[birding] Hesthavn and Oak Creek

[Don Boucher]

Hello,

For the Naturalist Adventure we visited Hesthavn and the McDonald Forest trailhead at Oak Creek. I'm considering referring to Hesthavn as "Housewrenhavn". Several House Wren nest boxes were occupied and the calls and songs of House Wrens filled the air. We were enjoying the many native plants and the results of restoration projects at Hesthavn. Checkermallows and Microseris (native dandelion) were in bloom at Hesthavn and along the road leading to the trailhead. Many Chestnut-backed Chickadees were active and we got few good looks. One of the participants asked about a song she'd been hearing in her yard and based on her description we thought it was a Spotted Towhee. Soon thereafter and obliging towhee perched atop a brush pile nearby and made its "creeeeek?" call note. Another towhee sang nearby and problem solved. Somebody learned how to identify a towhee by ear today! A rather tame juvenile Red-tailed Hawk perched on a utility pole at the Hesthavn parking lot we were able to get pretty close to it. We walked up the road a bit and took a trail into McDonald Forest. We got a good look at Wilson's Warbler at the edge of a clearing near the creek. Maybe the Wilson's Warbler was making an unusual song with a trill at the end. Perhaps there was also a MacGillivray's Warbler making this song. Sounded more like a Wilson's to me but none of us had heard this exact song before. Many Osoberries (Indian Plums) were ripe and juicy. We tried some and they were sweeter than I remember but still a little odd in their flavor. A Steller's Jay had a rather creative version of the Red-tailed Hawk imitation. Steller's Jays are well known for imitating redtails but his one had a particularly whiney imitation that started real high in pitch and tapered to a lower pitch quickly at the end. Other birds heard were Swanson's Thrush, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Warbling Vireo, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Black-headed Grosbeak & American Robin.

Future Naturalist Adventures:
3rd Sundays
July 19: Destination TBD
August 16: Destination TBD
Meet at Avery Park Rose Garden at 9am

Don Boucher
Corvallis, OR
www.Neighborhood-Naturalist.com
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