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Fall Bird Walk at LSNA South - September 29, 2024

LSNA South Bird Walk Report by Mike Unger (September 29, 2024)
All photography courtesy of Jordan Perez

California Scrub Jay

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Spotted Towhee

Tim, Todd, and I of Salem Audubon Society along with Suzanne from LWC and Steve Hernandez from State Parks led a bird walk at Luckiamute State Natural Area (South) located near Albany Oregon. 16 other birdwatchers joined us. We walked a total of 1.9 miles around the loop checking for birds and nature in oak savanna, forest, ponds, and open spaces. The group was met with a nice morning with clear skies and temperatures ranging from 48 degrees at the start to 63 degrees at the end of the bird walk. The winds were mostly calm with a breeze up to 10 m.p.h. We divided up into two groups with 12 birders in one group and 9 birders in the other group. The bird activity was good overall with a total of 42 species identified (seen and/or heard).

Group 1 observed 30 species while Group 2 observed 35 species.

The highlights were as follows:

• We saw a lot of sparrows with group 1 observing five sparrow species and group 2 observing seven species. The observations included Fox and Lincoln’s Sparrows as well as 18 Song Sparrows and 13 Golden-crowned Sparrows.
• Group 1 observed an Osprey, Black Phoebe, and Hutton’s Vireo. While group 2 observed a Wood Duck in flight, Downy Woodpecker, Purple Finch, and​ Ruby-crowned Kinglet. One person heard a Pileated Woodpecker near the parking lot.
• Both groups observed a Great Blue Heron in a field, Belted Kingfisher, White-breasted Nuthatch, and Golden-crowned Kinglet.
• The bird of the day was the Cedar Waxwing. On the north side of the natural area, we saw plethora of waxwings. In total we saw 64 Cedar Waxwings with many in large groups.
• The other species that dominated the landscape were the California Scrub-Jay (36) and Steller’s Jay (12). These jays were located throughout the entire area.
• The only warbler species observed was the Yellow-rumped Warbler with 22 observed during the walk.
• We missed many species including Anna’s Hummingbird, Mourning Dove, and American Crow.

We are looking forward to more LWC bird walks in the spring. In the meantime, Salem Audubon offers several bird walks each month. Just go to their website at salemaudubon.org and look under the “Events” tab.

Mike Unger
Keizer, OR​

Species observed:

Canada Goose 
Wood Duck
California Quail
Killdeer
Rock Pigeon
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Belted Kingfisher
Red-tailed Hawk
Acorn Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker (Pacific)
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker (Heard only)
Black Phoebe
Hutton's Vireo
Steller's Jay (Coastal)
California Scrub-Jay
Black-capped Chickadee
Barn Swallow
Bushtit
​

​​Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
​Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick's Wren
European Starling
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
Purple Finch
House Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
Fox Sparrow (Sooty)
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Spotted Towhee
Red-winged Blackbird
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Western Tanager

Identified Species: 42

​Complete lists here:
Group 1: https://ebird.org/checklist/S196937560
Group 2: https://ebird.org/checklist/S196924214