Greetings All,
Today, Shawneen Finnegan, Dan and Anne Heyerly and I attempted to chase down a
couple of Washington County rare birds (reported recently).
We started at Tualatin River NWR, where we did not see the Ross's Goose. I did
get a private report of a Ross's Goose in NW Clackamas County (diagnostic
photos included). The bird was along the section of Westfall Road that runs
east-west between Baker Road and Grahams Ferry Rd. According to the observer,
there is only one large open field on the south side of Westfall in this
stretch. This is where the Ross's Goose was seen. The general area is south of
Sherwood and WNW of Wilsonville. Given that this site is only a few miles
directly south of Tualatin River NWR , it seems likely that this could be the
same bird seen over the past couple days at the refuge.
At Tualatin River NWR we saw lots of ducks, but goose numbers were low, with
only 250 or so Cacklers and fewer than 100 Canadas. There was a single Greater
White-fronted Goose.
From there, we went to Jackson Bottoms Wetlands south of Hillsboro, where the
water was as high as I've ever seen it. We popped into the visitor's center
where we ran into another birder who had just scoured all the Ring-necked Duck
flocks and had come up empty on the adult male Tufted Duck reported there. We
did a quick scan ourselves and were satisfied that indeed it wasn't present.
That same birder gave us a call to let us know that he had found the bird in a
large flooded area along Minter Bridge Rd. (right by the bridge). This spot is
just south of the dump. I had never looped through Minter Bridge Road before
and had no idea that there was good access to this part of the Tualatin River
flood plain. There were about 360 Ring-necked Ducks in this flooded area and
the male Tufted Duck was with them. Paul Sullivan and Stefan Schlick arrived at
the Jackson Bottoms Visitor's Center so they joined us to go see the Tufted
Duck. To reach this area from Jackson Bottoms, go south on Hwy 219 turn left
(east) on Burkhalter Rd. then left again (north) on Minter Bridge Rd. After
about a quarter mile or so you cross a bridge over the the river, then look for
a pullout by a big yellow gate on the west side of the road. Beyond the gate is
private property. But the Tufted Duck could be seen easily from outside the
gate.
Our last stop was Fernhill Wetlands. Driving access to the parking area is
blocked by a barrier and water currently. We parked on Armory Rd. on the west
side of Fernill Road then walked along the edge of concrete wall by the
entrance gate and over some logs someone put down to get thru the water. Once
inside, the trails and bathrooms are open. We walked the loop around the main
pound and did not find much of interest. There are still two male Eurasian
Wigeon and we found a small flock of Dunlin. In the big flooded field across
the road (west side of Fernhill) there were about 150 swans. We sifted through
them and found four Trumpeters that Paul and Stefan had seen earlier in the
day. We also had a flyover singleton that was calling as it went over with a
group of Tundras.
On the way home I saw a Rough-legged Hawk just east of the south end of Milne
Road as we drove east on Zion Church Road. The bird was in the short grass
field on the north side of Zion Church in the stretch between Milne and Gordon
Roads.
Dave Irons
Portland, Oregon
If you want your voice to be heard, please write to or call your elected
officials,
because they won't know what you want unless you tell them.
