Serviceberry

I took this photo of a Cedar Waxwing yesterday while birding with Jeanette at Buell County Park here in rural Polk County.  Today while looking a little closer at the photo, I realized the bird was feasting on Serviceberries.  That took me back to my first exposure to Serviceberry.  It was in the summer of 1971.  I was one of several adult counselors with a large group of high school kids on a backpacking trip sponsored by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the Eagle Cap Wilderness in the far northeast corner of Oregon. Don Henry, Youth Minister at the First Christain Church in Salem, was our leader and substituted Serviceberries for the "fruit of the vine" in a Communion Service.  As you can tell, Serviceberry has been permanently implanted in my mind, for now half a century.  
 

Spring Lake Open Space

Lincoln City has 8 Open Space Parks with walking trails to explore. On this trip to the coast, we stopped to check out the birds at Spring Lake Open Space. Located just three blocks off of busy Highway 101, it is a quiet oasis away from the beach crowd, with its towering trees and dense shrubbery surrounding tiny Spring Lake.  Although this is an e-Bird Hotspot, birds were rather scarce, but the sense of solitude and an opportunity to stretch your legs, makes it a worthy stop. In checking Cascade Ramblings, I was surprised to find that it has been seven years since we were here last.  Checkout that post here.
 

Juvenile Brown-headed Cowbirds

 I was having a low-energy afternoon. I had been trying to pep myself up with a cookie and a cup of coffee and was trying to wade through "Thank You for Your Servitude", a somewhat entertaining book about Trump's ability to kick people under the bus once they had served his purpose. I took a break to stand out on our second-floor balcony, and suddenly caught a glimpse of some bird activity below in the Central Courtyard.  I stepped back inside and grabbed my camera and started taking photos, thirty-two in all. To my surprise, I had a couple of juvenile Brown-headed Cowbirds at my feeder. To understand my excitement, you need to know that Brown-headed Cowbirds do not make a nest of their own, they are unique in the birding world of laying their eggs in another bird's nest.  Of course, the next question becomes, who's nest did these juveniles come from.  Hummingbirds, White-crowned Sparrows, and Dark-eyed Juncos have all had nests in this courtyard, and I did notice an adult male junco acting parental in the same area. I'll probably never know, but my brain was stimulated, and my normally energy has returned. 

Coastal Safari

Jeanette & Glenn at the Siltcoos River

A string of days in the upper 90s provided the incentive for us to pack-up our Winnebago Pocket van in a quest for cooler temperatures on the Oregon Coast.  Early Monday morning we headed south in the Willamette Valley. We made stops to birdwatch at Adair Wildlife Area north of Corvallis, and Monroe City Park on the banks of the Long Tom River, before traversing the Coast Range, where we watched the temperatures begin to drop. Our first camp set-up was at the Siuslaw Nation Forest Tyee Campground along the Siltcoos River where our friend, Glen, volunteers as the Camp Host. Glenn served as our guide on a bird walk at Westlake County Park Boat Ramp, and an evening in Tyee Campground sitting on the banks of the Siltcoos River.

Early Tuesday morning found us moving our hunt for birds with Glenn to the Carter Lake Campground, followed by a search for more birds at Stables Road next to the Smith River. We took a break for lunch in nearby Reedsport. Back to the camp at Tyee, we said goodby to Glenn and headed north to Florence for Jeanette to do some shopping at Fred Myer and for me to take advantage of better cell service to work on bird observation lists. Waldport became our next destination as we traveled over Cape Perpetua, enjoying the ocean views.  In Waldport we settled in at the Lint Slough Trailhead where we made a stationary count of birds.  After dinner we did an evening walk upriver on the Lint Slough Trail counting addition birds. 

Wednesday morning found us traveling up the coastline dodging in and out of fog and bright sunshine. Our first stop to bird was at the Welcome Center at the Beaver Creek Nature Area. This is where we volunteered our summers in 2013 and 2014 as hosts.  Despite the big Welcome Center sign at the entrance, we were surprised to find the Welcome Center is now the Coastal Region Office, with a "closed" sign on the door and phone numbers to call if you needed anything. Amusing, there is no cell service at this location. 

Next stop was at our favorite Alder Island Trail in the Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge. First was lunch, a real plus with all the comforts of the van, and then our birdwalk on the trail. Birding was slow as one would expect in the middle of the day.  But the most amusing thing we saw was a lone Osprey bringing a stick to the nest.  This time of year, most juveniles have left the nest.  My guess is that this is a young bird, with its first visit north, and it is practicing nest building for next year when he will attempt to attract a female.

This finished our three days on the Oregon Coast, where we enjoyed the cooler temperatures.  We completed 10 different e-Bird Observation Lists, spread over 5 different counties. It's always a fun adventure in the van for a few days, and always great to return to the luxuries of life at Dallas Retirement Village. 

   

 

Alder Creek Farm

Hot weather with a week of temperatures in the upper 90's induced us to spend some time on the Oregon Coast with our Winnebago Pocket camping van. Friends Kerry and Debbie Kliever had a campsite for their RV at Nehalem Bay State Park for July 25 - 27 and invited us to join them for the day on Wed the 26. Because of commitments here at Dallas Retirement Village, we didn't get away from here until after lunch on Tues the 26th.  We drove as far as Tillamook that afternoon, stopping to bird at the Salmon River Estuary, and an evening bird walk on the Tillamook Hospital Hole Trail (see list here), with an overnight parking spot at an undisclosed location.  The next morning, we traveled on to Nehalem Bay State Park where we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast prepared by Kerry and Debbie, and a great bird walk along a section of Nehalem Bay (see list here). After a lunch provided by Jeanette, we traveled on to our next destination, the town of Nehalem Bay, where we parked at an iOverlander site behind City Hall. We spent the afternoon exploring the town and stopping at a food truck for fish tacos. The highlight of the evening, with the help of a local, was finding the upper trailhead of Alder Creek Farm. See our total bird list for the town here. We got so excited about exploring Alder Creek Farm, that we abandoned our plan of driving on up to Tolovana State Park the next day. We chose instead to stay right there in the Nehalem Bay area and explore the trails of Alder Creek Farm. The next morning, we awoke to thick wet fog, a normal morning for the Oregon Coast, so we adjusted our plan and chose a bird walk along the Nehalem River Dike (see bird list here). By the time we finished there, the fog was lifting and after a stop at the bakery for a scone and coffee we took Highway 101 over the hill to the Alder Creek Farm. This is not easy to find, and I suggest you do your homework before attempting a visit.  After crossing the foot bridge over Alder Creek, you are introduced to a deep coastal forest, thick with Sitka Spruce and Red Alder trees, Sword Fern, and blackberries gone amuck. It was a good workout, and a real challenge to ascertain the trail route. After much difference in opinion, and several false turns, and some retracing we finally found our way back to the van (see our bird list here). The great convenience of our van allowed us to change out of sweaty clothes before the drive back to Nehalem Bay and the City Park where we parked in the shade, and I was able to spend some time working on bird photos.  Our parking place down by City Hall worked well, but the cell service is much better up at the city park.  After a nice rest we decided we had the energy to simply drive home rather than hang around for another night.  The highlight of our trip was probably Cedar Creek Farms. Formerly a 54-acre dairy, this land of pasture, creek and bay frontage, was purchased in 2002 by the Lower Nehalem Community Trust. Additional purchase now brings the total to 140 acres. We have more to explore here, so I'm hopeful we will return again.         

     

 

Counting Birds & Cutting Ivy

 This is a Western Wood-Pewee I photographed this morning on the banks of Rickreall Creek here is Dallas.  I have been spending a lot of time on the Rickreall Creek Trail recently, in fact my last two blog posts have been about wildlife and birdwalks on the Rickreall Creek Trail.  Because my wife Jeanette plays pickleball three days a week on the courts next to the Dallas Aquatic Center and the Rickreall Creek Trail, I have fallen into catching a ride with her, and while she plays pickleball, I walk the trail and look for birds. However, because in my past I have spent many volunteer hours cutting back the very invasive English Ivy, I can't stand to bypass a tree in need of some Ivy removal. A few days ago, as I started out on the trail, with binoculars, camera, and clippers in hand, I was aware of a comfortable feeling of heading off to work. My "work", such as it is, can now best be described as "counting birds & cutting ivy". Lucky me it takes place along the wonderful environs of the Rickreall Creek Trail System.     

Chemeketans Birdwalk on Rickreall Creek

The Chemeketans, an outdoor club based in Salem, met up at the Dallas Aquatic Center this morning to take a birdwalk on the Rickreall Creek Trail System.  This was a repeat of last year's trip, and enthusiasm ran high.

Everyone used their binoculars to spot birds, some took photos, and several used the Merlin phone app to identify birds by sound. We identified by sight or sound 20 separate species. Here is our eBird Observation List. 

Afterwords Jeanette put together a coffee break in The Lodge Central Courtyard of the Dallas Retirement Village.