Finley & mushroom picking

[Lisa Millbank]

If you want to see the elk at the peak of their breeding season, now is the time to get to Finley!  This weekend at sunrise there was a lot of bugling.  Don and I saw some pretty frisky behavior out there...let's just say there are sure to be lots of calves next spring!

But beware; on Saturday, Finley was full of shotgun-totin' deer hunters, who were wandering in the fields.  Some had even made themselves right at home in an RV!  I just don't feel really safe there during hunting season, and I'm unhappy about the unnecessary deaths of the deer.  But, aside from my own feelings about that, fall is still a wonderful time to visit there overall. 

We saw a few coyotes, and a Northern Harrier was harassing one.  The coyote seemed to ignore the upset harrier.

A big cougar had left a long trail of faint tracks in some gravel that has been spread in parts of the McFadden Marsh dike trail.  If you want to see the tracks, you can start looking in the gravel patches right as you leave Bruce Rd. on the trail, although in certain lighting conditions they are difficult to see and they're getting walked on by people.  At one of the water control gates the cougar had walked into some sloppy mud and his toes had spread out, making his tracks look enormous.  I attached a picture with a penny for scale.  There are also average-sized raccoon tracks in the photo.  The elk have been hanging out on the east side of Muddy Creek quite a bit, and it makes sense that this cougar has too.

There were still some hardy Elegant Tarweeds and Willamette Valley Gumweeds blooming on the prairies.

Some new fall arrivals for us were Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Fox Sparrow.  Golden-crowned Kinglets, Varied Thrushes and Cackling Geese were becoming more and more common.  There were still occasional Western Tanagers and Turkey Vultures, and lots of Violet-green and Barn Swallows on their way south.  Greater White-fronted Geese continued to pass by.  Greater Yellowlegs were still hanging around at McFadden Marsh with lots of Great Egrets and lots of Red-shouldered Hawks.  We saw at least 5 beautiful White-tailed Kites.

We also visited the Alsea Falls area and found some tasty mushrooms.  We picked Sulfur Shelf, Pacific Golden Chanterelle, and Cauliflower Mushroom.  I attached a photo of some fancy-looking Scaly Chanterelles, which upset some people's stomachs, but other people think they're fine to eat.  I also found a cute little Ensatina under a piece of bark and attached a photo.

Lisa

www.neighborhood-naturalist.com