Past Activity

Finley Wildlife Refuge

  • Start date: 01/22/2020

  • Start time: 12:00 AM

  • End date: 01/22/2020

  • End time: 11:59 PM

Description:

The emphasis of this trip is the hike. We will be driving to the Woodpecker trail and starting from there. This will combine both the Woodpecker Loop and the Mill Hill trails together. The trail will be wet and muddy. I usually wear rubber boots and bring another pair of shoes to change into. After the hike we will stop at the main bathroom and store at main office. At this point we may see acorn woodpeckers at the office feeder. For those that are interest on the way out we will stop at boardwalk to check out Cabell Marsh. Last I was there it was full of Tundra Swan, assorted ducks and geese. We will also check out McFadden Marsh of Bruce Road. We will try to arrange cars so that those just interest in the hike can leave directly after hike.

  • Event Leader: Jane Hackett

  • Event Leader Phone: 541-953-7046

  • Event Leader Email: hackett1575@comcast.net

  • Assistant Leader:

  • Event category: Trips

  • Area Type:

  • Departure Location: Eugene Target, W11th, parking lot closest to W11th

  • Rating: Easy

  • Roundtrip total drive miles: 75

  • Season: 2020

  • Permits Required:

  • Event Status: Passed

  • Supplies and Equipment Required: Water, snacks. Dress in layer, be prepared for rain and or dripping trees. Binoculars if you wish. I will have abrid book. Umbrellas are fine. Call with any questions.

  • participant prerequisites:

  • Conditions:

  • Total Distance: 5

  • Member Fees: 1

  • Elevation Gain: 100

  • Non-Member Fees: 5

  • Committee: Trips

  • Junior member fees:

Trip Report

The three of us took most of the day to cover the 5.5 miles on this trip. No rain but the trees were drippy, thick with moss and the trail wet and muddy. Keiko, took lots of pictures of the local fungi. She also got pictures of many different small flocks of song birds that hang out here during the winter. News to me I did not expect to see many small birds. We detoured out to the main office to use the bathroom and have lunch. After completing the hike we stopped at the board walk out to Cabell Marsh huge expanse of water with nothing to see. We heard a lot but everything must have been in the grass on the far side. One more brief stop at McFadden Marsh gave us something to look at. We counted 30+ white egrets grazing in the grass across from the parking lot. We had a red tail hawk setting on a branch over the trail to the blind that never moved as we walked under. He provided great viewing. In the Marsh itself we saw some 50 tundra swans along with pintails and other assorted ducks. The day also included great blue heron and harrier hawks.