[obol] Finley NWR: Lewis's Woodpecker

[Don Boucher]

Hello,

9/9/07 Sunday, Finley National Wildlife Refuge
Lisa and I spent the day, sunrise to sunset, with some fabulous sightings. We saw a Lewis's Woodpecker in the vicinity of the barn near Bruce Road. There were barely any shorebirds at all, just a Greater Yellowlegs and a Killdeer in one of the dike ponds leading to the barn.

At morning twilight, we heard migrating Swainson's Thrushes come raining out of the sky to their daytime roosts. There were other songbird migrants such as Wilson's Warblers and Western Tanagers. At Cabell Marsh two Great Egrets were very quarrelsome and great entertainment. The Barn Owls in the Bruce Road barn may be spotted if you peek into the windows where they roost at the very crest of the roof. In the field south of Cabell Marsh, a Great Horned Owl startled a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds attempting to roost for the night. In a nearby field, early that morning, we watched a mother coyote with 2 rambunctious pups hunt for rodents. We heard many bull Elk bugling. A cow elk walked right up to us, unaware of our presence, while we were in the ash forest near Muddy Creek (west side, near the Bruce Road barn). We were downwind from her and it she got within 40 feet of us before she noticed us. Green Darners dragonflies were numerous in open fields and at Cabell Marsh, we spotted a Sheep Moth, dazzling with its orange and black wings, fuzzy yellow thorax and black and white striped abdomen.

Some of these events made for good video and photos, which, in the not too distant future will be shown at events here in Corvallis. I'll keep everybody posted.

Don Boucher
Corvallis, OR
www.Neighborhood-Naturalist.com
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