[birding] Bicycle Birding grand finale

[Don Boucher]

Hello,

About 15 birders rode from Avery Park to the Starker Park, Dunawi Creek Community Garden and Sunset park. It was great weather and some good birds, not to mention some tasty cherry tomatoes at Don & Lisa's garden plot.

Behind the ODOT station along the bike path we heard a GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW sing. At the Starker Park duck pond was a lone female AMERICAN WIGEON. There were many WESTERN SCRUB-JAYS in the area taking advantage of a crop of acorns. The resident scrub-jay pair at the garden, whom Lisa and I know very well, stopped by to take some peanuts. Everyone got to enjoy the show from this cheeky pair. Many AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES and HOUSE FINCHES in the area were eating sunflower and weed seeds at the garden, Bidens seeds at Sunset Park and Oregon Ash seeds. We got close looks at a family of WESTERN BLUEBIRDS along the bike path a Sunset Park. All the little birds scattered suddenly and the culprit turned out to be a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. We walked the boardwalk at Sunset Park to see the beaver pond at Dunawi Creek and the group got good looks at a GREEN HERON hunting for fish. Lisa and I went back after the trip (we live in the neighborhood) to take pictures of the heron and we saw some YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS and the female wigeon landed in the beaver pond.

No bicycle birding trips until next May. For other Audubon Society of Corvallis' trips, see:
www.audubon.corvallis.or.us 

Don Boucher
Corvallis, OR

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