SAS Birding Along Highway 22 Report

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On March 4, 2026, eight of us started the day at North Santiam Park, where we were greeted by rain and temps in the 40s, but this didn't stop us from finding two of our target species on the Santiam River: Barrow's Goldeneye (a mix of females and immature males hanging out close to the shore) and American Dipper (a pair of them were working the shallow rapids).

Our next stop was Lyons City Park, where the rain mercifully let up a bit. There were several Great Blue Heron here, one of which posed perfectly for us out on a snag in the pond. Scope views of a male Ring-necked Duck in good light allowed us to just barely make out its seldom-seen chestnut collar, and a male Anna's Hummingbird perched in a short tree right in front of us, its gorget fully displayed. We also got brief, but diagnostic looks at a perched Sharp-shinned Hawk, its small size and perfectly squared-off tail being key ID features that we noticed.

Our last stop was Aumsville Ponds County Park. American Wigeon, Bufflehead, and a flyby group of Green-winged Teal were new ducks for the day. A flyover adult Bald Eagle drew our attention to a Double-crested Cormorant up in a conifer along the pond. And we encountered three different species of wren: a singing Pacific, a few very vocal Bewick's, and a Marsh Wren that we watched shake the wet grasses as it called but never provided more than a fleeting glimpse of itself.

It was wet, and it was chilly, but there were birds to be seen, and we went out there and found them!

Dom Valenti

Trip Report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/484443

Our next bird walks are as follows:

Saturday, March 7, 2026, at 9:00 am – Baskett Slough NWR.  Meet at the Rich Guadagno Trailhead Parking Lot on Coville Road at 9:00 am.  

Sunday, March 8, 2026, at 9:00 am – Minto-Brown Island Park Meet at 9:00 am at Parking Lot #3 (the last parking lot in the park).