BOGS Fern Ridge
April 8, 2022

Bird list for BOGS walk at west end of Royal Ave.,
Friday, 04-08-22; 9:20am. - 11:45am.
Leader: Steve Barron.
Weather: 49 to 54 degrees, mostly cloudy, not much wind,
rain before but not during walk.

LOCATION: West end of Royal Ave., Eugene.
(Meet at 9am. at Campbell Center, or go straight out and meet at the site at 9:20am.)
The parking lot there has a restroom. WARNING: Parking in the parking lot requires an ODFW permit. Parking on the road is allowed without a permit.

Where we walked today:
We walked west from the west end of Royal parking lot on the main path, then left (south) to the bird platform, then we went back to the main path and went further west, about 1/2 way to Tern Island, then back.

Bird list

Most common birds today:
Most common along path west of the parking area:
White pelicans (34).
Next most common: Unidentified small shore birds (approx. 30).
Most common, east of Parking lot: Approx. 730 cackling geese.
Next most common east of Royal Parking lot: Steller's jay (8).

Not seen in the walk's area today:
No bitterns, no crows, no Cackling geese except east of the parking area.

Not birds:
Lots of fish splashes in the water along the path near the SW martin pole; mostly just seeing the water heaving up and down, but sometimes seeing the fish. They were carp, 12 to 18 inches long, bottom feeders with large scales. This might be carp breeding season behavior, as there was enough water depth for them.

Highlights and of Interest:

• Seeing a Song sparrow plus a Lincoln's sparrow, together on the path. Both had grey eye-stripes. But the patterned markings on the Lincoln's upper chest are little separate markings, not running into each other as in the song sparrow. Also the background color on the upper breast and on back of neck (nape) is a tawny brown on Lincoln's Sparrow.
  Sometimes these two species are hard to tell apart.
• Seeing 34 white pelicans all flying in the west. 3 came close enough that we could see the breeding bumps on their beaks. Seeing on and off white flashes as groups of pelicans on the water were visible for a minute as they floated past the far west end of the main path.
• Before the walk: approx. 650 cacklers flying and in fields N of Royal, around 1/2 to 3/4 mile W of Greenhill Road, so more than a mile east of the W. end of Royal parking lot. After the walk: approx. 28 cacklers flying around a few hundred feet E of the parking lot. (No cacklers seen on our walk area, which started at the W. Royal parking lot and areas W of there.)
• Seeing 1 Acorn woodpecker in tree at parking area toilet. This might be a first in that location. It is about 1/2 mile W of the W. Royal acorn woodpecker oak grove and the grove N of that. They were also seen in their usual W. Royal oak grove today.
• Seeing 8 Purple martins on one of the three martin nest poles, and later seeing 2 of the Purple martins plus 3 Tree swallows on the top of another pole.
• Hearing 5 Marsh wrens (and seeing one of them).
• Hearing 4 Common yellowthroats (and some people seeing one of them).
• Seeing 1 immature plus 2 adult bald eagles.