A Salem Audubon field trip to Baskett Slough, just days before the trails all re-open. We met a larger group of birders, down from Portland. Before the other birders arrived I saw a roughie, snipe and a Lincoln’s Sparrow along Covill Road. Still our whole group found 34 species in two hours.
One highlight was a series of eagle alarms among the waterfowl. Thousands of cacklers aloft. Dozens of ducks racing across a pond to the other side. There was a first-year eagle presuming he could swoop down in plain view and grab a meal. Of course, the bird was too slow and far too obvious to make a kill. His talons remained empty. I sent him a telepathic notice to go look for road kill.
Meadowlarks and red-wings were heard singing from all directions.
STATE BIRD SINGS PERSONAL ANTHEM:
THE ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK IN BARE OAK
EAGLES:
WATER BIRDS
Behind coots, white dot above Killdeer, yeloow dot over pair of LB Dowitchers on their way north.
Baskett Slough NWR, Polk, Oregon, US
Mar 27, 2022
37 species
Cackling Goose 5000
Northern Shoveler X
Gadwall X
American Wigeon X
Mallard X
Northern Pintail X
Green-winged Teal X
Ring-necked Duck X
Bufflehead X
Ruddy Duck X
Mourning Dove X
American Coot X
Killdeer 1
Least Sandpiper 12
Long-billed Dowitcher 2
Wilson’s Snipe 1
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 7
Northern Harrier 1
Cooper’s Hawk 1
Bald Eagle 5
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Rough-legged Hawk 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
American Kestrel 2
California Scrub-Jay 1
American Crow X
Common Raven 7
Black-capped Chickadee X
Tree Swallow X
European Starling X
American Robin X
Lesser Goldfinch 1
Lincoln’s Sparrow 1
Spotted Towhee 1
Western Meadowlark X
Red-winged Blackbird X
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