BOGS Perkins Peninsula
July 8, 2021

Bird list for BOGS walk at Perkins Peninsula
and East Coyote Unit pond,
Thurs. 07-08-21.
Weather: Weather: Partly cloudy. 59 - 69 deg.
Leader: Steve Barron.

Directions:
Perkins Peninsula is a point in the Fern Ridge Reservoir area which is easily accessed from West 11th. As you go west, you will pass some of the reservoir then watch for a sign on the right naming the entrance just ahead. The turn is also on the right. The bathrooms and gates are open. You may park inside the park if you have a County Parking pass, or you may park in the gravel parking lot outside the gate, next to W. 11th.

Where we walked today:
We walked Perkins Peninsula, on the E and NE shoreline and the center area. Then we stopped on Cantrell Rd. a bit W of Nielson Rd.; then we stopped on the N/S part of Nielson Rd. a bit N of Cantrell Rd.; then we stopped at North Coyote Unit pond viewing area (= Nielson Pond) at N end of the N/S part of Nielson Rd.

Most common birds:
Large grebes (16: 6 Western and 4 Clark's, and 6 in distance either Western or Clark's.)
Next most common: Barn swallows (15), Canada geese (14).

HIGHLIGHTS

• Seeing 1 Black-tailed deer with 2 small babies.
• Seeing 16 large grebes (6 Westerns, 4 Clark's, and 6 either Westerns or Clark's), and hearing their calls.
• Seeing 2 female Yellow-headed blackbirds. (Mottled yellow heads, so not cowbirds or female red-winged blackbirds.)

Anti-Highlights; at Perkins Peninsula
Not seeing the pair of Red-shouldered hawks at Perkins Peninsula that some of us saw there 3 days earlier.

Of interest along Nielson Road:
Domestic rooster (fancy breed), on N/S Nielsen, approx. 1/5 mile N of Nielson/Cantrell corner. It was in the grass just the other side of the fence on the E side of the road. Rooster was large-bantam size, with black body feathers, with huge orange-gold slightly feathery crown feathers that fell all over the back and sides of its head and upper neck, and had huge red wattles below beak and more red stuff above beak. Some folks thought it was a pheasant of some kind. But no, it was definitely a male chicken. It is probably a Partridge Cochin Bantam. (Partridge is a color variety. Note: Cochins are called Pekin Bantams overseas. In the US they come in both full-sized and bantam sizes). e water in the ponds is rather low, but not dry.

Highlights and Of Interest, at N Coyote Unit pond (= Nielson Pond):
Seeing 15 young barn swallows and 4 cliff swallows, flying over the pond. Seeing 5 Red-winged blackbirds plus 1 female Brown-headed cowbird, all together on a shrub.

Identification:
We saw what we thought was a dead White-throated swift, at Perkins Peninsula. They are only very occasionally seen in our area. But it was something else. I sent Greg's pics. to one of the Lane County Audubon Society's Field Notes officers. Here is Tom's reply:
"After looking at the photos, I would say the bird is a juvenile Tree Swallow, given the brown upper parts and white underparts, including the flanks. White-throated Swifts are more black with a white throat that extends into a long “V” shaped white area down the breast to the vent, with dark flanks. They also have white on the sides of the rump, the trailing edge of the secondaries, and above the eye. This bird appears to have a paler stripe across the nape like a juvenile Tree Swallow. The bill is larger than what I would expect for a swift and the legs appear to be much longer than a swifts. Also, White-throated Swift are very rare on the west side of the Cascades, especially during the breeding season. They’re normally found in the rimrock country of SE Oregon, where they nest in the cracks on the cliff faces."