done in a computer database or spreadsheet, but were done laboriously with a hand calculator. I thank Darrel for his patience in waiting for this publication of his efforts.

DIVISION OF LABOR.--Darrel made the observations, recorded the daily species records, and tallied the number of species found each day. He also wrote the details for unconfirmed species, text indicated by his name, and some of the comments for individual species.

For each species, I compiled Darrel's monthly sheets into yearly summaries, calculated daily and monthly frequencies, and computed averages and statistical tests. I organized this volume, wrote text not noted as being by Darrel, contributed to writing the comments for each species, and took and prepared photographs that illustrate this Volume.

WARTS AND ALL APPROACH.--Authors of too many scientific publications, especially journals, have glossed over methodological problems dealing with bird censuses or bird lists. Although authors are in the best position to critically analyze their own methods for shortcomings in their papers, they rarely do so; probably because if they did their papers might not be published. Accordingly, readers of articles may mistakenly interpret results as characterizing bird distribution or seasonality, when, in fact, they may simply be artifacts of human methods.

In this monograph, shortcomings in Darrel's methodology are not glossed over but are examined in Chapter 3. I am not "picking on" Darrel, since all studies involving censuses and observations may include a substantial number of errors, whether the researchers are willing to admit it or not. I feel that this "warts and all" approach better allows the reader to interpret results and to recognize that it may not be determinable if apparent differences or changes in bird distribution or seasonality are real or may merely be illusions arising from gross or subtle variability in human observational methods and interpretation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.--I am grateful to Oregon State University, Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) for employment that facilitated the completion of this monograph. I also thank Janet Webster and Susan Gilmont of the HMSC Library for library assistance.
++++ start of p. *5 in SOO 8 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

                              *TABLE OF CONTENTS

Comments about SOO No. 8 Online Version

Title Page-------------------------------------------------------------  1
Copyright Page---------------------------------------------------------  2
Abstract---------------------------------------------------------------  3
Bayer's Preface--------------------------------------------------------  4

Chap. 1.  Conventions Used in this Volume------------------------------  7
Chap. 2.  Introduction and Thornton Creek Study Area-------------------  9
Chap. 3.  Methods and Shortcomings------------------------------------- 18
Chap. 4.  Discussion: General------------------------------------------ 26
Chap. 5.  Discussion: Migration---------------------------------------- 29
Chap. 6.  Species Accounts--------------------------------------------- 34

List of Tables---------------------------------------------------------  6
List of Figures--------------------------------------------------------  6
Appendix I.  Scientific Names for Common Names------------------------- 85

Literature Cited------------------------------------------------------- 87

Index------------------------------------------------------------------ 88


++++ start of p. *6 in SOO 8  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
                                LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1.  Monthly and annual total precipitation in 1975-1990 at 
     Thornton Creek---------------------------------------------------- 17

Table 3.1.  Number of observation days per month at Thornton Creek in 
     1973-1990--------------------------------------------------------- 22
Table 3.2.  Days in which no observations were made or in which five or 
     less bird species were recorded at Thornton Creek----------------- 22
Table 3.3.  Species recorded per day of observation at Thornton Creek 
     in 1973-1990------------------------------------------------------ 24
Table 3.4.  Number of species recorded each month and year at Thornton 
     Creek in 1973-1990------------------------------------------------ 25
Table 3.5.  Correlation of observation days/month, number of 
     species/month, and average number of species/day at Thornton Creek 
     in 1973-1990 ----------------------------------------------------- 25

Table 4.1.  Number and regularity of water and terrestrial birds at 
     Thornton Creek---------------------------------------------------- 28

Table 5.1.  Mean and range in yearly frequency of occurrence of 23 common 
     summer residents and four common winter residents at Thornton Creek 
     within 10 days of arrival or before departure--------------------- 32
Table 5.2.  Frequency of presence five days before or after the average 
     arrival date of 23 common summer residents and four common winter 
     residents at Thornton Creek--------------------------------------- 33



                               LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1.  Study Area at Thornton Creek------------------------------ 12
Figure 2.2.  View S/SW of the narrow Thornton Creek Valley floor along 
     the gravel Thornton Creek Road------------------------------------ 13
Figure 2.3.  Thornton Creek south of Faxon's Study Area along Thornton 
     Creek Road-------------------------------------------------------- 13
Figure 2.4.  View E/SE along a field and over Pond C towards Thornton 
     Creek in Faxon's Study Area--------------------------------------- 14
Figure 2.5.  View W/SW over Thornton Creek from Thornton Creek Road 
     just north of the Faxon's driveway-------------------------------- 14
Figure 2.6.  Field in northern portion of Faxon's Study Area----------- 15
Figure 2.7.  A different view of the same field as in Figure 2.6------- 15
Figure 2.8.  View through some of the young Douglas-fir forest at 
     Faxon's Study Area------------------------------------------------ 16
Figure 2.9.  View into ravine at Faxon's Study Area-------------------- 16

Figure 3.1.  Percentage of months each year whose observation days/month 
     or bird species/month was greater than or equal to the 1973-1990 
     monthly average at Thornton Creek--------------------------------- 21


++++ start of p. *7 in SOO 8  ++++
**********************************************************************
                 CHAP. 1.  CONVENTIONS USED IN THIS VOLUME
**********************************************************************
     1-A.  Numbering and Labeling of Tables, Figures, Sections, and 
               Subsections--------------------------------------------- 7
     1-B.  Other Conventions Used in This Monograph-------------------- 7
     1-C.  Explanation of Daily and Average Daily Frequencies---------- 7
     1-D.  Explanation of Average Monthly Frequency-------------------- 7
     1-E.  Expression of Daily Frequencies or Monthly Frequencies as 
               Number of Tenths---------------------------------------- 8
     1-F.  Guide to Finding Records for a Bird Species----------------- 8
**********************************************************************

1-A. NUMBERING AND LABELING OF TABLES, FIGURES, SECTIONS, AND SUBSECTIONS

Tables, Figures, sections, and subsections are labeled by the Chapter in which they occur and by their numerical order within a Chapter. Thus, Table 3.5 refers to the fifth Table in Chapter 3 and Figure 5.2 refers to the second figure in Chapter 5.

Sections and subsections are labeled similarly, except that the second item in their label is an uppercase letter referring to a particular section in a Chapter. For example, section 4-D refers to Chapter 4, section D; 5-E-2 refers to Chapter 5, section E, subsection 2.

**********************************************************************

1-B. OTHER CONVENTIONS USED IN THIS MONOGRAPH

The scientific names of plant and animals are given in Appendix I.

If times are listed, they are given by the 24 hour clock in Pacific Standard Time (e.g., 1300=1 PM PST).

Statistical significance is considered achieved if the two-tailed probability (P) is 0.10 or less, which is equivalent to a one-tailed probability of 0.05 or less.

**********************************************************************

1-C. EXPLANATION OF DAILY AND AVERAGE DAILY FREQUENCIES

1-C-1. DEFINITION OF DAILY FREQUENCY

Frequencies of occurrence have been used to express bird commonness since before Kendeigh (1944). In recent years, frequencies have been used by researchers working with bird lists (e.g., Temple and Cary 1987a,b).

In this Volume, Daily Frequencies of occurrence (i.e., the number of days that a species was recorded in a month divided by the total number of observation days that month [section 6-A]) were calculated in number of tenths (see section 1-E-1), if there were at least eight days of monthly observations.

Note that this criterion for calculating a Daily Frequency is arbitrary. If the reader wishes to have more stringent criteria (e.g., a minimum of 10 days), the information is given to determine which months to exclude (Table 3.1), but if the reader wishes to be less stringent, the data are not given.

1-C-2. VARIABILITY IN DAILY FREQUENCY

One may suppose that Daily Frequencies should either be all (10 tenths) or none (0 tenths). However, that was often not the case. Reasons for this variability include:

   1) a species may have emigrated or immigrated during the month;
   2) a species had a home range larger than the observation site, so it 
     may have been present in the vicinity but not at the observation site 
     during an observation;
   3) a species varied in detectability during a month, so that the species 
     may have been present but was so inconspicuous that it was overlooked;
   4) the observer's effort was variable, so that not all species present 
     were recorded;
   5) the observer's effort was sometimes selective, so that more effort 
     was spent searching for and recording rare species than common 
     species.

1-C-3. UTILITY OF DAILY FREQUENCY

Frequencies can be used to detect changes in occurrence or distribution (e.g., Temple and Cary 1987a,b). Frequencies have also been used as indices of abundance to detect changes in bird numbers.

In this Volume, Daily Frequencies are important because they can be compared between years to see if there is any change.

1-C-4. AVERAGE DAILY FREQUENCY

Average Daily Frequency for each calendar month (e.g., January) is calculated for the 1973-1990 period by summing the Daily Frequencies for all months (e.g., all January's) with eight or more observation days and dividing by the number of these months (also see section 6-A).

Average Daily Frequency is useful in giving a rough overall guide to a species' Daily Frequency.

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1-D. EXPLANATION OF AVERAGE MONTHLY FREQUENCY

1-D-1. INTRODUCTION

Average Monthly Frequency is calculated in number of tenths (see section 1-E-1) by dividing the number of years that a species was recorded in a particular calendar month by the total number of years with observations for that calendar month. For example, if a species was observed in the January's of 1974-1977, but not in the January's of 1978- 1990, then the species' average Monthly Frequency for January would be 4/17=2 tenths (when rounded to the nearest tenth, see section 1-E-1).

In this Volume, average Monthly Frequencies are calculated for two intervals: 1973-1981 and 1982-1990. This was done to see if frequencies differed between the first and last halves of Faxon's observations.

++++ start of p. *8 in SOO 8 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1-D-2. PROBLEMS WITH AVERAGE MONTHLY FREQUENCIES

One problem with average Monthly Frequencies is that they can be in error. The most common error is probably that the calculated Monthly Frequency may underestimate the species' true frequency of occurrence because a species was sometimes missed. This error can be reduced by not interpreting small differences in the number of tenths (e.g., three or less) as being a significant difference between months.

Another type of error arises from misidentification, in which a species is reported when it is not present. This could lead to an average Monthly Frequency greater than what it actually is.

**********************************************************************

1-E. EXPRESSION OF DAILY FREQUENCIES OR MONTHLY FREQUENCIES AS NUMBER OF TENTHS

1-E-1. NUMBER OF TENTHS (1-10)

Most everyone is familiar with percentages (parts per hundred), but percentages may be inappropriate in determining frequencies of occurrence because percentages imply a greater accuracy than there may be.

In this Volume, "perdecages" (parts per ten) are used for frequencies because "perdecage" indicates less accuracy than a percentage. This is because a "perdecage" has one less statistically significant figure. Since "perdecage" is apparently not a word, this concept is referred to as "number of tenths" in this Volume. Since the number of tenths has been rounded-off to the nearest tenth, the result is the familiar 0-10 scale.

1-E-2. .=0 TENTHS

Instead of using a zero (0) to represent zero tenths, a period (.) is used. This is done because a "." makes a month when a species was absent stand out visually much better than a "0" because a "0" is not as readily distinguishable from other numbers (1-10).

Examples of increased visual readability of "." compared to "0" for identical MONTHLY FREQ data are:

MONTHLY FREQ 5 5 6 2 4 . . . 2 3 4 5 MONTHLY FREQ 8 7 5 . . . . . . 2 . 6 MONTHLY FREQ 10 9 8 . 1 . . . 3 5 7 9 MONTHLY FREQ 5 5 6 2 4 0 0 0 2 3 4 5 MONTHLY FREQ 8 7 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 6 MONTHLY FREQ 10 9 8 0 1 0 0 0 3 5 7 9

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1-F. GUIDE TO FINDING RECORDS FOR A BIRD SPECIES

If the reader wants to find out information about a particular bird species or taxon, the reader should look in the Index.

++++ start of p. *9 in SOO 8  ++++
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CHAP. 2. INTRODUCTION AND THORNTON CREEK STUDY AREA

**********************************************************************
      2-A.  Introduction------------------------------------------------ 9
      2-B.  Overview of Study Area-------------------------------------- 9
      2-C.  History of Thornton Creek Region----------------------------10
      2-D.  Weather of Thornton Creek-----------------------------------10
      2-E.  Vegetation of Thornton Creek Region-------------------------10
      2-F.  Figures and Table-------------------------------------------12
**********************************************************************

2-A. INTRODUCTION by Darrel Faxon

2-A-1. OPENING

I have been birding the Thornton Creek area for about 37 years. That is both good and bad. It is good in the respect that I have developed an in-depth understanding of this particular locality, but it is bad because 37 years ago I was only five years old, and thus much of my earlier data were either incorrect, incomplete, or undocumented.

It is only in the last 18 years that I have done a day by day tally of the birds in this area, so, technically speaking, all the material prior to 1973 must be considered as subjective, rather than objective data. It also must be recognized that even now, my birding skills are far from perfect, and thus there have been some oversights in the data included here. For example, Hammond's Flycatchers were not recorded here at all prior to 1977, although I now know them to be easily the second-most common Empidonax found here (section 6-B-100). The reason for this is simple. Hammond's Flycatchers are a canopy species found in Douglas-fir forests, and thus difficult, if not almost impossible to see, much less study. Add to that the notorious reputation the Empidonax have for being difficult to identify, and you begin to understand the nature of the problem. It simply was not until I learned to distinguish their call from that of the Pacific- slope Flycatcher (section 6-B-102) that I even detected the presence of this common bird. This was a dumb mistake, admittedly, but it serves as an illustration of both my development and of the shortfalls of my research.

A similar situation has occurred in identifying geese overflying Thornton Creek during spring and fall migrations. Many flights have been of high-flying birds that were assumed to be Canada Geese. Recent information that has come to light through conversations with other birders and my observations in October 1990 (section 6-B-8) indicates that many of these geese may be White-fronts.

2-A-2. CONCLUDING REMARKS

When one sits down to write of the birds of Thornton Creek, one shortly realizes that it is not satisfactory to write only about the birds themselves, for they are influenced by a variety of factors that contribute to their existence in the area. It becomes necessary, then, to give some treatment to those factors that are influential in the distribution of the birds of this locality. These factors include the general topography of the area, the weather conditions, the type of vegetation present, and, finally, the interrelationships of the different species of birds themselves. All of these factors greatly influence the ever-changing bird life of the area. If there is one thing that has come from my years of study of the birds of Thornton Creek, it is that this change is a continual process, and it is just this change and the circumstances surrounding it that I hope to shed some light on.In the end, I may raise more questions than I will give answers, but perhaps these questions will spur others to seek to fill in the gaps by doing similar research in their own localities.

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2-B. OVERVIEW OF STUDY AREA

2-B-1. STUDY AREA TABULATION

++++  Approx. Center of Site: 44 40.5' N, 123 49.6' W             ++++++++
++++  Oregon Natural Heritage Program Hexagon: 27,176             ++++++++
Location: T10S, R9W, Sections 20, 29, & 30 
Area Studied: ?                            
Habitat(s): Mix                            
Elevation: 50-800 ft (15-244 m)            
Minimum Distance to Coastline: 10.9 mi (17.7 km).

The Location lists the Township (T), Range (R), and Sections of the Thornton Creek study area.

The extent of the Area Studied each day was variable and wasn't measured, so it is considered unknown (?).

The Habitats where birds were recorded at Thornton Creek were a mixture of several habitats including creek/riparian, ponds, fields, coniferous forest, and deciduous forest.

The Elevation in feet (ft) and meters (m) above sea level is based on estimations of the elevation of the site from a topographical map. Because the elevation studied at Thornton Creek was not constant, the Elevation is given as an estimated minimum-maximum.

Distance to Coastline is the distance in miles (mi) and kilometers (km) of the site from the coastline. It was estimated as the distance westward from the site to the coastline from a topographic map. Since the Thornton Creek study site was large and not well-defined (Fig. 2.1), only a minimum Distance to Coastline is listed.

2-B-2. OTHER DESCRIPTIONS OF STUDY AREA

All observations were at the approximately 640 acre (259 ha) Faxon Farm (Figs. 2.1-2.9), which is in the Thornton and Haxel Creek Valleys. Note that these creeks are small (e.g., Fig. 2.3), and the valleys are narrower than the Siletz River Valley. Differences in valley width, and, subsequently, in the amount of flat land along the valley floor may account for some of the differences in the bird communities between Thornton Creek and wider river valleys.

The Faxon Farm is about 5.5 mi (8.9 km) northeast of Toledo, Oregon. The Thornton Creek Valley runs north and south (Fig. 2.1) and is part of the Yaquina River drainage system. The Thornton Creek mouth is at Yaquina River Mile 29 and is about 5 mi [8 km) upstream of the the head of tide, upstream of Elk City. The elevation of lower Thornton Creek is about 50-60 ft (15-18 m) above sea level with the ridges near the study area about 500-900 ft (152-274 m) high. About 100 acres (40 ha) of the Faxon Farm are pastures (Figs. 2.5-2.7) with two fields in excess of 20 acres (8 ha); the rest of the pasture land is divided about equally among seven other fields.

++++ start of p. *10 in SOO 8 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Most of the study area is not ridge tops or cleared fields but is brush, 25-40 yr old red alder, and a coniferous forest that is mostly 40-60 yr old. There is more alder forest than coniferous forest. The conifers are mainly Douglas-fir with some western hemlock. The understory to the conifers is primarily sword fern while the understory to the alder is usually salmonberry. The areas that are not covered by conifers or alders or are not cleared are mainly salal and salmonberry, although some slopes are predominately bigleaf maple.

2-B-3. PONDS

The four ponds (A-D in Fig. 2.1) are rather small, each less than 1 acre (0.4 ha). Three of the ponds (A-C) are in the lower portion of the Study Area while one (D) is in the upper portion (Fig. 2.1). All except D were dug by hand. Ponds A-C are all good birding areas, especially Pond C (Fig. 2.4); but Pond D is poor for birding.

Pond A was made 30 or more years ago and is about 6 ft (1.8 m) deep; it is in a canyon with trees on all sides. Pond B was made in about 1969 and is 3 ft or less (less than 1 m) deep; this Pond has been filling in and is bordered by pasture on three sides and alders on the fourth side. In 1983, Pond B was enlarged to nearly twice its original size and depth. Pond C (Fig. 2.4) was dug in about 1976 or 1977 in a marsh area; it averages about 4.5 ft (1.4 m) deep but is up to 8 ft (2.4 m) deep and is surrounded by pastureland. In the years since Pond C was put in, 12 new bird species showed up at Thornton Creek that were probably directly attributable to this pond. Pond D is in a sedge marsh that in winter can be 3 ft (0.9 m) deep but is dry in summer; in winter, Mallards and Hooded Mergansers can be seen at this pond.

2-B-4. MARSHES

Freshwater marsh is a habitat almost totally lacking in the Thornton Creek Valley, so marsh birds are rare. Thus, at Thornton Creek, Red-winged Blackbirds are only spring stragglers (section 6-B-180), there are only a few records of Virginia Rails (section 6-B-45), and there is only one record of Marsh Wrens (section 6-B-127).

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2-C. HISTORY OF THORNTON CREEK REGION by Darrel Faxon

To even begin to give a fair treatment to the birds of Thornton Creek, one must recognize that nearly all of western Oregon's Coast Range may once have been a virgin forest of Douglas-fir, much of it old-growth. The Thornton Creek Valley itself was a part of the great burn of the mid-1800's from which the nearby site of Burnt Woods got its name. The Thornton Creek Valley lies right in the heart of some of the best timber producing area that was burned. Even today, there are still many standing snags, remnants of the vast forest that was once located here.

When one looks at the present day forest located in the Thornton Creek Valley, much of it deciduous, one must realize that much of the bird life present here was, in all likelihood, not present in this particular location prior to the coming of white man and his logging machines. This is not to suggest that the original overall range of present-day species did not include western Oregon, but it does suggest that many of the species which are now here may be treated as peripheral species in this particular locality (e.g., Western Wood-Pewee, Willow Flycatcher, House Wren, Yellow and MacGillivray's warblers, and Chipping Sparrow). That is, they may be species on the edge of their normal habitat range, and thus can be expected to undergo the same cycles of expansion and contraction as those undergone by species on the edge of their normal range.

In the mid-1970's, Publishers Paper, a large timber company, bought up thousands of acres of land in the Oregon Coast Range. Much of this acreage has been slashed, sprayed, and burned and is being managed to support Douglas-fir forests. None of this has occurred within the direct confines of the Thornton Creek Valley, but it has been done on huge tracts of land on all sides of the Valley. These practices may not ultimately be harmful to many of the common species, but it most likely is devastating to many of the peripheral breeders in this area because it reduces their chances for finding suitable deciduous habitat and the remaining habitat is now "islands" rather than large tracts of suitable continuous habitat as it once was. One cannot totally condemn the practices of private enterprise, even though those practices may, for the present, be disastrous for some species. This really is only intended to point out that peripheral species are, after all, peripheral species, and thus more subject to changes in an environment where they are not truly native.

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2-D. WEATHER OF THORNTON CREEK by Darrel Faxon

The Thornton Creek Valley, being stacked up against the hills, may be much wetter than areas to the west. It annually receives about 20 in (51 cm) more precipitation than Newport and Toledo, and in 1975-1990, the average annual precipitation was 90.47 in (229.79 cm)(Table 2.1). The average monthly precipitation during this period averaged over 10 in (25.4 cm) from November through March (Table 2.1).

Rainfall can sometimes be erratic during the summer. For example, on 7 June 1985, I recorded 5.31 in (13.49 cm); this was the second highest 24 hour total of rain that I ever recorded. However, snow is rare at Thornton Creek (Table 2.1).

The further east one goes, the more one begins to see the influence of the Willamette Valley on climate. Often in summer, the summit of Cline Hill at the east end of the Yaquina watershed and at the divide of the Coast Range is the meeting place of hot Willamette Valley air and cool marine air moving in from the coast. It is often possible to actually feel a difference in temperature within just a few hundred feet of the summit.

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2-E. VEGETATION OF THORNTON CREEK REGION by Darrel Faxon

If one began a trip east from the Pacific Ocean at Newport, one would discover first a narrow zone of lodgepole pine along the outer coast and then a coniferous forest comprised mostly of Sitka spruce. Spruce is the dominant tree for the first several miles inland but gradually begins to give way to Douglas-fir as one continues eastward.

++++ start of p. *11 in SOO 8 ++++

By the time the Thornton Creek Valley is reached, spruce has become decidedly uncommon. It is much more common in the Sam's Creek Valley (the next valley to the west), and nearly nonexistent in the Hayes Creek Valley, the next valley to the east (Fig. 2.1). Thus, the Thornton Creek Valley lies just east of the main body of forest that we might call the spruce belt.

The further east one goes from the coast, the more the underbrush begins to thin out and become like that of the Willamette Valley. The understory of ground cover under the coniferous forests at Thornton Creek is primarily sword fern and under red alder is usually salmonberry, but the understory is more likely to be salal just a couple of valleys to the east, By the time one reaches the top of Cline Hill to the east, the understory is much thinner, and more likely to be bracken fern.

Much of the Thornton Creek area is currently covered with solid stands of red alder 25-40 years old. Most of this alder sprang up following the logging of second-growth Douglas-fir forest in the 1940's and 50's. For a fairly short period of time following the fir forest, a lot of the land was cutover land, consisting of small cleared areas, slash, and brushpiles that was interspersed with bracken fern and trailing blackberry. This change in vegetation and cover has markedly affected the abundance of some species. For example, during a short period about 30-40 years ago, following the fir forest, California Quail (section 6-B-43) were abundant. Now, since the land has come back mainly to trees and the cleared areas have been made into more or less improved pasture, these quail have all but disappeared.

With respect to some other bird distributions specific to certain types of vegetation, Varied Thrushes are known to breed in the spruce belt, but I have few summer records of them here (section 6-B-136). By the same token, Blue Grouse (section 6-B-41) and Western Meadowlarks (section 6-B-181) are more common directly to the east; the Blue Grouse on the higher elevation ridges and the meadowlarks in the open country near Nashville where they have reportedly bred. American Kestrels, too, are found in the open country to the east around Nashville and to the west near some of the larger tideflats that have been converted into meadows, but kestrels are rare stragglers at Thornton Creek (section 6-B-38).

In summary, the Thornton Creek Valley is a somewhat unique ecological habitat for Lincoln County. It is not in the spruce belt as are valleys to the west, but neither is it influenced as heavily by the Willamette Valley as are valleys to the east. This contributes to a bird life which is somewhat different from any of the surrounding areas.

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2-F. FIGURES AND TABLE

FIGURE 2.1. Study Area (dotted) at Thornton Creek. A-D=Ponds, House=Faxon's House, 19-21, 28-30, and 31-33 are circled because they are Sections in Township 10S, Range 9W. Note that Section lines do not always form perfect squares.
s8-12.gif. Map. 11K

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FIGURE 2.2. View S/SW of the narrow Thornton Creek Valley floor along the gravel Thornton Creek Road. This photograph is just south of Faxon's Study Area. Note the number of trees and shrubs along the Valley floor.

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FIGURE 2.3. Thornton Creek (left of three red alder trees in middle of photo) south of Faxon's Study Area along Thornton Creek Road. There was little streamflow, and the Creek could be stepped across when this picture was taken on 9 September 1990. Note the abundance of vegetation, including red alder, along the stream banks.