SAS Ankeny NWR Field Trip Report

[ung...@gmail.com]

SAS ANKENY NWR FIELD TRIP SUMMARY

April 25, 2026 

Joseph and I led today’s Salem Audubon field trip to Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge, joined by 19 fellow birders for a truly memorable morning. Under clear skies and mild temperatures ranging from 51 to 61 degrees, with light winds of 3 to 9 mph, conditions were ideal. We began at the nature center before heading to Eagle Marsh and then Pintail Marsh, which proved especially productive. During a 1.46-mile walk around Pintail Marsh, we recorded 52 species alone, including warblers, Marsh Wrens, and several Soras heard calling. In total, we made three stops throughout the refuge and identified 61 species, seen or heard. By comparison, we tallied 57 species last year and 56 in 2024, making this year’s outing particularly successful. 

Highlights from the Outing

• Warbler Diversity:
  Migration is clearly underway, as we observed five warbler species: Orange-crowned Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and Wilson’s Warbler. The Common Yellowthroat was the most frequently encountered, with seven observations. At one point along the western edge of Pintail Marsh, we believed we saw a female Black-throated Gray Warbler carrying nesting material, though the sighting could not be confirmed.
• Woodpecker Encounters:
  We spotted five out of the six woodpecker species we expected: Northern Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Acorn Woodpecker, and Red-breasted Sapsucker.
• Duck Variety:
  While duck total numbers were modest, we still managed to find 12 species: Mallard, Bufflehead, American Wigeon, Green‑winged Teal, Ring‑necked Duck, Ruddy Duck, Cinnamon Teal, Wood Duck, Gadwall, Lesser Scaup, Northern Shoveler, and Redhead. At first, we had only 11, but as we went over the eBird list we heard someone mention two Redheads on the far side of the marsh. We quickly headed over and discovered that birding aficionado Roy had already spotted them and kindly pointed them out to us.
• Raptor Sightings:
  It was a solid raptor day, with four Bald Eagles, several Turkey Vultures, a Red‑tailed Hawk, an Osprey, and an American Kestrel. Notably, we spotted a pair of Bald Eagles perched above the large eagle nest just to the northeast of the Pintail Marsh parking lot.
• Abundant Species:
  The most numerous birds recorded were Cackling Geese (2,500) and Red-winged Blackbirds (160).

Other observations:

·         As for shorebirds and water birds, we heard seven different Soras giving their distinctive whinny, “whee-hee-hee-hee-hee” call. We watched large groups of Western and Least Sandpipers fly overhead, flushed a single Wilson’s Snipe along the west edge of Pintail Marsh, and recorded one Long‑billed Dowitcher and a Greater Yellowlegs. We also saw a single Great Egret on the east side of Pintail Marsh.

·         We heard a couple of Western Meadowlarks at the nature center, and observed four swallow species, including a group of 15 Cliff Swallows. 

Our next three SAS bird walks are:

·        Minto-Brown Island Park on Thursday, May 7th at 8:00 AM.  Meet in parking lot #3 at the end of Minto Island Road S.

·         Illahe Hills CC on Monday, May 11th at 8:00 AM Please contact the leader at paule...@gmail.com to confirm your registration for this trip. Registered participants should meet at the Country Club entrance at 8:00 AM. Please Park in the main parking area, not in front of the clubhouse!

·         Ankeny NWR on Sunday, May 17th at 8:00 AM Meet at the Ankeny Hill Nature Center parking lot off Ankeny Hill Road. 

Note: See the Kestrel newsletter or our website (Upcoming Events) for additional details.  Here is a link to our website: https://www.salemaudubon.org/

Mike Unger

Keizer, Oregon 

Ankeny NWR Checklist Summary for April 25, 2026

Number of Species: 61 

eBird Checklists included in this summary:

(1): Ankeny NWR-Ankeny Hill Nature Center 7:53 AM  https://ebird.org/checklist/S327135075

(2): Ankeny NWR- Eagle Marsh 8:26 AM  https://ebird.org/checklist/S327158243

(3): Ankeny NWR-Pintail Marsh 8:57 AM  https://ebird.org/checklist/S327276744

See the eBird checklist links below along with the Trip Report link which will show all the species observed. 

eBird Trip Report link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/505743