*SAS Minto-Brown Island Park Bird Walk Report*
*December 12, 2018*
This morning, Fred, Kay and I led the SAS Minto-Brown Island Park bird
walk. We were joined by 12 other birders. It was a nice but cool morning
with temperatures ranging from 43 degrees to 48 degrees with partly cloudy
skies. We walked about four (4) miles as we covered the west end of the
park including along Homestead Road. The bird activity was quite good as
we had 21 species before we left the parking lot. We observed (saw or
heard) 50 species.
The highlights were as follows:
· There were quite a few highlights of the day including: 1) Two
*Wilson’s
Snipe* in the back slough area where we also saw 10 *Greater Yellowlegs*;
2) Two *Great Egrets* on the slough near the fishing dock; and 3) One *Pacific
Wren*. We do not see snipe, yellowlegs or egrets very often at this park;
· We observed all five expected woodpecker species including *Hairy
Woodpecker*, *Downy Woodpecker*, *Pileated Woodpecker*, *Red-breasted
Sapsucker* and *Northern Flicker*. Everyone in the group was able to see
the Hairy Woodpecker and Pileated Woodpecker;
· Just as we were finishing the walk, we saw a *White-throated
Sparrow* in the leaves near the berry vines along the walkway behind the
Minto-Brown sign at Parking Lot #3. We got very good looks at this sparrow.
· In the back part of the park we saw a *Great Horned Owl*;
· We also saw a *Hutton’s Vireo* along the Orange Turtle Loop; and
· The main miss of the day was the *Anna’s Hummingbird*.
The upcoming events include:
- This Saturday is the Salem Area CBC. We hope to see all the
species we saw today plus a few more.
- *Wednesday, January 2nd *8:00 AM - *Minto-Brown Island Park *bird
walk*.* Meet at Parking Lot #3.
- We have a Raptor ID workshop coming up in January on *Saturday,
January 19th from 10:00 AM to 12 noon.* The workshop is held at the ODFW
Classroom located at 4034 Fairview Industrial Dr. SE in Salem. The cost is
only $10 per person.
Mike Unger
Keizer, OR
*Minto-Brown Island Park Checklist Summary for December 12, 2018*
*Identified Species: 50*
25 Cackling Goose
25 Canada Goose
45 Canada Goose (occidentalis/fulva)
5 Northern Shoveler
1 American Wigeon
22 Mallard
25 Northern Pintail
13 Green-winged Teal
4 duck sp.
3 California Quail
2 Pied-billed Grebe
1 Mourning Dove
2 Wilson's Snipe
10 Greater Yellowlegs
8 gull sp.
1 Double-crested Cormorant
4 Great Blue Heron
2 Great Egret
1 Cooper's Hawk
8 Red-tailed Hawk
1 Great Horned Owl
1 Belted Kingfisher
1 Red-breasted Sapsucker
3 Downy Woodpecker
1 Hairy Woodpecker
1 Pileated Woodpecker
7 Northern Flicker
1 Hutton's Vireo
14 Steller's Jay
5 California Scrub-Jay
4 American Crow
35 Black-capped Chickadee
1 Chestnut-backed Chickadee
2 Bushtit
1 Red-breasted Nuthatch
2 White-breasted Nuthatch
3 Brown Creeper
1 Pacific Wren
5 Bewick's Wren
3 Golden-crowned Kinglet
6 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
16 American Robin
9 European Starling
2 House Finch
1 Fox Sparrow (Sooty)
1 Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)
17 White-crowned Sparrow
1 White-throated Sparrow
12 Golden-crowned Sparrow
8 Song Sparrow
7 Spotted Towhee
3 Red-winged Blackbird