Sarah Helmick Park

My choice for birding this morning was Sarah Helmick State Park. I have said many times; place is almost more important than the birds for me.  And this park is a good example. I come here for the comfort, as in an old shirt well worn. It is well maintained by Oregon State Parks and rarely crowded. It is a quiet escape. We first birded here over ten years ago on March 25, 2014. I have now birded here 45 times, identifying 88 individual species of birds. It is also a spot steeped in history.  Sarah Helmick and her husband came over the Oregon Trail in 1845, taking out a Donation Land Claim in 1850. The Helmick family donated a portion for a park to the State of Oregon in 1922.