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Past Activity

Sauvie Island Birding

  • Start date: 03/03/2015

  • Start time: 12:00 AM

  • End date: 03/03/2015

  • End time: 11:59 PM

Description:

LET’S FLOCK TO SAUVIE ISLAND FOR BIRD WATCHING
Early March is the best time of the year to see the greatest concentration of birds in Oregon gathered at
Sauvie Island, thirty miles west of Portland. Rick Ahrens will help us identify the birds we see. The birds are preparing for the flight north, putting on muscle and fat for their long journey. The 12,000 plus acres of wildlife management area is alive with birds; snow and Canada geese, swans, sand hill cranes, ducks, shore birds, egrets, herons, eagles, hawks and song birds. The ancestors of these birds kept Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery awake all night when they camped on the island’s shore line. Sauvie Island is bordered on the north by the Columbia River and on the east by the Willamette River. We will stop at designated spots to observe the birds and to view the Willamette River. The end of the road is three and a half miles from the Columbia but the light house at the point is visible. BRING A SACK LUNCH.
Cost: Members $47.00 Non-Members $49.00 - Due Feb. 10
RESERVATIONS AND CHECKS TO:
Janet Speelman (541) 344-3019
1496 W. 28th Ave., Eugene, OR 97405

  • Event Leader: Mary Ellen West

  • Event Leader Phone: 541-342-8672

  • Event Leader Email: 000175@obsidians.org

  • Assistant Leader: Rick Ahrens

  • Event category: Bus Trips

  • Area Type:

  • Departure Location: See Trip Description

  • Rating:

  • Roundtrip total drive miles:

  • Season: 2015

  • Permits Required:

  • Event Status: Passed

  • Supplies and Equipment Required:

  • participant prerequisites:

  • Conditions:

  • Total Distance:

  • Member Fees: 47

  • Elevation Gain:

  • Non-Member Fees: 49

  • Committee: Bus Trips

  • Junior member fees: —

Trip Report

Birds in the air, birds in the water, birds feeding on the ground, birds in nests, birds everywhere. The experience of visiting Sauvie Island in late winter is to see an assembly of snow and Canada geese, swans, sand hill cranes, ducks, egrets, herons, eagles and hawks preparing for their journey to northern breeding grounds or nesting locally. On March 3rd, the first Obsidian bus trip of 2015 had the experience of a beautiful sunny day with four Cascade peaks visible plus a great show of sand hill cranes, eagles, ducks, geese and a very large heron rookery alive with great blues. Sauvie Island is west of Portland with an exit bridge off Highway 30 onto a large island, bordered by the Columbia River, the Multnomah Channel and a bit by the Willamette River. The “big show” is accessed from Reeder Road several miles from the bridge. There are several designated viewing spots in this wildlife management area plus birds in the fields and trees. At the end of Reeder Road is an easy access to the Columbia River. Obsidians walked on the beach and could see the Warrior Rock Lighthouse three and a half miles away. Rick Ahrens was our expert birder and naturalist, a great contribution to the trip. Thank you, Rick.