Chemeketan Bird Walk

This was a bird walk Jeanette and I led for the Chemeketans this morning. We met up at Kingsborough Park here in Dallas and walked the West-end of the Rickreall Creek Trail System, listening, looking, and identifying birds. Here is our eBird Observation List. It was great to spend time with friends that we have hiked with over the years.  I joined the Chemeketans 50 years ago this season.  It was a tough time in my life, and the Chemeketans provided a new direction for me. They welcomed me and took me hiking, cross-county skiing, mountain climbing, snow camping, and back-backing. I am forever grateful, and always interested in a small measure of repayment.      

 

Thursday's Bird Watch

 Wild Turkeys have found their way back to Dallas Retirement Village!  A number of residents have reported seeing them in the past several weeks, but we didn't ge a chance to see them until the morning of July 17th, and that was only because Mary Ransier, better known as "Front Desk Mary", tipped us off as to their location.  This is the momma Turkey and one of seven of her juveniles, known as "poults".  Hopefully more DRV residents will get a chance to watch this family as the mother continues to guide her poults around and through the yards of Dallas Retirement Village.

Yaquina Meander

Chitwood Bridge

 We took off for Toledo early Saturday morning for an overnighter in our Solis Pocket camping van to indulge ourselves with some cooler temperatures. We choose Highway 20 as our route, making a rest stop at Ellmaker State Wayside.  The sweet song of the Swainson's Thrush greeted us as we stepped out of the van, which prompted us to make a bird list. Seeking more birds in the woods next to the restrooms, we stumbled onto a trail that led down to the small stream of Ellmaker Creek. 

We soon ventured off the modern route of Hwy 20, and onto the old route which next took us through Eddyville where Little Elk Creek joins the Yaquina River. There the route gets interesting as the highway parallels the historic Oregon Pacific Railroad and hugs the Yaquina River on its meandering way to join the Yaquina Bay at Toledo.

Our next stop was Chitwood Bridge, a revisit of our trip in May. Conveniently it was time for lunch, so we set up our chairs in the shade with a view of this historic covered bridge across the Yaquina River.  I had a chat with the neighbor that actually owns this little viewpoint.  He maintains this out of the goodness of his heart for people to enjoy for a day visit. Overnight parking is not allowed due to past problems of trash and theft. 

We next joined the main route of Highway 20 for a short stint before turning left over the hill to reconnect with the Yaquina and the railroad. It's a gravel road. I recommend a slow pace as you continue on and eventually you will be rewarded with the hamlet of Elk City and the Elk City County Park. This is where Big Elk Creek joins the Yaquina, and at 22.5 from Yaquina Bay is I believe the head of tidewater.

Continuing along the Yaquina River, we made a stop in the shade at Cannon Quary Park and a look for birds. We had been tipped off by the Chitwood Bridge viewpoint owner that Toledo was having their Summer Festival and would be crammed.  It was a godsend because arriving at Toledo we discovered an impossible crowd.  So, it was on to Paddle Park for a little recovery stop and a bit of pondering our options for the night. We ended up at Boiler Bay State Wayside, and a quiet night except early morning thunder, lighting, wind and rain.  

Refreshed, we headed home to unpack and plan the next adventure, 

Thursday's Bird Watch

The most dependable bird song to hear and enjoy on a daily basis here at Dallas Retirement Village currently is the White-crowned Sparow as is shown here singing his heart out.  He hangs out in the shrubbery of the parking strip of the Jasper Street Entrance to The Lodge.  It's a sure-fire bet when you walk out that door you will hear him sing out.  His purpose is not to entertain you, but instead, impress a female sparrow.  White-crowned Sparrow's nest low in shrubbery, and because they have multiple broods each summer, this particular sparrow is probably working on a second breeding for this season.  During our latest walk through DRV, we heard White-crowned Sparrows singing in 5 different locations in the Village.
 

Places We Love to Bird - Lent Slough Trail

 We first discovered this quiet hidden trail in June of 2021. It was an instant favorite which we have returned to many times.  The trail takes you into lush coastal forest along the edge of Lent Slough off the Alsea Bay in Waldport. The quietness gives you a sense of remoteness that belies the proximity to the hustle and bustle of busy Highway 101 and the madness of tourism.    

Yesterday, we were able to share it with our good with friends Michael and Melissa Garguilo. They now live in Lincoln California, but at one time we all lived in Elkton Oregon. They called us the other day and let us know they are vacationing in Waldport Oregon, so Jeanette and I planned a day to get together with them and do some birding on the Lint Slough Trail and share some lunch. Here is our eBird Observation List.

 

Thursday's Bird Watch

Jeanette took this photo of these two Northern Flickers in Walnut Park here in Dallas on June 28th.  They were busy digging up ants and eggs from an underground ant colony. At a quick glance you might assume as I did that this is a male and female pair, but a closer look revealed that they both have red "mustaches", identifying them as both males.  Walnut Park is a small Dallas City Park located on SE Walnut Ave alongside Rickreall Creek at the intersection of Uglow Street, a short distance upstream from the Dallas Aquatic Center.  Once again, we feel fortunate to have so many good birding opportunities close by in our city parks.  This small, overlooked park is a favorite of ours, and we love to take our lawn chairs, and set up along the creek or in the shade of the giant cottonwood trees and watch and listen for birds.  And find them we do.  So far this year we have identified 65 individual species in this little hideaway. 
 

Sand Point Park

 A string of triple digit temperatures in the Willamette Valley motivated us to break away for an overnighter at the Oregon Coast, where temperatures were 20 to 30 degrees cooler. We left Dallas around nine in the morning on Tuesday and were back home the next morning by eight. We wedged this in between a Physical Therapy appointment on Tues morning and a Fitness Class at Dallas Retirement Village on Wednesday morning. The highlight of our trip was Sand Point Park. A small hidden away park on the eastside of Devils Lake. It only has room to park about six cars, and we enjoyed having the park to ourselves to lunch on a picnic table and watch for birds. It was kind of sandwiched into the middle of our day, stopping on the way to bird at Van Duzer Rest Area, and the Salmon River Estuary before Sand Point, and after lunch at D River Open Space, Devil's Lake State Park, and Cutler City Wetlands.  Our overnight parking space was at Chinook Winds Casino in the upper parking area, a dependable quite location. My first trip driving since my shoulder surgery on May 28th, it was a real lift to my spirits.    

Places We Love to Bird - Rickreall Creek Trail

As I have said many times, place is almost more important than birds in our choice of location for birding. In other words, even though a water treatment plant may have lots of birds to see, we will always choose a more natural setting. Today was a great reminder of that wisdom. We selected the Rickreall Creek Trail for our early morning bird walk, and in the midst of listening, looking, and identifying birds we were rewarded with this Racoon pawing through the rocks for perhaps crawdads or mussels. In addition to this Racoon, we got to see six Black-tailed Deer, from adults to spotted fawns.

The Rickreall Creek Trail System runs through our small community of Dallas, Oregon. When completely developed, eight different sections will connect to form a continuous stream-side trail. It makes a perfect birding location for us as we rotate through the various sections to meet our whim of the moment.  In all, we have identified 110 different species of birds in 165 trips and provided 71 photos to eBird.     
 

As far as birds from today, this Cooper's Hawk was probably the most significant observation.  It was hanging on for dear life as several American Crows were doing their best to harass it. Here is the link for this morning's walk.

Thursday's Bird Watch

Dallas Retirement Village resident Mary Sites is the guest contributor of this Thursday's Bird Watch! post, suppling both photo and text.

Violet-green Swallow babies have hatched in a 25 year old birdhouse on my third floor balcony. The birdhouse was given to me by Jim and Jeanette Scott when I lived in Arizona.  While riding bikes they came across a man building decorative birdhouses and chose this one because of its Southwest architecture.  No birds built a nest until 2019 in California. An Oak Titmouse pair built nests unsuccessfully for 3 years.  I moved to DRV in 2022 and set the birdhouse on my balcony. I never gave up hope.  Voila! this past week the Violet-green Swallow pair have been busy feeding their hatchlings. The Violet-green Swallow can lay between 4-6 eggs and have 2 broods. I have enjoyed the peeping and cheeping the last few days since they hatched, and we are so excited to see them fledge soon.