Hello all -
*SAS Minto-Brown Island Park Field Trip Report*
Barbara and Fred were joined by 10 other birdwatchers for the Salem
Audubon field trip today. We walked 2.75 miles with a lot of sunshine as
we wanted to replicate our earlier scouting trip. We did miss Mike today
as he has been experiencing asthma symptoms. Tim Johnson met us in the
parking lot and stayed on the lookout for Common Nighthawks. We walked on
across the arched bridge and took a jog to the right to the Purple Rabbit
Trail then onto the Green Turtle Trail and finished on the Blue Heron Trail
along the back of the oxbow. Temperature started at 64° and concluded with
84°. We had participants who joined us for the first time, including a
new Salem birder from Florida. The bird activity was good overall with a
total of 47 species identified (seen and/or heard).
A few birders got life birds with looks at a stunning male Lazuli Bunting
and more. The grassland walk with the flowering Nootka rose, twin berry,
mullein plants, thistle, fringed cup, lupine and daisy like flowers were
all soothing and comfortable in the climbing heat. The plantings of
2010-2013 are providing potential food and cover. We took one spur to the
Willamette River for Spotted Sandpiper with success. We were pleased how
birds were vocalizing. We saw two Wood Duck pairs plus one, but no
parents yet leading ducklings. Also at the oxbow platform nest, Osprey
were attending and seemed to be hunkered down in the nest as well as
perched on the side. This was a great summer walk for nesting bird
observations, hearing nesting birds call and the songs of both resident and
migrant species.
The highlights were as follows:
As noted above we saw a stunning male *Lazuli Bunting*;
· We observed our first *Belted Kingfisher* in a while;
· We three *Spotted Sandpipers*;
· Observed two *Common Nighthawks*;
· Saw two pairs of *Wood Ducks as well as one single one*;
· Observed five *Great Blue Herons*;
· We observed 15 *Swainson’s Thrush*;
· We saw three species of warblers including *Yellow* (9),
*Black-throated
Gray* (2) and *Common Yellowthroat* (4).
A complete list of today's birds follows. *Our next SAS field trip* will
be at Ankeny NWR on *Saturday, June 20th at 7:00 a.m. *Meet at the
Overlook off of Ankeny Hill Rd.
Barbara, Fred and Mike
*Minto-Brown Island Park Checklist Summary for June 7, 2015*
*Identified Species: 47*
5 Wood Duck
3 Mallard
2 Northern Pintail
3 duck sp. -- Flying away.
5 Great Blue Heron
2 Turkey Vulture
4 Osprey
2 Red-tailed Hawk
3 American Kestrel
4 Killdeer
3 Spotted Sandpiper
6 Mourning Dove
2 Common Nighthawk
3 Anna's Hummingbird
2 hummingbird sp.
1 Belted Kingfisher
1 Downy Woodpecker
5 Northern Flicker
2 Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)
11 Western Wood-Pewee
1 Willow Flycatcher
1 Warbling Vireo
2 Steller's Jay
4 Western Scrub-Jay (Coastal)
5 American Crow
2 Tree Swallow
3 Violet-green Swallow
1 Barn Swallow
2 Black-capped Chickadee
1 Red-breasted Nuthatch
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
7 Brown Creeper
7 Bewick's Wren
15 Swainson's Thrush
8 American Robin
18 European Starling
1 Cedar Waxwing
9 Yellow Warbler
2 Black-throated Gray Warbler
4 Common Yellowthroat
23 Spotted Towhee
12 Savannah Sparrow
9 Song Sparrow
6 White-crowned Sparrow
8 Black-headed Grosbeak
1 Lazuli Bunting
2 Brown-headed Cowbird
3 Purple Finch
1 House Finch
10 American Goldfinch
