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

[Daniel Farrar]

Obol,
    Steve's post reminds me there was a drake REDHEAD on Kirk Pond on
Tuesday afternoon.  There were many COMMON MERGANERS on the lake, I suspect
they move around all day and Steve saw a small percent of the total.  Other
waterfowl in general seem to be arriving.  I've had Lesser Scaup among
others in the last week on the lake.  Towards the middle of the pool is
where birds most like to hang out.  The gull flock continues to grow at the
dam, but no Bonaparte's yet, just the usuals.

Daniel Farrar

On 11/1/07, Steve McDonald <bigrocketman3 at webtv.net> wrote:

>      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
>
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-- 
Daniel Farrar
Eugene, Oregon
jdanielfarrar at gmail.com
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