* SAS WILLOW LAKE & SPONG’S LANDING FIELD TRIP SUMMARY* *October 15, 2014* Hello Birders: We had eight birders participate in today's Salem Audubon field trip to Spong’s Landing County Park. As we waited to start the field trip it was a little windy but not raining. We were disappointed when we arrived at the Willow Lake WTP because the gate was closed. The sign said the area was closed due to inclement weather. We went to Spong’s Landing and just as we arrived it started raining and the wind picked up. We walked down to the river then walked around a field before taking a hike down the meandering trail through the south side of the park. The birds were pretty quiet as they were hunkered down due to the weather conditions. We walked a little over a mile and despite the conditions we still identified (saw or heard) 23 species of birds. Most notable sightings: · One *Golden-crowned Sparrow *was heard at Spong’s Landing in the field on the north side of the parking lot; · One *Ruby-crowned Kinglet* was heard at Spong’s Landing near the end of our hike; · Numerous *Cackling Geese* flew over us at Keizer Rapids Park and Spong’s Landing. In one of the groups of geese at Spong’s Landing there were three Western *Canada Geese* (moffitti); · Heard one *Brown Creeper* and one *White-breasted Nuthatch;* · Conspicous by their absence were the sparrows. We really expected to see more sparrows in this type of habitat. A complete list of today's birds follows. *Our next SAS field trip will be at Ankeny NWR on Saturday, October 25th at 7:30 a.m. *Meet at the Overlook off of Ankeny Hill Road Please join us if you can. Mike Unger Keizer, OR ------------------------------------------------------------------- *Checklist Summary for October 15, 2014 * Number of Checklists: 2 Number of Species: 23 Checklists included in this summary: (1): Keizer Rapids Park @ 7:29 AM (2): Spong’s Landing County Park @ 7:56 AM 560 Cackling Goose -- (1),(2) 3 Canada Goose (moffitti/maxima) -- (2) 2 Mallard -- (2) 2 Great Blue Heron -- (2) 1 Turkey Vulture -- (1) 3 Red-tailed Hawk -- (1),(2) 3 Mourning Dove -- (2) 2 Northern Flicker -- (2) 3 Steller's Jay -- (2) 2 Western Scrub-Jay -- (2) 1 American Crow -- (1) 4 Black-capped Chickadee -- (2) 1 White-breasted Nuthatch -- (2) 1 Brown Creeper -- (2) 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet -- (2) 7 American Robin -- (2) 90 European Starling -- (2) 1 Spotted Towhee -- (2) 1 Song Sparrow -- (2) 1 Golden-crowned Sparrow -- (2) 15 Brewer's Blackbird -- (1) 4 House Finch -- (2) 4 American Goldfinch -- (2)