*SAS SHORTS: FAIRVIEW WETLANDS BIRD WALK SUMMARY*
*November 26, 2019*
Hello Birders:
This morning, I led our SAS Shorts bird walk to Fairview Wetlands in S.
Salem. This was a record setting walk which I’ll detail later in this
summary. It was a cool. wet morning with light rain or drizzle for most of
the walk. The temperature was 40 degrees for the entire walk with a wind
chill of 34 degrees. Three (3) other birders joined me for the walk. We
walked down to the west pond and then walked around the main trail which
was about a one-mile walk. We identified (saw or heard) 14 bird species.
I’ve been leading this walk for four years. The records referred to above
included: 1) Second shortest walk (43 minutes vs. 30 minutes in 2017), they
usually last 90 minutes; 2) Fewest species observed *i.e.,* 14 vs. 15 in
2017 and one of the coldest walks in four years.
Most notable sightings (there were few…):
· We saw five duck species including *Bufflehead* (one male and three
females), *Northern Pintail*, *Mallard*, *Northern Shoveler* and *Green-winged
Teal*;
· The only raptor was a *Red-tailed Hawk* that flew by;
· The passerine species with the most numbers were *Song Sparrows* (5) and
*America**n Robins* (5);
· The misses were the chickadees and woodpeckers other than one *Northern
Flicker*.
A complete list of today's birds follows. Our next SAS field trip is in
preparation for the Salem Christmas Bird Count on December 14th. The bird
walk is on *Wednesday, December 11th* at *8:00 AM* at Minto-Brown Island
Park. Meet in parking lot #3 (the last parking lot). There is a free *CBC
Tips and Techniques workshop* on *Saturday, December 7th* from 10:00 AM to
12 noon. The workshop will be held at the ODFW, 4034 Fairview Industrial
Dr. SE in Salem. *Note:* There is no Ankeny NWR or SAS Shorts field trips
in December, so birders can participate in all the local CBC counts.
Please join us if you can.
Mike Unger
Keizer, OR
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*Checklist Summary for November 26, 2019 *
Number of Taxa: 14
11 Cackling Goose
5 Northern Shoveler
22 Mallard
10 Northern Pintail
12 Green-winged Teal
4 Bufflehead
1 Mourning Dove
1 gull sp.
1 Red-tailed Hawk
1 Northern Flicker
4 California Scrub-Jay
1 American Crow
5 American Robin
5 Song Sparrow
1 passerine sp.
