Bicycle birding south of Corvallis

[Lisa Millbank]

For a nice open country bike ride/grocery errand today, we rode south on 53rd St and then Bellfountain Rd, then east on Llewellyn Rd. We tried riding Smith Loop, but part of it was flooded. We visited part of the other end of Smith Loop, a little of Kiger Island Dr and various parts of Willamette Park that were not flooded. And we finished in South Corvallis by sunset.

Aside from 4 BLACK PHOEBES, nothing extraordinary but a nice sunny day with good looks at common birds. It was a good day to see WESTERN BLUEBIRDS. Our first batch of bluebirds were radiant in the morning sun on 53rd St. We enjoyed close encounters with them while they hawked bugs from the fence on the roadside. Their feathers were all fluffed up in the cool morning air. One male briefly landed a few feet from Don's feet. We encountered a few dozen more here and throughout the day.

There were lots of RED-TAILED HAWKS around as expected, and we got a good look at one flying close by us on 53rd.  A single ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK soared in the distance in the direction the Philomath sewage treatment ponds. The only other raptors we saw were a few AMERICAN KESTRELS, a few NORTHERN HARRIERS and one SHARP-SHINNED HAWK.  Over about 35 miles of riding, we never saw a single Bald Eagle.

On Llewellyn Rd, we stopped near Muddy Creek and watched some YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS eat some poison-oak berries. We later got 2 BLACK PHOEBES at different locations on Llewellyn Rd.  A HUTTON'S VIREO was singing, the first we've heard this year.

On the the south part part of Smith Loop, we were puzzled by an extremely loud BLACK PHOEBE call, but it turned out that it was calling from inside an open metal barn!  The sound seemed to be amplified by the structure.  There was probably a good supply of bugs in there.  Smith Loop was flooded near an oxbow, so we turned around and headed back to Hwy 99W.

From Hwy 99W, we heard some flocks of HORNED LARKS and AMERICAN PIPITS.

On Kiger Island there were several GREAT BLUE HERONS and HOODED MERGANSERS in the flooded fields.

 

In Willamette Park, a flock of 8 COMMON MERGANSERS flew south over the Willamette River.  Further north we watched a flock of GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS come close and also got good looks at a pair of  HUTTON'S VIREOS.

Much of Willamette Park and the Crystal Lake Sports Fields were flooded. We watched a DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT take off from the giant lake that was formerly the north parking lot by the sports fields! We had to turn around and go all the way back to the south end of the park to finally head north on Crystal Lake Dr.

Our last BLACK PHOEBE of the day was the same one Lisa has been watching almost daily at the south Co-op location.

 Don Boucher and Lisa Millbank

www.neighborhood-naturalist.com