Minto-Brown Island Park Bird Walk Report

[Mike U]

SAS Minto-Brown Island Park Bird Walk Report

February 2, 2023

 

On Thursday, Tim and I led our monthly Salem Audubon bird walk at Minto-Brown Island Park.  We were joined by 9 other birders. It was very cold at the start and warmed up later in the walk.  The temperature ranged from 25 to 42 degrees (last year it was 41 to 50 degrees).  We had fair skies with mostly calm winds. We walked 3.4 miles along the Red Osprey Loop for the most part with one trek down a dirt path .  We observed (saw or heard) 40 species (compared to last year when we observed 39 species).

                                                              

The highlights were as follows:

·         The most notable sighting was a Wrentit.  We got to see the Wrentit and shortly thereafter it started singing.  It had bright rufous underparts. What a stunning bird. I am not giving the specific location of this bird because we want to minimize any disturbance in hope that it will find a mate and nest in the park.

·         We observed all five of the expected woodpecker species including Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Red-breasted Sapsucker and Pileated Woodpecker (heard) and Northern Flicker.  Everyone in the group was able to see the Hairy Woodpecker that was along the trail near the eagle’s nest. The Pileated Woodpecker was heard along the trail next to the river a little before it turns to the right.

·         Along the river we saw two Bald Eagles (one adult and one sub-adult).  There were at least three duck species along the river including Mallard, Ring-necked Duck and Green-winged Teal.  We also saw a Killdeer and several Double-crested Cormorants.

·         When we first started the walk there was lots of activity just south of parking lot #3 on the other side of the blackberry bushes.  We saw 25 California Quail, at least five species of sparrows including a Fox Sparrow.  There were at least seven California Scrub-Jays that were very active going back and forth between the berry bushes and trees.

 

Our upcoming bird walks include:

 

Monday, February 13th 9:00 AM – Willow Lake WTP bird walk.  Meet in the parking lot off Windsor Island Road in Keizer, on your right, just before you enter the WWTP, which is closed to the public.

 

Sunday, February 19th 9:00 AM - Ankeny NWR field trip. Meet at the Ankeny Hill Nature Center parking lot.

 

We also have a Raptor ID webinar on Saturday, February 11th 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM.  It is being held via Zoom. The cost is only $10.00 a person. Each participants receives some nice handouts for future reference. For more information and to sign up for the webinar go to:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eVCFeldyQUmnD5IAeYRLGA

 

 

Please join us if you can.

 

Mike Unger

Keizer, OR

 

Minto-Brown Island Park Checklist Summary for February 2, 2023

Identified Species: 40

 

100 Cackling Goose
14 Canada Goose (moffitti/maxima)
21 Mallard
3 Green-winged Teal
2 Ring-necked Duck
25 California Quail
2 Pied-billed Grebe
2 Anna's Hummingbird
1 Killdeer
1 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Glaucous-winged Gull
3 Double-crested Cormorant
1 Northern Harrier
1 Cooper's Hawk
2 Bald Eagle
2 Red-breasted Sapsucker
2 Downy Woodpecker
1 Hairy Woodpecker
1 Pileated Woodpecker
2 Northern Flicker
2 American Kestrel
2 Steller's Jay
11 California Scrub-Jay
24 American Crow
2 Black-capped Chickadee
2 Bushtit
1 Wrentit
2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
2 White-breasted Nuthatch
3 Bewick's Wren
4 European Starling
6 American Robin
2 House Finch
3 Lesser Goldfinch
4 Fox Sparrow (Sooty)
4 White-crowned Sparrow
35 Golden-crowned Sparrow
5 Song Sparrow
3 Spotted Towhee
11 Red-winged Blackbird

 

View this checklist online at  https://ebird.org/checklist/S127464199