Towheeblog

Fourteen of us birded Fairview Wetlands here in Salem, a trip organized by Saslem Audubon Society. We had over two dozen species in 90 minutes even thiough the marsh is drying out. One man who walks there on his own said he had no idea that swifts came to feed. Some of the smaller birds were only willing to be heard–grosbeak, yellowthroat, wren. Most exciting view was a flying Green Heron who then wing-walked along a slanting horizintal log. Most puzzling: a juvie Spotted Sandpiper on top of a four-foot high thin spar, perched there for half an hour. Nearby was a small flock of American Goldfinches intensely feeding on the mudflats next to a shrinking pool. What were they finding?

One nutria was spotted along with fresh beaver spore where a tree had recently been felled by North America’s smallest loggers.

Fairview Wetlands, Marion, Oregon, US
Jul 13, 2021 8:00 AM – 9:35 AM
25 species

Mallard  30
Mourning Dove  1
Vaux’s Swift  3
Killdeer  1
Spotted Sandpiper  2     including one juvenile perched on a short spar
Green Heron  1
Turkey Vulture  1
Red-tailed Hawk  2
Northern Flicker  3
California Scrub-Jay  1
American Crow  9
Black-capped Chickadee  1
Violet-green Swallow  25
Barn Swallow  3
Bewick’s Wren  1
American Robin  4
Cedar Waxwing  2
Lesser Goldfinch  4
American Goldfinch  15
Song Sparrow  7
Spotted Towhee  1
Red-winged Blackbird  40
Brown-headed Cowbird  1
Common Yellowthroat  2
Black-headed Grosbeak  1