Bird list for walk at Clearwater Park in Springfield, October 11, 2018. The weather was bright, warm and clear, many leaves still present on the trees.

*spotted by Floyd’s group near the end of the walk
**nomenclature of Western Scrub Jay: Previously, the Western Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma californica) had two subspecies, the coastal, californica, and the interior, woodhouseii. This group has now been split into two species, the California scrub jay, west of the Cascades and the Woodhouse scrub jay, in eastern Oregon. The term, Western scrub jay has been dropped.

Trip summary by Don Laufer

The walk started out in clear but chilly conditions. We barely got down the path from the parking lot when a flock of Cedar Waxwings flew overhead. As we headed along the path we saw a number of California Scrub Jays, Song Sparrows and Robins. A Spotted Towhee was seen right next to the path and a Belted Kingfisher could be heard calling as it flew along the millrace.

In the area where the path crosses the millrace we saw a Great Blue Heron alight in a distant snag while several loose flocks of Bushtits and Black-capped Chickadees moved through the trees. A couple of Pacific Wrens were spotted moving through the underbrush and others were frequently heard, along with Flickers and Brown Creepers.

We stopped at the first viewpoint of the river where we could see a lone female Common Merganser diving in the distance. We retrace our steps from there until we took a detour to the boat landing. Along the way we got a close-up look at a Hairy Woodpecker and the stragglers got a much more distant look at a Pileated Woodpecker high in a snag.

When we got to the boat ramp we were finally able to see the Kingfisher we had heard several times, perched on a root ball out in the river. On the opposite bank a Spotted Sandpiper was doing its best to look like just another rock, albeit one that kept moving downstream.