The weather this week continued unsettled, windy, and wet. Water levels in the wetlands continued to flood the footbridge keeping birders from walking around Pintail Pond. The Kingfisher Marsh viewstand was accessible most of the week, though the trail was a bit soggy in places.
A couple hundred TUNDRA SWANS were on the Preserve, mostly staying west of Hwy 219 and visible from Wood Street. A Willamette Valley record 259 CANVASBACK were there on January 12. Also there that day was a lone GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE.
The WHITE-THROATED SPARROW and RED-SHOULDERED HAWK remain. A PEREGRINE FALCON was reported during the week. A locally rare HERMIT THRUSH was reported during the week.
A pair of HOODED MERGANSERS took up daily residence in the pond just below the Education Center, giving everyone great views. The BALD EAGLES continue to fly-by every few hours, raising all the ducks, geese, and swans en mass. The eagles have been hanging around their nest on the north end and should start housekeeping there soon.
On 1/14 a flock of an amazing 28 WESTERN MEADOWLARKS were singing and chattering away in the trees. A few are seen or heard rarely in winter. Meadowlarks form into larger flocks in February and March before migrating to breeding grounds east of the Cascades or in the southern Willamette Valley. This species no longer breeds commonly in the northern end of the Willamette Valley as it once did.
Greater White-fronted Goose
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Tundra Swan
Gadwall
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
American Coot
Glaucous-winged Gull
Mourning Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Bushtit
White-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick's Wren
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch