BOGS Willamette Confluence Tour
April 13, 2023

Leader: BETSY
About 17 of us went on this walk, with McKenzie River Trust (MLRT) Staff member Holly McRae
and MLT volunteer John Helmer
Times: 8:30am. to 12:13pm.
Weather: Cloudy, 36 to 47 degrees.
DESTINATION: Confluence of Coast and Middle Forks Willamette River.
Land owned and managed by McKenzie Land Trust.
(Willamette Confluence Preserve, NNW of Mt. Pisgah)

Where we walked and stops we made
We walked at and near Pudding Pond, at the east end of the Willamette Confluence Preserve, and a short distance west of that. Additional 20 minute stops were made as we drove along the return route towards the west; to allow time for birding. The weater was great and birds were active. People really enjoyed these opportunities to enjoy everything.

Bird list by JANET NAYLOR; 46 species.

Not Birds:
Chewed-off sapling across path (1 sapling - beaver work. Newly chewed and felled.)
Beaver den at far bank of river on R at approx. 1pm. = SE.
Lots of beaver chew in N (young 1" to 1-1/4" diam. trees.)
Mink (1)
Turtle, ? species (1)

Acknowledgments:
Thanks to Holly and John from McKenzie River Trust, for being there with us today. The McKenzie River Trust is working to keep this piece of land undeveloped and undisturbed.

Highlights and of Interest:

• Seeing 3 cormorants on a rock in river, plus 2 female Hooded mergansers and 1 pair of Mallards near that same rock.
• Some members saw a total of 20 Ruby-crowned kinglets so far today. Comment by Jim Huffsmith: "Invasion of the Ruby-crowned kinglets."
• Seeing 1 male Ring-necked duck, 1 pair Buffleheads, 1 coot, all the same pond, plus 10 Tree swallows and 1 Red-winged blackbird around the same pond.
• We heard a Song sparrow masquerading as a Bewick's wren; it sure sounded like one. However, Greg's phone app. ID'ed it as a Song sparrow.
• Seeing a mink! A very large one! It gave us a great view for 2 or 3 minutes. It was walking on some logs, went into a pond and swam, came out on nearby logs, and swam again. We were not sure what it was, at first. It seemed too large, and its fur seemed too mid-brown (instead of blackish-brown) to be a mink, and it swam straight like a nutria or musk rat. But after checking about other similar-sized and colored mustelids, fishers and martens are not found in this part of Oregon or in this watery kind of habitat. Don and Priscilla took some pictures of it. Thank you, both!
• Also in the same pond as the mink, were 8 Ring-necked ducks, and a turtle on a log.
• We saw no female Red-winged blackbirds at all today; (although one was heard). All of the 8 Red-wings that we saw were males. One was a young male, with yellow but no red yet on its wings.
• Lots of beaver chew (young 1" to 1-1/4" trees), all in one area, plus a single chewed tree across the path elsewhere, plus a beaver den near the east end of where we walked.

Comments and & Discussion by BOGS members
Dolly M.
it was so scenic and peaceful, that it was worth the trip even had we not seen all the great birds ... loved it!

Betsy H.:
We were all mesmerized by the appearance of the mink! He ran halfway down the log, posed for a picture, then took to the water. A few minutes later he climbed back onto the log, scampered along, gave us another photo opp and disappeared into the bushes.

Sue A.
My favorite moment was getting a good look at a Black-throated Gray Warbler, a life bird for me! Even better was enjoying the observation with another couple, even though we didn’t know what we were looking at. And, of course, the mink sighting was a splendid wrap-up for a delightful morning hosted by the Trust.

Priscilla;
The Willamette Confluence area has so many beautiful habitats. While the Middle Fork Willamette River has endured decades of gravel mining, restoration efforts have already begun to allow the river to flow freely among some of the former gravel ponds; and the lands adjacent to the river seem to be in a fairly natural state; (perhaps not having been as heavily impacted by gravel operations as the river?) As we explored mostly by car, along with several 20-minute stops and walking tours, we saw a variety of vegetation types, from forested areas on the north slope of Mt Pisgah; to open grassy fields and restored pond and river shorelines. The month of April featured a mix of Winter waterfowl and Spring Warblers. Lots of birds were singing, so we enjoyed both sights and sounds of birds at every stop. At one of our last stops, we were treated to a visit by a Mink lasting several minutes as it scampered over small logs in a pond, then swam past us not very far away, and finally returned along the logs and running away.

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