*SAS SHORTS: FAIRVIEW WETLANDS FIELD TRIP SUMMARY*
*October 15, 2015*
Hello Birders:
I led our second SAS Shorts field trip to Fairview Wetlands in south Salem
this afternoon. I was joined by 18 other birders on a wonderful late
afternoon. The skies were clear with the temperature around 80 degrees for
the walk. We walked about one mile around the wetlands. The habitat was
very dry as there were only a few places with a little water in them.
These new SAS Shorts are trips where we walk a mile or less and spend one
hour to one and a half hours instead of the regular four hour field trips.
We identified (saw or heard) 19 species of birds.
Most notable sightings:
· Two *American Kestrels* were seen in trees around the wetlands;
· As expected with the dry conditions, sparrows were the species most seen
including *White-crowned Sparrows*, *Golden-crowned Sparrows*, *White-throated
Sparrow* (heard) and *Song Sparrows*;
· We heard one *Marsh Wren* in the area near the wooden bridge;
· There were at least 25 *Cedar Waxwings* that came into a tree near the
trail at the start of the walk;
· We also saw 22 *Bushtits *in a couple of trees near the trail. At one
point some of the *Bushtits* were only a few feet away.
A complete list of today's birds follows. *Our next SAS field trip will be
at Ankeny NWR on Sunday, October 18th at 7:00 a.m. *Meet at the Overlook
off of Ankeny Hill Road. The next *SAS Shorts* field trip is at
Minto-Brown Island Park on *November 16th at 8:00 a.m.* Please join us if
you can.
Mike Unger
Keizer, OR
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*Checklist Summary for October 15, 2015 *
200 Cackling Goose (minima)
1 Great Blue Heron
1 Accipiter sp.
2 Killdeer
1 Eurasian Collared-Dove
4 Mourning Dove
2 American Kestrel
1 Western Scrub-Jay
2 American Crow
22 Bushtit
1 Marsh Wren
4 American Robin
5 European Starling
25 Cedar Waxwing
4 White-crowned Sparrow
3 Golden-crowned Sparrow
1 White-throated Sparrow
4 Song Sparrow
1 Spotted Towhee
13 Red-winged Blackbird
