[birding] Ceanothus in the Willamette River floodplain, Linn Co.

[Joel Geier]

Hi all,

Today I did some riparian surveys on another new greenbelt property on
an oxbow off Riverside Drive in Linn Co., between Corvallis and Albany.
Public access is still restricted to this place too, so luckily I didn't
find any unusual birds -- a GREEN HERON (heard only) and a nice chorus
of SWAINSON'S THRUSHES were the highlights.

However, I was surprised to find a small patch of buckbrush (Ceanothus
sp.) under some oaks that were growing on the high ground. I also
noticed a couple of very small plants of bicolored lupine, another plant
that likes well-drained soils. It's an interesting expression of the
sedimentological complexity of the Willamette River's meander belt,
which the term "floodplain" doesn't convey so well.

There were also a few turtles on logs in the oxbow slough, probably
Western Pond-Turtles but I didn't get a good look.

Happy birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis