Six intrepid birders joined us to drive along the rocky shores from Boiler Bay to Devil's Punch Bowl. Trip leader Mark Elliott pointed out the sights and the birds as the weather improved from site-to-site.
Sightings of the day:
Western Grebe • Great Blue Heron • Canada Goose • Cackling Goose • Harlequin Duck • Bald Eagle • Peregrine Falcon • Black Oystercatcher • Black Turnstone • Western Gull • California Gull • Anna's Hummingbird • Steller's Jay • American Crow • Song Sparrow • Fox Sparrow
Sponsored by Lincoln City Parks and Recreation and Explore Lincoln City, ten birders walked the trails around Spring Lake searching for various bird species, whether being seen or heard. About an hour into the walk the weather got progressive worse, going from light to heavy showers. And because of the rainfall, we didn't get photos of the birds we saw. Nonetheless, everyone enjoyed being outside.
Sightings of the day:
American Robin • Varied Thrush • American Crow • Golden-crowned Kinglet • Rufous Hummingbird • Spotted Towhee • Canada Goose • Stellers Jay • Red Crossbill • Ruby-crowned Kinglet • Chestnut-backed Chickadee • Pacific Wren
Saturday’s birdwalk began with a big question mark. Sponsored by Lincoln City Parks and Recreation, it started at Hostetler Park with trip leader Mark Elliott welcoming 31 participants. We had birders from Pacific City, Waldport, Tacoma, WA, Keizer, Brooks, Salem, Depoe Bay, Albany, Dallas, and Tillamook Community College. The weather challenged us to stay dry. We lost! We also lost entrance to the boardwalk in the direction to Devil's Lake State Park due to repairs. It didn’t take us long to realize that Devil’s Lake State Park was completely flooded and closed to everyone, so we decided that we needed to go to Regatta Park and check out the birds there. The walk through the woods and neighborhood gave us a few birds and kept the group out of high water!
Sightings of the day:
Pacific Wren
Mallard
Red-tailed Hawk
American Robin
Canada Goose
Bald Eagle
Rock Dove
Common Raven
American Crow
Bufflehead
Western Grebe
Western Gull
Lesser Scaup
12 birders that joined trip leader, Camden Bruner, got a break from the rain but did have to fight the wind. We got good looks at a variety of waterfowl but the birds of the day were the Marbled Godwits, Whimbrel, and a Eurasian Wigeon. It just proves Birding can be fun in all kinds of weather.
Sightings of the day:
American Wigeon ~ Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal ~ Surf Scoter
Bufflehead ~ Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Horned Grebe ~ Red-necked Grebe
` Rock Pigeon ~ Anna's Hummingbird
` Whimbrel ~ Marbled Godwit
Mew Gull ~ Western Gull
California Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Western-Glaucous-winged (hybrid)
Pacific Loon ~ Common Loon
Brandt's Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron ~ Bald Eagle
Belted Kingfisher ~ Northern Flicker
Merlin ~ American Crow
Pacific Wren ~ European Starling
Fox Sparrow ~ White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow ~ Song Sparrow
To say the weather was crazy during our Taft/Cutler City Bird Walk is an understatement. There were nine of us that forged through the wind and rain in search of birds. There weren't many to find until we turned a corner and heard bird music so loud that we could not believe what we were hearing. Following the sound we could see small flocks of Starlings and Juncos going back and forth from tree to tree. Looking further up in the sky we spotted three Bald Eagles that were upsetting the birds. We right then and there decided it was worth it. Happy ending to the rainy day!
Sightings of the day:
American Crow
Western Gull
Rock Pigeon
Dark-eyed Junco
Black- capped Chickadee
Anna's Hummingbird
Bald Eagle
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Steller's Jay
Song Sparrow
