[obol] Big Sit at Fern Ridge

[steve Gordon]

Today (5-5-07) at the viewing platform at the end of Royal Avenue at 
Fern Ridge Res. (Lane Co.), we performed a Big Sit as a fund raiser for 
the Willamette Resources and Educational Network (WREN), the non-profit 
educational organization for the West Eugene Wetlands.  Complete with 
lawn chairs and snacks, Steve Gordon, Cary Kerst, Emily Steel, and 
Elvira Muniz started at 6:00 am, and Rick Ahrens joined us at 8:00 am.  
In over 8 hours we recorded 55 species from one place, including: 
Redhead, Western Grebe, American White Pelican, American Bittern, Bald 
Eagle (10 with 1 ad.), Virginia Rail and Sora, singing Yellow-breasted 
Chat, and Yellow-headed Blackbird. A Black Tern was also seen by Emily 
on a walk that we didn't count as a Sit bird.

Highlights included 5 River Otter; 2 adult Virginia Rails with four 
black, fuzzy chicks; and an American Bittern that stayed below the 
platform for about an hour (when another American Bittern flew 
overhead, the bird on the shore did its "pumping" call one time). In 
the floating vegetation below the platform, Song Sparrows, Red-winged 
Blackbirds, and Virginia Rails ventured onto the mat to collect 
mouthfuls of insects to feed young. All day long the Song Sparrows 
ventured out and young Song Sparrows on the shore whined for more food. 
We determined that they were all collecting emerging damselflies with 
six to eight damsels each trip. They would tally hundreds per family 
over the course of the day. And still we saw dozens of emergent Pacific 
Forktails along the trail on the walk out. Nature and the food chain 
are amazing phenomena.