Paul Evans, Dominic Valenti and I birded Willamette Mission SP this morning. It was good to see so many birds have survived our heat dome. Best of all were two groups of Wood Ducks on Mission Lake, mostly birds of the year. The young are growing into adult-style plumage and were nearing full size.
Songs and calls were heard from many species–Swainson’s Thrush, Song Sparrow, Bewick’s Wren, Purple and House Finches goldfinch, Downy drumming, grosbeaks. Robins in the grass, creeper on the tree trunk, Bewick;s singing from under cover. It seemed almost normal, and we stopped long before the tem hit 90.
If all goes well there will be a fine crop this year of blackberries, madrone berries and fruit on the red-osier dogwood. The dragonflies around Mission Lake were abundant. We heard one bullfrog, saw many ground and tree squirrels.
Willamette Mission SP, Marion, Oregon, US
Jun 29, 2021
28 species
Wood Duck 9
Anna’s Hummingbird 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Osprey 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-breasted Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker X
Western Wood-Pewee X
Steller’s Jay X
California Scrub-Jay X
American Crow X
Black-capped Chickadee X
Tree Swallow 3
Bushtit 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Brown Creeper 1
Bewick’s Wren X
American Robin 15
Cedar Waxwing 6
House Finch X
Purple Finch X
American Goldfinch X
Song Sparrow X
Spotted Towhee X
Yellow Warbler X
Black-headed Grosbeak X
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
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