BOGS (Birds of Oregon and General Science)

UPCOMING BIRD WALKS
Dec. 9 is a 2nd Thursday. Steve has announced his intention to lead a bird walk on that date.
He will choose our Destination as that date approaches, based on what's being seen locally.
As soon as I have that information, I will post it here and also to the BOGS Facebook group.

WINTER RAPTOR RUNS
Priscilla intends to coordinate two raptor runs each month November through March this year. Some of these will not be on Thursdays, and some may be on Saturdays; and it is possible that some of these will happen with very little advance notice. In those cases there will be email announcements at least one day in advance, (usually two or more days in advance) as well as posting the trips here on this website.
The intentions here are to offer a greater number of trips so as to spread out the attendees over more trips with resulting smaller number of cars on the trips; and also to allow getting out while especially interesting "target birds" are still in the area. Prairie Falcons and Goshawks for example are especially mobile and quick to show up and then disappear in a few days time. We also have some folks who have been unable to attend BOGS events because they have a conflict on Thursdays.

SECOND RAPTOR RUN
The raptor run which had TENTATIVELY been scheduled for Tuesday Nov 23, is now canceled.
While there are raptors in our part of the valley, it takes a much greater effort to find them and many of those we found while scouting last Tuesday were at great distances across large fields. We found we had to park and stand around scanning the fields for 15 -25 minutes to eventually get some distant views. I don't think that's a good situation for a caravan of something like 8 (or more) cars parking along public roads. Both of the roads where we saw the most birds had enough traffic that it would make for an awkward situation to have not only cars on the roadside but people standing around outside their cars as well.

Our usual raptor route through Linn County is mostly roads with much less traffic. We drove those roads also on Tuesday but did not see much bird activity at all in those areas. It is still a little early in the Winter for seeing enough raptors where you can just drive up to an area, pull over and see some birds right away, with some of them even being up close.

I'm still thinking about when to schedule the next raptor run. I have medical appointments on Mon, Dec 6 and Tuesday, Dec 7; (nothing serious). Steve is planning to lead a bird walk on Thursday, Dec 9 (2nd Thurs). So rather than chasing raptors that week, we will look at scheduling a raptor run the following week; i.e.; Dec.12-18. I will post to the BOGS Facebook group as well as here, as soon as a specific date has been chosen.

RECENT ARRIVALS (Wintering Raptors and other Wintering birds) Here in Lane County, we have already had some arrivals of birds which spend their Winter with us.
LATEST Reports, Nov 22:
Just today (and for the last two days) there has been a GYRFALCON seen in north Lane County. People have been out along Cox Butte Rd (mostly) and Washburn Ln seeing this rare Gyrfalcon and attempting to find it each time it flies off. So far they've found it three days in a row. Today (Nov 22) it has been diving at flocks of Cackler Geese. Yesterday it caught one. As I write this, the Gyrfalcon is being seen off and on this afternoon, mostly along Cox Butte Rd in North Lane County. All this action has been reported live from the field by people using the WhatsApp App.
SEE NEXT SECTION BELOW

"WhatsApp" App Birding Groups

These groups in our area (all over Oregon) originated in Spring 2021. Prior to the formation of these groups, the two main means of communicating bird sightings were OBOL (Oregon Birdrs Online- which is an email listserve) and eBird.org. Neither of those methods are as instantaneous as the WhatsApp App. There was some "political" history to the formation of these groups as well, but it is probably still controversial for some people so I won't discuss it here.

This App allows real-time messaging to a group of people all at once. The advantage is that there is virtually no delay from sending a message to the others getting it. In contrast posts to eBird.org may be delayed several hours in some cases especially if an uncommon bird is reported. The WhatsApp app is free. Download it from the "google playstore" for android, or where-ever iPhone people get Apps. Once the app is downloaded, one has to click an active link to join any of the WhatsApp groups. If you want the link, write to me and I'll tell you who to write to. They change the link for joining now and then to avoid spammers getting in and posting.

The most interesting group for our area is the "Lane County RBA" group. (RBA means Rare Bird Alert). There are no special requirements for joining. Each group has guidelines mostly pertaining to inclusivity and no hate speech. The RBA type groups ask members to limit their posts to information specific to a rare bird being seen; i.e.; the location, time and any tips for finding the bird. There are "OPEN" bird chat groups as well (such as "Lane County OPEN Birdchat" for Lane County), and in those groups any kind of discussion pertaining to birds can be posted freely.

Reports gleaned Nov 4:
Say's Phoebe; Seen Nov. 3. Cantrell Rd; (this bird has been in this area for a week now)
Tundra Swans; Seen Nov. 3. (35 in the distance)at Shore Lane County Park
American Pelicans; Seen Nov. 3. (60 in distance) at Shore Lane County Park
Rough-legged Hawk; Seen Nov. 3. Washburn Ln

Reports gleaned on Oct 31: Two or three Rough-legged Hawks have been seen, one over in east Springfield and the other near the north end of Alavadore Rd. A Northern Shrike was seen a day or two ago right from the Royal Ave parking lot. Also, a Say's Phoebe was seen that same day on K.R. Nielsen Rd. Both of these birds are "regulars" in these areas, though they are not always easily seen. A Short-eared Owl was photographed near Salem a few days ago at Baskett Slough. These Owls start making their appearance as early as October. Some of the early sightings are birds which are on their way further south to California and they stop in various places here in the valley or on the coast for one or a few days before continuing south. A Burrowing Owl was seen for one day near the airport two weeks ago. It too, moved on further south and was not seen again. In November just about every year, a few Short-eared Owls are seen at Meadowlark Prairie. These might stay around for the Winter, we don't know for sure, but if so, they move around a lot and are not seen often. This species is known to be nomadic and pretty much solitary in Winter except at locations with lots of their favorite prey, which are meadow voles. Short-eared Owl numbers seem to increase at good food sources as Winter progresses. If you feel like going out near sunset to look for them at Meadowlark Prairie, park at the lot at the Greenhill overlook and watch especially to the Southeast in the distance.
In recent years, Short-eared Owls have been making similar sporadic appearances at Fern Ridge along Royal Ave, so that is another place to check as sunset approaches.

WINTER TERM: NO INDOOR PRESENTATIONS
The Campbell Center is limiting room occupancy during Winter term to only 25 people due to the Co-Vid pandemic. Our attendance for indoor presentations has always been larger than that, so Doris has suggested we hold off on returning to indoor presentations and see how things develop for Spring term:
"We are watching and waiting for an opportunity to restart indoor meetings, and we will need some reorganization after we get going."

SLIDESHOWS FOR 2021 Spring/Summer BIRD WALKS
For convenience, I have always posted links to recent slideshows added to the website further down on (this) home page. There is a much more complete listing of BOGS bird walk slideshows and trip reports on this website, going back to 2013. I am putting a link to that immediately below, but it can also be accessed directly from the black menu bar at the top of this page. Simply click on the "BOGS-LINKS" item in that black menu bar. The listings on that page are chronological with most recent at the top. (The link below takes you to that same page)

The further back in time you go on this website, the more pages you will find which need repair. On some pages the entire slideshow is missing. On other pages all the formatting is gone - font types, sizes and colors are wrong as well as text boxes and background colors. It took me a very very long time to figure out why these things were happening. I'm happy to say, I have finally found the sources of ALL these types of problems and will be restoring the pages - a few at a time. My repair work will be directed at the most recent material first. I think all of 2021, 2020 and 2019 are already repaired but some work needs to be done yet on pages from 2018 and even more so for the years preceding 2018.

BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT BOGS - (during NORMAL TIMES)

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.

ONLINE TUTORIALS

Kirk Pond July 22, 2021 Northern Flicker - photo by Priscilla

Perkins Peninsula July 8, 2021 Cedar Waxwing - photo by Don Laufer

Delta Ponds (north) June 24, 2021 Kingfisher - photo by Don Laufer

Heron Park (east Alton Baker) June 10, 2021 Great Blue Heron - photo by Priscilla

Clearwater Landing May 27, 2021 Cedar Waxwings in nest - photo by Chris Kilpatrick

Mt Pisgah Arboretum May 13, 2021 Western Tanager - photo by Priscilla

Jasper Millrace Path April 29, 2021 Green Heron - photo by Priscilla

Fern Ridge Royal April 22, 2021 Marsh Wren- photo by Don Laufer

Great Horned Owl fledglings! Mar.26, 2021 Young GHO Fledgling-photo by Priscilla

NON-BOGS: SIX Winter Raptor Trips Nov. 2020 - Mar. 2021 Burrowing Owl & Rough-legged Hawk Linn County-photos by Priscilla Birding trips were done from separate cars using two-way-radio communcations

BOGS Raptor Run #4 Feb. 27, 2020 Burrowing Owl - photo by Don Laufer

BOGS Checkermallow Jan 23, 2020 BOGS Group - photo by Priscilla

BOGS Raptor Run #3 Jan. 16, 2020 Say's Phobe - photo by Priscilla

Non-bogs Williamson's Sapsucker in Eugene Jan 9, 2020 Williamson's Sapsucker - photo by Priscilla

BOGS Stewart Pond Jan 9, 2020 Western Meadowlark - photo by Priscilla

Non-bogs Oakridge Christmas Bird Count Jan 9, 2020 Great Gray Owl - photo by Don Laufer

Raptor Run #2 Dec 19, 2019 - Linn County Bald Eagle - photo by Priscilla

Faptor Run #1, Dec 12, 2019 - Linn County American Kestrel - photo by Priscilla

Three November Birding Trip SLIDESHOWS Nov 7 (Finley); Nov 14 (Delta Ponds); Nov 21 (Hileman County Park); Swan (Don Laufer); Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Priscilla Sokolowski); Red-breasted Sapsucker (Priscilla Sokolowski)

Five OCTOBER BOGS bird walk slide shows Oct 3; 10; 17; 24; 31, 2019 Western Bluebirds, (Don Laufer); Green Island Ferry remnants, (Priscilla Sokolowski); Fox Sparrow, (Don Laufer); Anna's Hummingbird, (Greg Hyde); Townsend's Warbler, (Don Laufer)

Four SEPTEMBER BOGS bird walk slide shows Sept 5, 12, 19, 26, 2019 Yellow Warbler (Don Laufer); Western Tanager (Steve Barron); Flower (Don Laufer); Chorus Frog (Priscilla Sokolowski)

Five AUGUST BOGS bird walk slide shows August 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 2019 Western Kingbird; Greater Yellowlegs; California Quail; Western Wood Pewee; Black-headed Grosbeak - photos by Priscilla and Don

Green Heron eating Lamprey larvae (ammocoetes) July 2, 2019; 9am Lamprey Larvae - photo by Priscilla Sokolowski

Summer Annual Birding at Finley Wildlife Refuge July 25, 2019 Acorn Woodpecker Photo by Priscilla

BOGS Summer Birding Whilamut Area (east Alton Baker) July 18, 2019 American Goldfinch Photo by Don Laufer

Rasor Park and Riverbend Trails July 4 & July 11, 2019 Lesser Goldfinch photo by Don Laufer

Summer Birding: Fern Ridge Reservoir - Royal Ave June 27, 2019 Western Bluebird photo by Don Laufer

BOG 32nd St. Millrace First SUMMER BIRD WALK June 13, 2019 Green Heron photo by Priscilla_

Delta Ponds along River - led by Steve Barron May 30, 2019 Osprey photo by Don Laufer

BOGS Mt. Pisgah Arboretum May 23, 2019 Very young Robin photo by Priscilla

Birds of Eugene area; Swallow Pond; Fisher Unit & Skinner Butte May 4-7, 2019 Raven with stolen egg Photo by Priscilla

BOBS Fern Ridge Royal, led by Floyd Weitzel May 9, 2019 Marsh Wren Singing photo by Priscilla

BOGS Dorris Ranch w/ arborist Alby Thoumsin May 2, 2019 Heritage Big Leaf Maple Tree

Fisher Unit, Perkins Peninsula, Warren Slough, Fern Ridge Royal Spring Migration, April 27 & 28, 2019 Red-winged Blackbird & Yellow-headed Blackbird - photos by Priscilla

BOGS Golden Gardens Bird Walk led by Donna Albino April 25, 2019 Warbling Vireo photo by Priscilla

Skinner Butte Warbler Migration April 15 and April 19, 2019 Cassin's Vireo photo by Priscilla

BOGS Checkermallow (Meadowlark Prairie) April 11, 2019 Barn Swallow photo by Don Laufer

BOGS Skinner Butte, Mar. 28, 2019 Red-breasted Nuthatch photo by Don Laufer

BOGS Finley Wildlife Refuge, Mar. 14, 2019 Western Bluebird photo by Don Laufer

BOGS Alton Baker Park Feb. 14, 2019 Great Blue Heron on nest photo by Don Laufer

Raptor Run #2 Jan. 31, 2019 Sub-adult Bald Eagle, 3rd year, 2nd basic plumage_

BOGS Heron Park along millrace Jan. 24, 2019 Red-winged Blackbird Photo by Priscilla

BOGS Delta Ponds along bike path Jan 10, 2019_ Downy Woodpecker Photo by Priscilla

BOGS Meadowlark Prairie (Checkermallow) TRIP REPORT, Nov 8, 2018 Nov. 8, 2018_ Rough-legged Hawk photo by Priscilla

BOGS Meadowlark Prairie (Checkermallow) SLIDESHOW, Date: Nov 8, 2018 Belted Kingfisher photo by Don Laufer

Kirk Pond - led by Floyd Weitzel_ Oct 25, 2018 Great Egret photo by Don Laufer

Clearwater Landing_ Oct 11, 2018 Spotted Towhee photo by Don Laufer

Fern Ridge (Royal) Sept 27, 2018 American Pipit photo by Priscilla

BOGS first Fall bird walk. Delta Ponds along the river Sept 13, 2018 Osprey

ROAD SCHOLAR TRIP TO MAINE: "A Birder's Dream; Birding Down East Maine" Aug 19-24, 2018 This first page is a slideshow to Monday's Machias Seal Island (10 miles out to Sea) where Atlantic Puffins were very approachable Jody took some fantastic photographs there! There are also links to the rest of our trip for Tues-Thurs. but you can access that page separately (see below). Atlantic Puffin photo by Jody Fairchild

ROAD SCHOLAR TRIP TO MAINE: "A Birder's Dream; Birding Down East Maine" - PART 2 Aug 19-24, 2018 This webpage has everything else after the Puffin Boat trip we did on Monday. It ends with another boat trip out to Head Harbor Passage where tides range 16 feet and whales and gulls congregate to feed on shrimp and krill caught up in massive currents and upwelling waters. Minke Whale

ANNUAL SLIDESHOW, Best Photos, Sept 2017 to Sept 2018 Ruby-crowned Kinglet photo by Don Laufer

BOGS Alton Baker Park, Aug 30, 2018 MINK!-photo by Priscilla

BOGS Zumwalt County Park Aug 2, 2018 Western Grebe with babies riding on her back photo by Priscilla

BOGS Fern Ridge Royal July 26, 2018 Juvenile Robin photo by Priscilla

Riverbend Hospital Trails July 12, 2018 Baby Robin calling for food photo by Priscilla

Kirk Park (below Fern Ridge dam) July 5, 2018 Violet Green Swallow - photo by Don Laufer River Otter photo by Priscilla

East Alton Baker Park (Whilamut Natural Area) June 28, 2018 Brown Creeper - photo by Priscilla

Mt Pisgah Arboretum - First Summer 2018 Bird Walk. The action was HOT!! June 14, 2018 Male Bullock's Oriole feeding young. Photo by Don Laufer

LAKEVIEW 3-day Birding Trip May 22-24, 2018 (TWO PHOTO SETS!! One by Priscilla and one by Don Laufer) Black-crowned Night Heron, photo by Priscilla

BOGS Perkins Peninsula May 10, 2018 Acorn Wooddpecker - photo by Priscilla

BOGS Golden Gardens; trip report and photos by Don Laufer April 26, 2018 Killdeer; photo by Don Laufer

BOGS Skinner Butte April 12, 2018 Black-throated Gray Warbler. Photo by Don Laufer

BOGS Walterville Reservoir Mar. 29, 2018 Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Photo by Don Laufer

Red Foxes Slideshow! March 15, 2018 Red Fox

TRIP REPORT: BOGS Delta Ponds along river Mar. 8, 2018 Anna's Hummingbird

MAP: Steve's Hand Drawn Map Route of Raptor Run we drove Jan 25, 2018 Thumbnail view of Map

BOGS Heron Park bird walk Feb 8, 2018 Mallard and Bufflehead

Don Laufer: Ruff Park Fox Sparrow & Pileated Woodpecker Jan 19, 2018 Slideshow ================================= VIDEOS: Fox Sparrow & Pileated Woodpecker Fox Sparrow scratching for grubs Pileated Woodpecker Slow-Motion

Jennifer, Janet, LaRue and I visited D-Hill Owls Feb 9, 2018 Short-eared Owl

Don Laufer's Short-eared Owls at Diamond Hill_ Feb 5, 2018 Short-eared Owl

Exploring locations for Short-eared Owls and revisiting Diamond Hill Wetlands Feb 3, 2018 Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owls at Diamond Hill Jan 27, 2018 Short-eared Owl

Raptors: Belts and Diamond Hill area roads, Jan 26, 2018 Red-tailed Hawk ================================= VIDEO: Dunlin Flock in flight VIDEO: Second video Dunlin Flock in flight

BOGS Raptor Run, Jan 25, 2018 American Bald Eagle Steve's hand drawn Raptor Run Route Map, (coming ...)

Raptor Route Drive-Check with Steve Jan 16, 2018 Juvenile Tundra Swan

Raptor Route Research Trip Jan 16, 2018 Short-eared Owl Raptor Run Computer Drawn Maps

BOGS Finley Refuge Jan 11, 2018 American Kestrel