[obol] LEAST BITTERN-Killin Wetland

[Lars and Gail Norgren]

      This is a prize bird. Too bad parking
is non-existent. Go west on Cedar Canyon Rd
from the north end of Banks(from Portland/
Hillsboro take Hwy 26 and exit on Banks Rd.
This goes straight to Banks and turns into
Cedar Canyon Rd when it crosses Hwy 47/Main St..
Cedar Canyon Rd tops a hill at McKibben Rd
then begins a gradual desecent to an arm of
the wetland. A modest farm house is in the open
on the south side of the road half way down the
grade. You will see an immense house with
cupola across the wetland bay. I saw the bird
twice from Cedar Canyon Rd, parking just beyond
the modest farm house. An old fence line (just
posts, no wire) crosses the water and the least bittern
was just south of it on the western(far) shore.
I first saw it completely in the open, with
binocular. It was feeding slowly toward the south(left).
I went home and got a scope. It was still present
when I returned at 9:20, but a foot or so into
the grass and only parts of it visible at a time.
It is very easy to overlook when behind a little
grass. Every now and then its head sticks up and
is more obvious. As I said, there is no adequate
parking. The ditch is filled with very coarse rock
and allows pulling over somewhat, but you can't get
completely off the pavement. Traffic is extremely
light today. A farm access road at the bottom of
  the slope has some potential for higher clearance
vehicles. Then you could walk back up the hill to
scan the western shore. Last night was unusually
cool, which may have lured it into the open. I
first saw it at 7:45. It is rapidly warming up.
Tomorrow morning very early might work again, and
there will be even less traffic. It appears to be
a juvenile bird. At times I could only see its back
through the grass and it looked cerulean- dull
bluish grey, a color present on parts of a Great blue.
Not a highly visible color, but contrasts with both
dead and living vegetation. Otherwise it is quite
pale. At first glance I thought it was some kind of
shorebird.
Lars Norgren
MANNING OREGON