[obol] Fern Ridge & Delta Ponds---Eugene

[Steve McDonald]

     On Sunday and Tuesday, I went to Delta Ponds in the afternoon and
found some waterbirds newly arrived in the territory.  There were 12 Am.
Wigeons, 4 Gadwalls, DB Cormorants (750 in the nearby river) and a dozen
Pied-billed Grebes.  Five Wood Ducks were in the NW pond and an unusual
thing was an adult pair, closely together with a young drake, that had
no winter plumage yet.  Perhaps, when the ducklings are old enough to
fly, a drake may rejoin his mate and accompany them.

     I was treated to an aerial show of Crows attacking a large
Red-tailed Hawk that soared overhead.  A rare sight these days was a
Muskrat.
One mature Bald Eagle appeared near dark on Tuesday.  A kingfisher
perched on a post with a fish that seemed too large to swallow and just
sat there with it for a long time.  Mallards were feasting on the thick
duckweed.  There was one great Egret and many GB Herons.  A flock of 15
Lesser Scaup were in the river.  The causeway on the bikepath gives
excellent and easily accessible viewpoints along its length, beginning
near Valley River Center.

     Wednesday, I went to Fern Ridge Dam, stopping at Lane Memorial
Gardens on the way.  At the cemetery, one young Snow Goose accompanied
the usual Cackling Geese (tavernii and minima) and Western Canada Geese.  

     Below Fern Ridge Dam, several dozen Common Mergansers were in the
river, almost all of them immature males.  A couple may have been older
males, that didn't have all their winter colors yet.  I saw no females,
which is usual here.  They apparently winter somewhere else.  Very few
gulls were there, with nothing uncommon.  A dozen Great Egrets and 4 GB
Herons were in the river or nearby ponds.  About 100 DB Cormorants were
in the area. On the lake, I saw no birds, except 4 Western Grebes.  No
geese were flying when I left at 4:45.  Last Friday, many geese of all
the ordinary types flew around, including about 100 Dusky Canada Geese.
Not many ducks seem to be in the region yet.

     Pictures of all these birds are on my Flickr album at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22121562@N00/  

Steve McDonald