Yesterday I checked out the lake at Cascades Gateway Park in Salem and then the lake next to Lowe’s across from the airport. The latter had mostly Ruddy Ducks. Gateway had the varied birds seen above. There were two kingfishers not too far apart but too far for photos. The ducks above are urban mallard mongrels. I see some Muscovy genes showing through.
At Gateway is Walter Wirth Lake which is frequented by fishers (the two-footed kind). The lake nest to Lowe’s parking lot is called Mission Lake. It is a gull hotspot on the Christmas Bird Count, if you get there as they are waking up just before dawn and dispersing to their chosen scrounging locations for the day.
The waxwings at Gateway were busily fly-catching, two small flocks in different treetops.
SALEM CBC AREA #1, Marion, Oregon, US
Oct 7, 2022
22 species (+1 other taxa)
Domestic goose sp. (Domestic type) X
Canada Goose X
Gadwall 6
American Wigeon 3
Mallard X
Ring-necked Duck 2
Ruddy Duck 40
Pied-billed Grebe 3
American Coot 17
Killdeer 6
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Great Egret 1
Belted Kingfisher 2
Northern Flicker 1
California Scrub-Jay 3
American Crow X
Barn Swallow 4
European Starling X
Cedar Waxwing 30
House Finch X
White-crowned Sparrow 4
Song Sparrow 2
Brewer’s Blackbird 8
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