[birding] Willamette Park birdsong walk

[Don Boucher]

Hello,

About a dozen of us enjoyed a cool but rainless morning at Willamette Park. Lots of common birds singing. Some special species we listened to were WARBLING VIREO, YELLOW WARBLER & BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK. We also enjoyed a watching some nests of BUSHTIT, LESSER GOLDFINCH & AMERICAN ROBIN. We spotted an OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER perched on snag near the river's edge. We noticed a couple Empidonax flycatchers in the forest but they did not vocalize. We watched the antics of a few DOWNY WOODPECKERS chasing each other around. A RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER was calling and hammering. A RED-TAILED HAWK did a close fly-by. The hawk was quite a thrill for one little boy who was present. As we were finishing up the field trip, at the Evanite boat ramp parking area, we watched a adult BALD EAGLE bully and harass an OSPREY carrying a fish. It was quite a show!

After the field trip, Molly took some of us to the SW corner of the park to check on a WESTERN BLUEBIRD nestbox which had 6 eggs in it. Along the thickets near Crystal Lake we saw a MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER. We saw a few Empidonax flycatchers. We got hear the unmistakable call of a PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER. Another sounded like a Hammond's but it didn't call very much so I can't confirm it.

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