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Fall Bird Walk at Soap Creek Valley - September 3, 2022

Soap Creek Properties Bird Walk Report, by Mike Unger (September 3, 2022)

On Saturday morning, we held the Fall Bird Walk sponsored by the Luckiamute Watershed Council.  We had 13 people participate in the walk including a few of the property owners.  It was a very pleasant morning.  The temperatures ranged from the mid-50s to upper 60s with mostly clear skies. We walked about 1.9 miles as we covered the many varied habitats of the properties including restored oak savanna, meadows, wetlands, and riparian forest. The bird activity was very slow as we only observed (saw or heard) 20 species.  The year before we observed 27 species.
 
Many thanks to the property owners for their hospitality and opening their properties for the walk. The owners including Janet, Faye, and Kevin shared information about their efforts to restore the properties to their natural state.  Faye also shared information including a poster about Letitia Carson and her legacy as it relates to the Soap Creek Valley.  Also, thanks to the Soap Creek Schoolhouse Foundation for their contribution to the walk.
 
The highlights were as follows:

• We observed all six of the expected woodpecker species during the walk. The woodpeckers included Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Acorn Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker and Northern Flicker. 
• The Steller’s Jays were very active and noisy.  We saw and heard the jays throughout the walk.
• Some in the group saw seven (7) Wood Ducks on the pond.  The ducks scurried into the undercover before everyone could see them.
• There were still some Western Wood-Pewees around as they prepare to migrate south to the tropics.
• With the wet spring and very dry summer (over 60 days without rain) there were no berries for the birds.  So, the number of Cedar Waxwings, American Robins, Band-tailed Pigeons who were eating madrone berries last year were greatly diminished.
• The story this year were the number of bird species we did not observe including any accipiters, bluebirds, crossbills, and only one warbler species.  

Mike Unger
Keizer, OR
 
Soap Creek Properties Bird Walk Checklist Summary for September 3, 2022

Identified Species: 20

7 Wood Duck
6 Wild Turkey
1 Mourning Dove
3 Turkey Vulture
1 Red-breasted Sapsucker
5 Acorn Woodpecker
1 Downy Woodpecker
1 Hairy Woodpecker
1 Pileated Woodpecker
5 Northern Flicker
5 Western Wood-Pewee
18 Steller's Jay
1 Common Raven
2 Black-capped Chickadee
3 Red-breasted Nuthatch
3 Cedar Waxwing
2 Dark-eyed Junco
2 Song Sparrow
1 Spotted Towhee
1 Orange-crowned Warbler
2 passerine sp.
 
View this checklist online at: https://ebird.org/checklist/S118025366​

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A special thank you to Benton Soil & Water Conservation District for providing funding that made this event free of charge to all participants!