[obol] Fw: kayaking the Willamette
- From: "Stephanie Hazen" <stephaniehazen17@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Oregon Birders Online" <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2013 23:02:31 -0700
On Sunday March 17, we kayaked from Wallace Marine Park in Salem to Wheatland
Ferry.
Along the way there were at least 7 great blue herons on Mc Lane Island sitting
on or standing around nests high in the cottonwood trees.
Several large flocks of scaup were flying upstream, and we chased at least one
large flock of common mergansers downstream for at least a mile. We passed one
small merganser flock resting on rocks that we did not flush.
A large number of Western Gulls loafed on exposed rocks at a bend in the river
at Darrow Rocks landing. We assumed these were the same gulls we had seen
less than a month ago at Willow Lake waste water treatment plant during another
birding outing there.
Turkey vultures and red tailed hawks could be seen soaring at several
locations.
Just north of Windsor Island Slough, a pair of bald eagles flew into the
Douglas fir tree that houses their nest at Willamette Mission State Park.
The eagles were chattering to each other as they glided over our boats.
We observed another large, eagle-sized nest in a cottonwood tree on Windsor
Island, less than a mile south of the known bald eagle nest. One double crested
cormorant flew overhead.
Tree swallows were in great numbers, catching mayflies emerging from the
Willamette.
Stephanie Hazen
Ray Temple
Salem
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