Corvallis to Albany river trip
24 views
Skip to first unread message
Lisa Millbank
Jul 12, 2014, 2:13:53 AM7/12/14
to Mid-valley Nature
We took a raft trip from S of Willamette Park in Corvallis to Monteith
Riverpark in Albany yesterday. We got off the bus at about 7 AM and as
we walked toward the area south of the water intake facility at
Willamette Park, there was a nice bird chorus and a couple of vocal
GREEN HERONS flying around.
A single DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT was flying over the river in
Corvallis...the first we've seen since the Birdathon in early May. There
was a WILLOW FLYCATCHER just across the river from where we started the
trip.
An OSPREY flew by with a large fish, but an adult and a
juvenile/second-year BALD EAGLE immediately flew over to claim the
catch. The Osprey didn't even bother trying to evade the eagles, and
just dropped into the river. But pair of Osprey made a few angry passes
at the eagles. About 8 TURKEY VULTURES were feeding on a large dead
fish at Riverside Landing. Another vulture we saw along the way was
harassed by a cranky COOPER'S HAWK until it flapped away.
I always enjoy drifting through a variety of habitats besides the
riparian forest. Sometimes the "soundscape" changes from YELLOW
WARBLER, SWAINSON'S THRUSH, WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE and WARBLING VIREO to a
patch of mixed forest with WESTERN TANAGERS, STELLER'S JAYS and
PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHERS. A mile down the river brings a NORTHERN
HARRIER passing over and the sounds of WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS and LESSER
GOLDFINCHES along the edge of a farmed field.
Some recent fledglings seen yesterday included GREAT BLUE HERONS, GREEN
HERON, SPOTTED SANDPIPERS, RED-TAILED HAWKS, VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS,
BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS, AMERICAN ROBINS, BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD (with SONG
SPARROW foster parents) Some were still with their parents, and some
were on their own. A strange jumble of notes came from a young male
SONG SPARROW who is still working on learning his song, and by the
sounds of things, it's an uphill battle for him. But a young
BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE was having better luck with his song and the
"gargle" sound given by males.
A RED-SHOULDERED HAWK was harassing a RED-TAILED HAWK near Bowers Rock
State Park (a few miles SW of Albany; accessible by boat only), and we
figured there's a good chance that it is breeding in the dense forest
there, considering its defensive response to the Red-tail.
I noticed a SATYR COMMA at Half Moon Bend Landing. It was drinking
mineral-rich water from the mud along the river. I licked my finger and
offered it to the butterfly, and it climbed on my finger to enjoy a
little human saliva and whatever minerals it contains, as you can see in
the attached photo. Butterflies aren't too picky, and I've seen them
happily dining on wet wood ash, carrion, urine and animal droppings, so
I guess a little human spit is OK with them. Iridescent RIVER
JEWELWINGS and lavender EMMA'S DANCERS landed on our rafts, and these
damselflies were fairly common for most of the trip. WAPATO was
blooming, and so were some DOUGLAS' ASTERS and WESTERN CLEMATIS.
We were worried that we were running late to catch the bus in Albany, so
we paddled like crazy for a while. We ended up arriving early after
all, and spent some time at Monteith Riverpark and Bryant Park, where
there were many NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS.
Lisa Millbank & Don Boucher
www.neighborhood-naturalist.com
Riverpark in Albany yesterday. We got off the bus at about 7 AM and as
we walked toward the area south of the water intake facility at
Willamette Park, there was a nice bird chorus and a couple of vocal
GREEN HERONS flying around.
A single DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT was flying over the river in
Corvallis...the first we've seen since the Birdathon in early May. There
was a WILLOW FLYCATCHER just across the river from where we started the
trip.
An OSPREY flew by with a large fish, but an adult and a
juvenile/second-year BALD EAGLE immediately flew over to claim the
catch. The Osprey didn't even bother trying to evade the eagles, and
just dropped into the river. But pair of Osprey made a few angry passes
at the eagles. About 8 TURKEY VULTURES were feeding on a large dead
fish at Riverside Landing. Another vulture we saw along the way was
harassed by a cranky COOPER'S HAWK until it flapped away.
I always enjoy drifting through a variety of habitats besides the
riparian forest. Sometimes the "soundscape" changes from YELLOW
WARBLER, SWAINSON'S THRUSH, WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE and WARBLING VIREO to a
patch of mixed forest with WESTERN TANAGERS, STELLER'S JAYS and
PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHERS. A mile down the river brings a NORTHERN
HARRIER passing over and the sounds of WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS and LESSER
GOLDFINCHES along the edge of a farmed field.
Some recent fledglings seen yesterday included GREAT BLUE HERONS, GREEN
HERON, SPOTTED SANDPIPERS, RED-TAILED HAWKS, VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS,
BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS, AMERICAN ROBINS, BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD (with SONG
SPARROW foster parents) Some were still with their parents, and some
were on their own. A strange jumble of notes came from a young male
SONG SPARROW who is still working on learning his song, and by the
sounds of things, it's an uphill battle for him. But a young
BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE was having better luck with his song and the
"gargle" sound given by males.
A RED-SHOULDERED HAWK was harassing a RED-TAILED HAWK near Bowers Rock
State Park (a few miles SW of Albany; accessible by boat only), and we
figured there's a good chance that it is breeding in the dense forest
there, considering its defensive response to the Red-tail.
I noticed a SATYR COMMA at Half Moon Bend Landing. It was drinking
mineral-rich water from the mud along the river. I licked my finger and
offered it to the butterfly, and it climbed on my finger to enjoy a
little human saliva and whatever minerals it contains, as you can see in
the attached photo. Butterflies aren't too picky, and I've seen them
happily dining on wet wood ash, carrion, urine and animal droppings, so
I guess a little human spit is OK with them. Iridescent RIVER
JEWELWINGS and lavender EMMA'S DANCERS landed on our rafts, and these
damselflies were fairly common for most of the trip. WAPATO was
blooming, and so were some DOUGLAS' ASTERS and WESTERN CLEMATIS.
We were worried that we were running late to catch the bus in Albany, so
we paddled like crazy for a while. We ended up arriving early after
all, and spent some time at Monteith Riverpark and Bryant Park, where
there were many NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS.
Lisa Millbank & Don Boucher
www.neighborhood-naturalist.com
Lisa Millbank
Jul 12, 2014, 4:23:48 PM7/12/14
to Mid-valley Nature, midvalleybirding
One notable bird I forgot to mention was a GREATER YELLOWLEGS on a
gravel bar near Albany.
Lisa
gravel bar near Albany.
Lisa
Mary Garrard
Jul 13, 2014, 11:06:24 AM7/13/14
to Mid-valley Nature, midvalleybirding
Nice birds. I floated the stretch between Michael's Landing and Hyak Park twice in the past two weeks and in addition to Lisa and Don's birds (not all of which I saw/heard) there were a lot of Cedar Waxwings flycatching above the water. On the second trip we saw two Bald Eagle fledglings perched together on a cottonwood snag branch. It was fun watching an osprey catch and eat a fish, and vultures gorging on carrion. The second trip was in the evening and as we approached Hyak Park past sunset bats were out.
I learned something about beaver on the evening trip. We heard three beavers tail-slapping near Hyak as we floated quietly by--a big thrill for all. We also heard a low sound coming from the same area as the tail slaps--it sounded like a low-pitched groaning or moaning. I looked it up and found this on the Washington Department of Wildlife "Living With Wildlife" website:
In order to warn each other of danger, beavers slap their tails against the water, creating a loud splash. Sounds also include whining (noises made by kits), a breathy greeting noise, and loud blowing when upset.
This doesn't exactly describe the sounds I heard, but I'm fairly sure they were made by the beaver since they accompanied the tail-slapping and came from the same locations. The evening moonlight trip was led by Patricia Benner of River Spirit Journeys and sponsored through Covallis Parks and Recreation. If you have never done it, don't waste time registering next year. It was wonderful!
Mary
Sound the trumpet, sound the trumpet......to celebrate the glories of this day! Henry Purcell
From: Lisa Millbank <lisa...@peak.org>
To: Mid-valley Nature <mid-vall...@googlegroups.com>; midvalleybirding <bir...@midvalleybirding.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2014 1:23 PM
Subject: [birding] Re: [MidValleyNature:2738] Corvallis to Albany river trip
_______________________________________________
birding mailing list
bir...@midvalleybirding.org
http://midvalleybirding.org/mailman/listinfo/birding
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages