[birding] Keizer Rapids Park, Marion Co.

[Joel Geier]

Hi all,

Jackie Nichols and I visited the brand-new Keizer Rapids Park in Keizer
today. This could be a very good birding spot for the mid-Willamette
Valley, with habitats similar to Willamette Park in Corvallis and some
parts of Luckiamute State Natural Area, but more accessible than the
latter.

Our birding was limited as the main point was to join a National Park
Service Rivers & Trails meeting, and point out a few of the more
noticeable birds during a tour of the park. We did hear WESTERN TANAGER,
BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, HUTTON'S VIREO, BEWICK'S WREN, YELLOW WARBLER,
and other expected riparian birds. I heard an ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD
"singing" and doing display dives. An AMERICAN GOLDFINCH was doing a
pretty good Cassin's Vireo imitation but had some chatter thrown in at
the end which gave him away.

This 200+ acre park will have some developed areas but also seeks to
connect these with extensive natural areas, including a large gravel bar
at the old rapids which could draw a few migrant shorebirds, and
cottonwood-maple gallery forest with a pretty good understory component
of native plants like fringe-cup and waterleaf. 

The paved trail through the gallery forest will provide all-season
access for all. A nice touch is that it uses permeable asphalt and seems
to have been laid down without much disturbance to the adjoining plant
life.

Too bad we didn't know more about this park in time to include it as a
birding site on the recently published Willamette Valley Birding Trail
guide (though it shows up on our bicycle-birding map). It's also a part
of the Willamette Water Trail which we learned more about in the
meeting.

Directions are pretty simple: From River Rd. in Keizer, take Chemawawa
St. west all the way to where it peters out; the park entrance is on the
south side of the road.

Happy birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis