*SAS Minto-Brown Island Park Bird Walk Report*
Barbara, Fred and I were joined by nine (9) other birders for our Salem
Audubon bird walk today. We walked about 3.2 miles on trails to the west
of Parking Lot #3 (mostly the Blue Heron Loop). The weather was not bad
for a February winter day. It was mostly cloudy with some brief sunbreaks
but at times the wind was bad. It was 37 degrees at the start and 44
degrees when we finished at 12 noon. The bird activity was fair as noted
below. We identified (seen and/or heard) a total of 34 species.
The highlights were as follows:
· We saw a single *Pileated Woodpecker *fly by just north of the
parking lot. It gave a couple of short “wuk” calls and flew off to the
east. It was a sparse woodpecker day as the only other woodpecker was
one *Northern
Flicker* that we heard;
· Most of us got a very good look at a *Hermit Thrush*;
· There were a few flocks of chickadees and kinglets around. We
saw 19 *Golden-crowned Kinglets *including numerous kinglets that were
showing their bright crown patch. There were a few kinglets on the
sidewalk just north of the bridge that appeared to be malnourished. They
were listless and looking for food. We could walk right up to them and
they barely moved away;
· We heard both a *White-breasted* and a *Red-breasted Nuthatch*;
· As far as ducks go we had *Mallards*, *American Wigeons*,
*Bufflehead* and *Wood Ducks*;
· The wrens were somewhat active as we observed three *Pacific
Wrens* and five *Bewick’s Wrens*. At one point we were able to get great
looks at a *Pacific Wren.*
· Along Homestead Road we saw four (4) *Tree Swallows* flying around
· We saw observed five (5) *Brown Creepers *and were able to see
several of them on tree trunks; and
· We did not observe any warblers or *Chestnut-backed Chickadees.*
A complete list of today's birds follows. *Our next SAS field trip *is
Ridgefield NWR on *Sunday, February 12th at 8:00 AM*. Meet in the parking
lot at 25th and Mission St next to Jack in the Box. There is a *Feb.
16-20th trip* to Winter Wings Festival in Klamath Falls. Call Barbara
Dolan for information. Barbara also leads a SAS SHORT Minto-Brown
walk on *Feb.
23 9:00-10:30 AM*. Chapter Night is on *Thursday, Feb 23*, doors open 6:30
PM at Loucks Auditorium, Salem Public Library. Steve Shunk presents on
Woodpeckers and there is a chance to see his new book! A Raptor I.D.
workshop is presented by Mike Unger at ODFW in Salem, on Sat. Feb 25th,
10:00 AM-12:00 PM - cost $10.00. Ankeny NWR on *Sunday, February 26th at
8:00 a.m. *Meet at the Overlook off Ankeny Hill Road. Please join us if
you can. A day trip to Neskowin led by Ken Chamberlain, OBA Field Trip
Coordinator on Feb 28th. Meet at 25th and Mission at Jack-in the Box
Parking at 7:00 AM, to then carpool and leave for this Coastal community
walk, including some beach. Contact Barbara Dolan for details and sign up
at 971-338-8817 <(971)%20338-8817> or email at barbarabird.dolan@xxxxxxxxx.
*Note: Our field trips and walks have no fee.*
Mike Unger
Keizer, OR
*Minto-Brown Island Park Checklist Summary for February 2, 2017*
*Identified Species: 34*
2575 Cackling Goose
4 Canada Goose
7 Canada Goose (moffitti/maxima)
2 Wood Duck
20 American Wigeon
36 Mallard
2 Bufflehead
2 Pied-billed Grebe
1 Double-crested Cormorant
5 Great Blue Heron
2 Northern Harrier
2 Red-tailed Hawk
1 gull sp.
1 Anna's Hummingbird
1 Northern Flicker
1 Pileated Woodpecker
4 Steller's Jay
4 California Scrub-Jay
10 American Crow
4 Tree Swallow
14 Black-capped Chickadee
20 Bushtit
1 Red-breasted Nuthatch
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
5 Brown Creeper
3 Pacific Wren
5 Bewick's Wren
19 Golden-crowned Kinglet
4 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 Hermit Thrush
20 American Robin
3 European Starling
2 Fox Sparrow (Sooty)
25 Golden-crowned Sparrow
5 Song Sparrow
2 Spotted Towhee
2 passerine sp.
