*SAS Ankeny Scouting Trip Report*
Hello all -
Barbara, Fred and I scouted Ankeny NWR in preparation for our Salem Audubon
birding field trip on *Sunday, January 17th at 8:00 a.m.* The three of us
covered seven locations around the refuge. The weather was cold but the
rain held off for the most part (37 degrees (wind chill 32 degrees) at the
start and 42 degrees at the end). At the very end of the trip we even got
a little sunshine breaking through the clouds. During the scouting trip we
identified 47 species.
Most notable identifications:
· There were 100 *Dusky Canada Geese* in the field near the willow tree;
· We saw 10 *Tundra Swans* at Eagle Marsh and 14 swans in the field near
the willow tree. The 14 swans were so far away we could not identify
whether they were *Tundra or Trumpeter Swans*. Although the default swan
is the Tundra Swan;
· Some of us saw a *Green Heron* in the ditch near Eagle Marsh;
· A *Rough-legged Hawk *was in a tree off of Ankeny Hill Road near the
stand of trees where we normally see the Rough-legged Hawk;
· We saw 50 *Wilson’s Snipe* in Peregrine Marsh;
· Saw two *Purple Finches* in a tree across from Pintail Marsh that flew
down into the grasses. We went to examine these birds closer because the
facial pattern was so strong on one of them we thought it could be a Lark
Sparrow;
· We saw 700 *Dunlin* flying around above the field near the willow
tree. There were two different groups of Dunlin with one group of 500 and
the other 200; and
· The *Peregrine Falcon* and immature *Bald Eagle* were at Pintail Marsh
but we did not see the reported *Canvasback*.
A complete list of today's birds follows. Our next SAS field trip will be
at Ankeny NWR on *Sunday, January 17th at 8:00 a.m.* Meet at the Overlook
off of Ankeny Hill Road. The next SAS Shorts is at *Cascades Gateway Park*
on *January 26, 2016* at *9:00 a.m.* Please join us if you can.
Mike Unger
Keizer, OR
*Checklist Summary for January 11, 2016*
Number of Checklists: 7
Number of Species: 47
*Checklists included in this summary:*
(1): Ankeny NWR--Eagle Marsh Overlook @ 7:56 AM
(2): Corner of Buena Vista & Ankeny Hill Roads @ 8:43 AM
(3): Willow tree area off Wintel Rd. @ 9:17 AM
(4): Pintail Marsh @ 9:47 AM
(5): Wintel Road – First pullout on right side of road past the Rail Trail
@ 10:45 AM
(6): Ankeny Hill Road near the Rough-legged Hawk stakeout @ 11:15 AM
(7): Eagle Marsh @ 11:33 AM
2314 Cackling Goose -- (1),(2),(3),(4),(7)
4 Canada Goose -- (7)
1 Canada Goose (moffitti/maxima) -- (3)
100 Canada Goose (occidentalis/fulva) -- (3)
16 Canada Goose (parvipes) -- (2)
10 Tundra Swan – (7)
14 Trumpeter/Tundra Swan -- (3)
60 American Wigeon -- (3),(4),(7)
205 Mallard -- (1),(3),(4)
5 Northern Shoveler -- (1)
176 Northern Pintail -- (3),(4),(7)
260 Green-winged Teal -- (3),(4)
12 Ring-necked Duck -- (7)
3 Lesser Scaup -- (7)
8 Bufflehead -- (7)
10 Ruddy Duck -- (4),(7)
2 Great Blue Heron -- (6),(7)
1 Green Heron -- (7)
1 Northern Harrier -- (1)
1 Bald Eagle -- (4)
3 Red-tailed Hawk -- (3),(5)
1 Rough-legged Hawk -- (6)
9 American Coot -- (4),(7)
150 Killdeer -- (5)
700 Dunlin -- (3)
40 Long-billed Dowitcher -- (7)
50 Wilson's Snipe -- (1)
1 Acorn Woodpecker -- (2)
1 Downy Woodpecker – (4)
1 Red-breasted Sapsucker -- (2)
3 Northern Flicker -- (4),(6)
4 American Kestrel -- (1),(4)
1 Peregrine Falcon -- (4)
5 Western Scrub-Jay -- (1),(2)
17 American Crow -- (1)
20 Bushtit -- (1)
2 White-breasted Nuthatch -- (2)
1 Pacific Wren -- (5)
1 Bewick's Wren -- (3)
105 American Robin -- (1),(5)
26 European Starling -- (1),(2)
12 Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) -- (4)
30 White-crowned Sparrow -- (3)
1 Golden-crowned Sparrow -- (4)
5 Song Sparrow -- (4),(5)
1 Spotted Towhee -- (1)
343 Red-winged Blackbird -- (1),(3),(4),(5)
1 Western Meadowlark -- (3)
25 Brewer's Blackbird -- (3)
2 Purple Finch -- (4)
14 Lesser Goldfinch -- (4)
2 passerine sp. -- (3)
