*SAS ANKENY NWR FIELD TRIP SUMMARY*
For today's Salem Audubon birding field trip at Ankeny NWR, Fred, Kay and I
were joined by 9 other birders including four first-time attendees. The
weather was clear with blue skies and temperatures ranging from 63 degrees
to 75 degrees. We made five stops around the refuge including Eagle Marsh,
Pintail Marsh and a short walk down the Pintail- Egret Marsh Boardwalk.
Eagle Marsh’s water level is down with some mudflats so the shorebirds were
at Eagle Marsh. Pintail Marsh had quite a bit more water with very little
if any mudflats so the ducks and grebes were present there. We identified
(saw or heard) 46 species.
*Most notable sightings:*
· At Eagle Marsh we saw *Greater Yellowlegs* (9), *Least Sandpipers*
(6), *Long-billed
Dowitchers* (27) and *Killdeer* (13). We also saw an *American Bittern*
fly across the marsh;
· There were a lot of *Wood Ducks* (17), *Mallards* (30) and *Pied-billed
Grebes* (20) at Pintail Marsh. There was a *Wood Duck* family on the west
side of the marsh. We saw a *Blue-winged Teal* fly over the marsh;
· At the second pullout on Buena Vista Road before Eagle Marsh we saw
four *Spotted
Sandpipers*. The field is dried up now and on the left side of the field
there is a lot of sand. We saw a flock of *Long-billed Dowitchers* fly
over the field too;
· Raptor sightings included a *Red-tailed Hawk*, two adult *Bald Eagles*,
a male *Northern Harrier*, an *American Kestrel* and two *Turkey Vultures*;
· At the Pintail-Egret Marsh Boardwalk most of the group saw two *Green
Herons* (an adult and juvenile). We also saw a nest with an *American
Robin* feeding nestlings;
· At Eagle Marsh we saw a pair of *Yellow-breasted Chats* and a
pair of *Common
Yellowthroats*. Everyone got great looks at these birds as they came from
the bushes onto the gravel roadway numerous times. Later the chat started
vocalizing *i.e.*, giving its variable harsh notes and whistles.
A complete list of today's birds follows. Our next SAS field trip will be
a SAS-Shorts bird walk at *Minto-Brown Island Park* on *Wednesday, July
26th at 6:30 PM.* We will be keeping an eye out for Common Nighthawks.
Meet at Parking Lot #3. The Minto-Brown Island Park bird walk is at *7:00
AM on Sunday, August 6th*. Meet at Parking Lot #3 at the end of Minto
Island Road. Please join us if you can.
*Note: *One week from today is the *Shorebirds ID workshop* at ODFW
Classroom located at 4034 Fairview Industrial Dr. SE in Salem. The
workshop is on *Saturday, July 29th from 10:00 AM to 12 Noon*. There will
be a short bird walk after the workshop. The workshop cost is *only $10*
and includes a nice assortment of reference materials. Walk-ins are
welcome the day of the workshop.
Mike Unger
Keizer, OR
*Ankeny NWR Checklist Summary for July 22, 2017*
*Number of Species: 46*
Checklists included in this summary: 5
(1): Ankeny NWR—Ankeny Hill Overlook @ 6:52 AM
(2): Second Pullout on left along Buena Vista Rd. @ 7:27 AM
(3): Ankeny NWR--Eagle Marsh @ 7:42 AM
(4): Ankeny NWR--Pintail Marsh @ 8:34 AM
(5): Ankeny NWR--Pintail and Egret Marsh--Boardwalk and Blind @ 9:13 AM
18 Canada Goose -- (3)
17 Wood Duck -- (4)
30 Mallard -- (4)
1 Blue-winged Teal -- (4)
20 Pied-billed Grebe -- (4)
1 American Bittern -- (3)
3 Great Blue Heron -- (3),(4)
2 Green Heron -- (5)
2 Turkey Vulture -- (5)
2 Northern Harrier -- (1),(4)
2 Bald Eagle -- (4)
1 Red-tailed Hawk -- (1)
15 Killdeer -- (1),(3)
6 Least Sandpiper -- (3)
47 Long-billed Dowitcher -- (2),(3)
4 Spotted Sandpiper -- (2)
9 Greater Yellowlegs -- (3)
1 Eurasian Collared-Dove -- (1)
2 Mourning Dove -- (3)
1 Northern Flicker -- (4)
1 American Kestrel -- (1)
1 California Scrub-Jay -- (1)
3 American Crow -- (2),(3),(4)
22 Violet-green Swallow -- (3)
5 Barn Swallow -- (3)
1 Cliff Swallow -- (3)
5 Black-capped Chickadee -- (3),(4),(5)
8 Bushtit -- (5)
1 Brown Creeper -- (5)
2 Marsh Wren -- (4)
3 Bewick's Wren -- (1),(5)
3 Swainson's Thrush -- (5)
8 American Robin -- (1),(5)
3 European Starling -- (1)
3 Cedar Waxwing -- (3),(4)
6 Common Yellowthroat -- (1),(3),(4)
3 Yellow Warbler -- (5)
2 Yellow-breasted Chat -- (3)
1 Savannah Sparrow -- (2)
7 Song Sparrow -- (1),(3),(5)
4 Spotted Towhee -- (4),(5)
4 Red-winged Blackbird -- (3)
1 Brewer's Blackbird -- (3)
4 Brown-headed Cowbird -- (3)
8 American Goldfinch -- (1),(2),(3),(4)
1 House Sparrow -- (1)
