Bird Walks

Summer walks are not always walks! In July, Dick Lamster and Maeve Sowles will lead a bird-watching-by-canoe/kayak trip to Fern Ridge Lake. You will need to furnish your own canoe or kayak and lifejackets (required). Each craft ten feet or longer will need an Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Permit. See boatoregon.com for details. Bring binoculars, if you have them. To reserve a spot on this trip and/or to get more information, call Dick at 541.343.8664.

In another departure from the norm, we will head to the coast. Daniel Farrar will lead a walk in Florence from 8:30 to 11:30 am. People who want to stay longer can. We plan to meet up with him on the road to the South Jetty, where you pull in to buy parking passes. Carpooling to get there is preferred. For those who wish to carpool, we will leave at 7 a.m. from the South Eugene High School parking lot, corner of 19th and Patterson.

It’s that time of year again! Get ready to spend an entire day in the field, trying to record as many species as possible. Last year, more than 30,000 citizen scientists helped to record more than 7,000 species in a single 24-hour period. Our LCAS team plans to follow the same general route as in previous years. It will include Skinner’s Butte, Alton Baker Park, Fern Ridge, various spots at the coast, and any other hotspots with potential to produce exciting birds.

Maitreya will lead a walk at Perkins Peninsula. Details will be posted on the LCAS Facebook page: facebook.com/pages/La

Tom and Allison Mickel will lead a walk at the Willamette Confluence of the Nature Conservancy reserve. Details will be posted on the LCAS Facebook page: facebook.com/pages/Lane-County-Audubon-Society/330177413824, and on the website: laneaudubon.org.

We know we can expect the Vaux’s Swifts to arrive with a warm wind from the south sometime between early April and early May. What we don’t know is exactly when. The timing of the migration has varied recently, with the birds coming through earlier, which makes it hard for humans to know when to have a party to celebrate their arrival!

Don Holtgrieve will lead a walk through some of the property managed by the MacKenzie River Trust. Details will be posted on the LCAS Facebook page: facebook.com/pages/Lane-County-Audubon-Society/330177413824, and on the website: laneaudubon.org.

Gerry Meenaghan will lead a walk at and around Lane Community College. Details will be posted on the LCAS Facebook page: facebook.com/pages/Lane-County-Audubon-Society/330177413824, and on the website: laneaudubon.org.

Caryn Stoess and Duncan Evered will lead a walk at William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge. Details will be posted on the LCAS Facebook page: facebook.com/pages/Lane-County-Audubon-Society/330177413824, and on the website: laneaudubon.org. FMI: Rebecca Waterman at 541.653.3354 or fieldtrips@laneaudubon.org

The Coast Fork Willamette Watershed Council and the Friends of Buford Park & Mt. Pisgah are collaborating to perform the 3rd annual bird count at Turtle Flats! Turtle Flats is our 63-acre property where we are doing extensive floodplain restoration. This site, where the Coast Fork and Middle Fork of the Willamette River come together, is host to a diversity of species. Birders will survey a portion of the area, including some of the old gravel ponds. The survey will contribute valuable bird data over time as restoration takes place at the site.