Field Guide to Birding Columbia County (Oregon)

Monday, 19 May 14

Field Guide to Birding Columbia County (Oregon)

This is the seventh installment of the “Field Guide”.  It is an account of one of the three sites found in proximity to the town of Scappoose – the Scappoose Bottoms.

This guide will be published in a series of installments:
Overview of Columbia County (5/9/14 post)
Habitats of Columbia County (5/9/14 post)
Birds of Columbia County – Overview (5/9/14 post)
Birding Sites of Columbia County – Individual installments, and associated Bird Lists of the Sites in Columbia County:
Introduction (5/12/14 post)

Columbia River Sites – South to North
Sauvie Island (5/12/14 post)
Scappoose WTP and Kessi Pond (5/14/14 post)
Crown Zellerbach Trail – East End (5/15/14 post)
Scappoose Bottoms. (5/19/14 post)

(A link to a downloadable copy of this guide is found in the first installment of this series)

Columbia River Birding Areas

4) Scappoose Bottoms – Honeyman Rd (OBT):

Location/Directions: The loop starts at the Dike Rd intersection right next to the Crown Z trail, 1.7 miles from Hwy 30 where it is Columbia Avenue. Here is a map of the area with suggested stops.

Habitat and Birds: Honeyman is 7.5 miles long from Dike Rd (zero your odometer) to when it intersects with W Lane Rd. It is mainly agricultural land managed for cattle. The last 1.4 miles is up out of the bottoms and into a rural residential area. There are numerous places to pull off the road and all are worth the stop to scan the fields and scrub plantations for raptors, herons, egrets and ducks. Sparrows can be thick and a special stop should be made 1.4 – 1.5 miles past Dike Rd. There is a small pullout on the west side of the road just past the line of tall Cottonwoods. These trees and the field to the east can be very productive. Especially in winter for sparrows where you can easily pick up all regular wintering sparrows including White-throated. Scan all of the visible tree tops for raptors, eagles, and falcons. Continuing on the road north there are all manner of opportunities to pull over and search the road sides for sparrows, scan for raptors and ducks in the flooded fields and sloughs. Traffic is typically light so stopping on the road is usually safe. At 3.6 miles past Dike road there is another place to pull over on the west, just past the Ellis’ ponded slough. There are usually ducks on the pond in winter and the willow thickets to the south are productive in migration. The fields should be scanned for geese, ducks and waders. At 3.9 miles at the 90 degree property line curve is a great place to pull out. Scanning the fence posts and trees in this area usually produces a Rough-legged Hawk in the winter. Short eared owls have been reported here as well and Northern Shrikes have turned up now and then in winter. The Ellis’ manure sprinkler draws large concentrations of gulls, but it is usually pretty far from the road but not always. A Glaucous Gull was reported from this area. The rest of the road is about the same; ponds, sloughs, and road side kack. At mile 4.9 there is another little pull off on the north and across the road is a stand of Garry Oaks. Who knows what can turn up here? I keep hoping for Acorn Woodpeckers. Note needs to be made of the Cal Portland Wildlife Preserve which is just another 1000 ft up the road. I personally do not know what this place holds as permission is required to enter and the office is always closed on the weekends. Maybe one could call ahead of time. Rarities include: Ross’ Goose, White-tailed Kite, Golden Eagle, Northern Goshawk, Franklin’s Gull, Glaucous Gull, Short-eared Owl, and Black Phoebe.

Scappoose Bottoms (eHS) – 136 species (5/12/14)

Greater White-fronted Goose	Snow Goose	Ross’s Goose
Cackling Goose	Canada Goose	Trumpeter Swan
Tundra Swan	Wood Duck	Gadwall
Eurasian Wigeon	American Wigeon	Mallard
Cinnamon Teal	Northern Shoveler	Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal	Canvasback	Redhead
Ring-necked Duck	Greater Scaup	Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead	Common Goldeneye	Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser	California Quail	Ring-necked Pheasant
Pied-billed Grebe	Double-crested Cormorant	American Bittern
Great Blue Heron	Great Egret	Green Heron
Turkey Vulture	Osprey	White-tailed Kite
Golden Eagle	Northern Harrier	Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk	Northern Goshawk	Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk	Rough-legged Hawk	Virginia Rail
Sora	American Coot	Sandhill Crane
Killdeer	Greater Yellowlegs	Dunlin
Least Sandpiper	Long-billed Dowitcher	Wilson’s Snipe
Franklin’s Gull	Mew Gull	Ring-billed Gull
Western Gull	California Gull	Herring Gull
Thayer’s Gull	Glaucous-winged Gull	Glaucous Gull
Rock Pigeon	Band-tailed Pigeon	Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove	Great Horned Owl	Short-eared Owl
Vaux’s Swift	Anna’s Hummingbird	Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher	Red-breasted Sapsucker	Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker	Pileated Woodpecker	American Kestrel
Merlin	Peregrine Falcon	Western Wood-Pewee
Willow Flycatcher	Black Phoebe	Say’s Phoebe
Northern Shrike	Steller’s Jay	Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow	Common Raven	Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow	Violet-green Swallow	Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow	Black-capped Chickadee	Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Bushtit	Red-breasted Nuthatch	White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper	Pacific Wren	Marsh Wren
Bewick’s Wren	Golden-crowned Kinglet	Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush	American Robin	Varied Thrush
European Starling	American Pipit	Cedar Waxwing
Orange-crowned Warbler	Common Yellowthroat	Yellow-rumped Warbler
Spotted Towhee	Savannah Sparrow	Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow	Lincoln’s Sparrow	White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow	Golden-crowned Sparrow	Dark-eyed Junco
Black-headed Grosbeak	Lazuli Bunting	Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark	Brewer’s Blackbird	Brown-headed Cowbird
Bullock’s Oriole	House Finch	Purple Finch
Pine Siskin	Lesser Goldfinch	American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

 

Written by greg haworth Posted in columbia, or, Field Guide, Oregon Level IV 3a Tagged with columbia, ebird, Scappoose Bottoms