Map showing Playground parking lot, Campbell Center, and Cheshire Ave
(Campbell Center is at bottom right (at 2nd & High streets)

SEPT 19 BIRD WALK:
Steve Barron will lead this Bird Walk
DESTINATION: Hendrick's Park
We've not done a bird walk at Hendrick's Park and Steve says there are plenty of birds to be seen.

We will carpool from our new meeting area at the west end of Skinner Butte Park, leaving at 9 a.m.
Steve will have maps available for those who would like directions to Hendrick's Park.
For those wishing to drive there directly, go to the east end of 19th St., turn right on Fairmount and go a short distance to Summit, where you should make a left turn. At the top of the hill you will see the picnic shelter, formerly known as the F.M. Wilkens Shelter. There are three close parking areas. For the largest one, turn right and pass the shelter and then turn right again at the next street. The entrance is close on the right.

There are also a few parking spaces by the shelter and a few more at the main entrance which can be found by taking a left turn in front of the shelter and going uphill and again turn left at the next road.

There are other entrances to the park. One is a lovely winding road going through the park. This entrance can be found where Fairmount goes up hill at about Agate and 20th St., cutting through one corner of Washburne Park. From Agate St, turn left on 20th, go uphill to Fairmount, then right on Fairmount. The large parking lot in Hendrick’s Park will be on your left at the top of the hill.

Steve says there is still some clean-up going on from last winter’s snow/ice storms, but it should be a pleasant walk.

UPCOMING BIRD WALKS

Sept 26 BIRD WALKS: Steve Barron will lead this bird walk.
Destinations will be announced by Doris Wimber's usual Tuesday emails as well as here on this website.

Oct 3: No one has stepped forward yet to lead this bird walk.
(Priscilla will lead if no one else does)

Oct 10: Donna Albino has arranged for us to have a birding tour of Green Island!
This site is managed by the McKenzie Land Trust. We are fortunate and thankful to Donna for working this out for us! This land sits at the confluence of the Mckenzie and Willamette river and was privately owned until 2003. The Land Trust has opened up dikes to allow the rivers to flow more freely and sculpt the borders of this large parcel. They have also done a great deal of planting in some sections as well as other measures to enhance the habitat for wildlife.
From the Mckenize Land Trust Website
"Located at the confluence of the McKenzie and the Willamette Rivers, Green Island contains some of the least altered fish and wildlife habitat in the Willamette Valley and provides essential habitat for numerous species. At more than 1,000 acres, Green Island offers an opportunity to make an impact on a landscape level."
Please see the website for a lot more details about Green Island!

Steve will lead walks on: Oct. 24
Nov. 14

No leader yet assigned:
Oct. 17
Oct. 31
Nov. 7
Nov. 21
Nov. 28: HOLIDAY: THANKSGIVING DAY - no bird walk

POTLUCK Dec. 5. Time to enjoy good conversation, food & friendship & watcha DVD about birds!
10am-Noon

Thursday Aug 29, 2019:
SUMMER BIRDING WRAPS UP

We wrapped up our Summer birding on Aug 29, with a "shorebird-intensive" at Fern Ridge Reservoir. Several uncommon to rare birds had been reported the two days before our visit, including a Red Knot, a Ruff, a Long-billed Curlew, Red-necked Phalaropes, a pair of American Avocets, and Baird's and Pectoral Sandpipers. A half-dozen or more very dedicated Eugene birders were on the prowl along with our group, but only a few were successful at finding the Ruff or the Red Knot. Roger Rob found ALL these birds according to his OBOL posting at 1:35pm, as did John Sullivan and a few others later in the afternoon. Of the less common birds, our group found the Phalaropes, the Avocets, and Don snapped a photo of a flying Pectoral Sandpiper, but we saw many other species which haven't been around since last Winter, so it was quite a preview of what is yet to come this Fall and Winter.

After being greeted by several beautiful Lincoln's Sparrows immediately after leaving the parking lot, and hearing the calls of Greater yellowlegs a number of times along the way, we made our way to Pond #5, which is on the left side of Royal while walking towards the observation platform. (Click HERE to see a map with the names of the ponds at Fern Ridge - giving both the names and numbers). When we arrived at the pond, numerous shorebirds and waterfowl were seen. Right up close were both a Greater Yellowlegs and a Lesser Yellowlegs. This was one of those rare opportunities to see both species side-by-side and compare their sizes and features. Western and Lesser Sandpipers presented the same kind of educational moment.

There were large flocks of Western and Lesser Sandpipers. There were small scattered groups of Green-winged Teal and Northern Pintail. There were more Greater Yellowlegs along distant shorelines. We ran into Sylvia Maulding, Scott McNeeley and Jim Hardman along the dike and got some updates from each of them about what birds were and were not being found that morning.

It was fun to suddenly find so many shorebirds and Winter waterfowl after a Summer of juvenile songbirds of fields and forest edges. We were fortunate to have both Steve's and Mary Lee's spotting scopes, because the bird-covered mudflats extended a long way out and the field marks of many birds were beyond the range of what binoculars could offer. We arrived around 8:30 and started for home around 10:45, so we had more than two hours out in the field enjoying the birds.

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.

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

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