Thursday July 25, 2019:
SUMMER BIRDING!
FINLEY WILDLIFE REFUGE

The group decided that next week, July 25, we will drive up to Finley National Wildlife Refuge for our weekly birding outing.

We will visit some of our usual stops by car, such as McFadden Marsh, the Scrape Pond on Bruce Rd, Headquarters and the North Prairie Overlook on Finley Rd (the north boundary road). In addition to these, we may walk up the hill of the Woodpecker Loop trail and / or the flat ground boardwalk to Cabell Marsh. Those not wanting or able to do the walking can explore the north boundary of Finley along Finley Rd by car, between Bellfountain Rd on the west and Hwy 99 on the east.

I recommend that people bring enough food/snacks to carry them through until we return to Eugene around 1pm. If there are several folks wishing to return before that time, they can arrange to drive in one car together. (There are some food items available at the store at the intersection of Bruce Rd and Hwy 99. Last I heard there was a food cart now associated with the store. I think they have burritos, or perhaps tacos, but I could be mistaken about those details, and I can't find any informaton online about it).

BOGS PRESENTATIONS:
From September through May, We have presentations by speakers on 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month, (and bird walks on the 2nd, 4th and 5th Thursdays of the months from Sept - May). The presentations during the academic year cover a wide range of science-related topics. Presentations and bird walks during those months run from 9-11am
*(The exception to the 9am starting time for presentations is the end-of-term Potluck, which begins at 10am and runs until Noon)

Bird Walks
From September through May, our bird walks are led by Steve Barron. We meet inside the Campbell Center before 9am to arrange car-pooling and drive to our destinations. Once there, we usually walk for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, and get back to Campbell Center around 11:30. Some destinations are further away, such as Finley Refuge and Elijah Bristow Park, so our return might be Noon or even as late as 1:00pm. Usually at least some people want to get back earlier so they arrange to ride together in one (or two) car(s). Trips with later return times are always announced as such ahead of time.

WHERE WE MEET:
The Campbell Center is located at 2nd and High Street, Eugene, OR, right near Skinner Butte Park, very near to the Willamette River. Presentations are inside the bldg. For Bird Walks, during Sept-May, meet inside before 9am. During SUMMER MONTHS meet in the PARKING LOT in front of the bldg to plan the location and car-pooling. Click here for a map showing location of Celeste Campbell Center

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
BOGS PRACTICES & PROTOCOLS
HISTORY OF BOGS
BIRDING RESOURCES - other group bird walks, Oregon online Birding site guides etc

General Information about Summer Birding 2019

Our Summer birding program is informal and less structured.
Last Summer we found that even if I was not available on Thursday morning, others did show up and decided amongst themselves where to go birding.
We will operate this Summer on that same basis.
While it is my intention to be there most (or all) Thursdays, there may be some occasions where I will be not available.
Steve Barron has indicated he is planning to go with us most Thursday as well.

Destinations:
Destinations will be often be chosen collectively by those present before 8am each Thursday morning. If there has been some particularly "hot" birding action in the days before we meet, I will suggest that location as our destination.
Anyone interested in birding should meet 10 minutes before 8am in the Campbell Center parking lot.
... and the group members will then decide amongst themselves where to go birding that day and arrange car-pooling. I will usually have up-to-date information as to what birds have been recently reported at various local sites. We can use that information to help us make a decision where to go.

Below I have included a list compiled by both Doris and myself, of all the places Steve Barron has taken us, as well as a few additional places we have gone only during previous Summers.

Here is a list of places BOGS has gone birding in the past

1. Delta Ponds at the Valley River Center Bike Bridge
2. North Delta Ponds area - with parking on Goodpasture Island Road.
3. Fern Ridge Reservoir at the end of Royal Ave. (park on road unless you have a permit from Fish and Wildlife),
4. Perkins Peninsula off West 11th, with the Cantrell Rd. addition
5. Kirk Pond, at the base of Fern Ridge Dam and nearby park area.
6. Mt. Pisgah arboretum, note parking permits very important here, day passes can be purchased at the parking area.
7. Golden Gardens, take Barger Dr. off 99, then right at Golden Gardens St., (just past Beltline) to end of road.
8. EWEB Wetlands, west side of EWEB building off Roosevelt, between Beltline and Bertelson.
9. Millrace bicycle path in Springfield.
10. Dorris Ranch
11. Clearwater Landing
12. Alton Baker Park - walking from Campbell Center.
13. East Alton Baker Park, access by walking south on utility road east of Auzen Stadium and east of BMX track
14. Skinner’s Butte - walking from Campbell Center.
15. Heron Park, at Aspen and D street in Springfield
16. Checkermallow Access to Meadowlark Prairie: (on Royal Ave, east of Greenhill Rd).
17. Halsey Raptor run, a car tour through areas northeast of Eugene.
18. Stewart Pond, off Bertelson on Stewart Rd.
19. Hileman County Park, 2.5 miles north of Beltline turn right on E Beacon. At junction turn left on Hileman Ln
20. Elijah Bristow State Park, off Hywy 58, between Trent and Dexter
21. Zumwalt County Park, Vista Dr., Veneta
22. Riverbend Hospital. The south end of the building has trails in a shady, very nice area for hot weather.

BIRD SONGS: Online Resources - listen to any bird's songs or calls

If you have a smartphone, there are numerous apps for birding which can play the songs and calls of birds, but if you don't have one, you can go online and explore the songs and calls of any bird. Here are two exceptionally good websites for this:
XENO-CANTO Bird recordings
Here is an example recording from xeno-canto.org. This is a recording of several Short-eared Owls harassing a Northern Harrier. The owls are doing a lot of their "barking" calls. The Harrier can be heard at 0.55 seconds and there-after.

The McCaulay library includes not only recordings of songs and calls, but also has photographs and videos of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians! Here is the "How to" page with instructions for using this website:
McCaulay Library