*SAS ANKENY NWR FIELD TRIP SUMMARY*
For today's Salem Audubon birding field trip at Ankeny NWR, Barbara, Fred,
Kay and I were joined by five other birders including a first timer. The
nine of us were met with comfortable weather conditions. The temperature
at the start was 52 degrees and it was 67 degrees at the finish. We made
five stops around the refuge including the Overlook, Pintail Marsh and
Eagle Marsh. It was a great birding day as we identified (saw or heard) 61
species.
*Most notable sightings:*
- We drove up to Eagle Marsh and it looked like the marsh was
devoid of activity. But once we got out and started looking for birds we
were justly rewarded. We saw seven *Hooded Mergansers* (six were young
ones), two *American Bitterns*, a *Green Heron* and a *Great Egret*. We
also saw several species of ducks including *Mallard*, *Northern
Pintail*, *Blue-winged
Teal*, *Cinnamon Teal* and *Ruddy Duck*.
- There was a little more activity at Pintail Marsh. Right away we
saw a *Bald Eagle* on a perched on the right side of the marsh. There was
also one *American White Pelican* on the marsh. Once we started walking
around the edge of the marsh to the west we saw a *Wilson’s Phalarope*
flying around. The activity continued to pick up as we saw a *Least
Sandpiper* and *Wilson’s Snipe*. Also there were four *Spotted Sandpipers*
on the marsh behind and to the right of Pintail Marsh. Once we got to the
east side of the marsh we heard a *Virginia Rail* (used its grunt call) and
a *Willow Flycatcher*.
- Next we went to the Rail Trail in search of the *Yellow-breasted Chat*.
On the way down the trail we heard our first *Brown Creeper* and *Warbling
Vireo*. Then low and behold the *Yellow-breasted Chat* began to chat. It
was on the left side of the trail in a far tree. We got a scope on it and
saw its bright yellow breast. The day was complete.
A complete list of today's birds follows. Our next SAS field trip will be
a SAS Shorts trip at Minto-Brown Island Park on *Tuesday, June 28th at 9:00
a.m.* Meet in parking lot #3. Then we have the full Minto-Brown Island
Park field trip on *Friday, July 8th at 7:00 a.m.* Meet in parking lot
#3. Please join us if you can.
Mike Unger
Keizer, OR
*Ankeny NWR Checklist Summary for June 21, 2016*
*Number of Species: 61*
*Checklists included in this summary: 5*
(1): Ankeny NWR--Eagle Marsh Overlook @ 6:50 AM
(2): Ankeny NWR-- Eagle Marsh @ 7:30 AM
(3): Second pullout on north side of Buena Vista Road @ 8:07 AM
(4): Ankeny NWR--Pintail Marsh @ 8:30 AM
(5): Ankeny NWR--Rail Trail @ 10:45 AM
45 Canada Goose -- (2),(4)
37 Mallard -- (2),(4)
3 Blue-winged Teal -- (2)
8 Cinnamon Teal -- (2),(4)
1 Northern Pintail -- (2)
2 Green-winged Teal -- (4)
7 Hooded Merganser -- (2)
3 Ruddy Duck -- (2)
10 Pied-billed Grebe -- (2)
1 American White Pelican -- (4)
2 American Bittern -- (2)
6 Great Blue Heron -- (1),(2),(4)
1 Great Egret -- (2)
1 Green Heron -- (2)
4 Turkey Vulture -- (4)
1 Northern Harrier -- (2)
1 Bald Eagle -- (4)
1 Red-tailed Hawk -- (4)
1 Virginia Rail -- (4)
8 Killdeer -- (2),(3),(4)
4 Spotted Sandpiper -- (4)
1 Least Sandpiper -- (4)
1 Wilson's Snipe -- (4)
1 Wilson's Phalarope -- (4)
8 Eurasian Collared-Dove -- (1),(4)
3 Mourning Dove -- (4)
2 Downy Woodpecker -- (4)
1 Northern Flicker -- (1)
2 Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) -- (4)
1 American Kestrel -- (1)
6 Western Wood-Pewee -- (4),(5)
1 Willow Flycatcher -- (4)
1 Warbling Vireo -- (5)
6 Western Scrub-Jay -- (1),(5)
2 American Crow -- (1)
20 Tree Swallow -- (4)
1 Violet-green Swallow -- (2)
1 Barn Swallow -- (1)
5 Cliff Swallow -- (1),(2),(3)
13 Black-capped Chickadee -- (1),(4)
2 Brown Creeper -- (5)
11 Marsh Wren -- (3),(4)
4 Bewick's Wren -- (1),(4),(5)
7 Swainson's Thrush -- (4),(5)
8 American Robin -- (4),(5)
59 European Starling -- (1),(4),(5)
8 Cedar Waxwing -- (2),(4)
1 Orange-crowned Warbler -- (4)
14 Common Yellowthroat -- (1),(2),(3),(4),(5)
19 Yellow Warbler -- (4),(5)
1 Wilson's Warbler -- (4)
1 Yellow-breasted Chat -- (5)
4 Savannah Sparrow -- (4)
15 Song Sparrow -- (2),(3),(4),(5)
6 Spotted Towhee -- (3),(4)
5 Black-headed Grosbeak -- (2),(3),(5)
54 Red-winged Blackbird -- (1),(2),(3),(4)
2 Western Meadowlark -- (1)
10 Brewer's Blackbird -- (4)
4 Brown-headed Cowbird -- (3),(4),(5)
1 Lesser Goldfinch -- (1)
7 American Goldfinch -- (2),(4)