Mink, Cassin's Finch and other birds in the snow at E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area

[Joel Geier]

Today I went for a 6-mile walk around E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area, making use of the road grid from the former Camp Adair. Days with fresh snow on the Willamette Valley floor can often be good days to see what birds are around.

Highlights included a MINK dashing across a road near the old BOMARC missile test site (a Cold War relic, never actually used since Congress defunded the program, now popular mainly with geocachers), a male CASSIN'S FINCH south of the skeet range, and lots of SNIPE and KILLDEER in odd places, including out on the ice of partly-frozen ponds. I also saw a couple of MYRTLE WARBLERS foraging along the thin edge of the ice of another pond. RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS were also foraging on the ground.

The full list and more notes on species behavior etc. can be found here:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S213143580

Best of luck to folks in rural areas who might lose power with freezing rain on the way!

--

Joel Geier

Tampico Ridge north of Corvallis