It was a cool, partly cloudy morning that turned into a beautiful day. Steve led 24 people east from Heron Park along the path beside the river. We soon saw flocks of Bushtits and Cedar Waxwings as well as numerous Black-capped Chickadees, Scrub and Stellar's Jays, Crows, Flickers, Anna's Hummingbirds and both Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers. When we got to the place where there are a lot of flat rocks sticking up out of the river we went down by the water's edge to get a closer look at the waterfowl in the water. There were the usual Canada Geese, one with it's leg tangled in fishing line, and Mallards, as well as a Greater White-fronted Goose, a pair of Mergansers and a Killdeer. We soon returned along the path and got a good look at, but no pictures of, a pair of Red-breasted Sapsuckers.

We also added to our list with sightings of a Rock Pigeon, Song Sparrows and Lesser Goldfinches. We continued west past Heron Park and into the woods in the Eastgate Woodlands, now part of the Wilhamut Natural area. Across the river near the I-5 Wihamut Passage bridges we could see more Canada Geese and a female Common Merganser. A Belted Kingfisher was perched on a bare branch extending out over the river. We returned to Heron Park along another path through the woods and were treated to the sight of more Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers as well as a Townsend's Warbler moving quite rapidly through the branches and a Brown Creeper busily climbing tree trunks right next to the path.