Site Guide to Birding Columbia County (Oregon)
Site Guide to Birding Columbia County (Oregon)
This is the sixteenth installment of the “Site Guide”. It is the first of the sites that are found in the Coast Range of Columbia County.
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)
Scappoose Bay (5/29/14 post)
St. Helens WTP and Knob Hill Park (5/30/14 post)
Gray Cliffs Waterfront Park and Dalton Lake (6/1/14 post)
Dalton Lake Trail, Columbia City, Dyno Nobel, Nicolai Wetlands, Gobel Marina (6/17/14 post)
Trojan Park, Carr Slough, Prescott Beach, Laurel Beach CP (6/22/14 post)
Rainier Waterfront, Dibblee Point, Rainier Dike Rd (6/24/14 post)
Erickson Dike Rd, John’s Slough (6/25/14 post)
Marshland Drainage District (6/27/14 post)
Coast Range Birding Sites
Pisgah Home Rd, Crown Zellerbach Trail (West), Bonnie Falls (7/1/14 post)
(A link to a downloadable copy of this guide is found in the first installment of this series)
Here is a map of all the locations mentioned in this guide.
Pisgah Home Rd (PL) – 45 species, 3 (6/27/14)
Location/Directions: (45.790581, -122.911799) Along the Scappoose/Vernonia Hwy, 2.5 miles from Hwy 30 take a left on Siercks Rd. Just over a half a mile from S/V Hwy take a left onto Pisgah Home Rd and drive to the top of the hill where it meets Holladay Rd. Continue a short way past this and park opposite Grouse Lane where the pavement ends. Pisgah Home continues as a gravel road/jeep track. Longview Fiber has two gated access points in the area; one along Pisgah Home Rd on the north side of the road (about 1.5 miles up the road) and one a little ways down Holladay. Both are worth a short hike as well.
Habitat and Birds: The trip up starts at Scappoose Creek but is already forested. Just at the start, on the right, there is an old quarry that Belted Kingfishers burrow nest in the face of the cut, at the top where the soil is. (2013,2014) The elevation gain on the trip up is usually enough to bring in some elevational species like Ravens, Red Crossbills, Hairy Woodpeckers, Hermit Warblers, Evening Grosbeaks and Band-tailed Pigeons. At the top there is a regenerating clearcut down slope and an open farmed hill upslope. I usually walk down the gravel road a mile or two through mixed stage coast range forest. High clearance vehilcle could probably drive down the road. Mountain Quail and a Townsend’s Solitaire have been reported from this area.
Pisgah Home Rd.(PL) – 48 species, 4 (6/28/14)
| Cackling Goose | Turkey Vulture | Red-tailed Hawk |
| Band-tailed Pigeon | Mourning Dove | Rufous Hummingbird |
| Belted Kingfisher | Hairy Woodpecker | Northern Flicker |
| Western Wood-Pewee | Willow Flycatcher | Hammond’s Flycatcher |
| Warbling Vireo | Steller’s Jay | American Crow |
| Common Raven | Violet-green Swallow | Barn Swallow |
| Black-capped Chickadee | Chestnut-backed Chickadee | Red-breasted Nuthatch |
| Brown Creeper | House Wren | Pacific Wren |
| Bewick’s Wren | Ruby-crowned Kinglet | Swainson’s Thrush |
| American Robin | European Starling | Cedar Waxwing |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | MacGillivray’s Warbler | Common Yellowthroat |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | Black-throated Gray Warbler | Hermit Warbler |
| Wilson’s Warbler | Spotted Towhee | Song Sparrow |
| White-crowned Sparrow | Dark-eyed Junco | Western Tanager |
| Black-headed Grosbeak | Brown-headed Cowbird | Red Crossbill |
| Pine Siskin | American Goldfinch | Evening Grosbeak |
Bonnie Falls:
Location/Directions: (45.80429, -122.93734) 4.1 miles west of Hwy 30 along the Scappoose – Vernonia Hwy. There is a pull off on the south side of the road. There is not much here, but County listers will want to make the stop for the American Dippers that have been seen here (2011 – 2013). Woodland birds are also possible. A small patch list has been generated.
Crown Zellerbach Trail – West, Hale Rd. Access:
Location/Directions: (45.82573, -122.95819) About 6.2 miles west of Hwy 30 along the Scappoose – Vernonia Hwy. There is a parking area on Hale Rd. next to the trail, but do not block the yellow gate. Trail heads in both directions but only the section to the east has been explored at this time.
Habitat and Birds: Woodland and riparian birds along an easy paved path with some elevational influence. This is the second place that I know of where American Dipper has been found in the County. This is a very productive short stretch of the trail.
Crown Zellerbach Trail – West, Hale Rd. Access (PL) – 15 species, 1 (5/10/14)
Current list is from one half an hour stop.
| Belted Kingfisher | Hairy Woodpecker | Steller’s Jay |
| American Crow | Violet-green Swallow | Black-capped Chickadee |
| Chestnut-backed Chickadee | American Dipper | Pacific Wren |
| Swainson’s Thrush | American Robin | European Starling |
| Black-throated Gray Warbler | Wilson’s Warbler | Song Sparrow |
| Black-headed Grosbeak |
field studies from portland 
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