Oregon - November 2025 - Inland

Lewis's Woodpecker

Somewhere along the line my plans had changed, and instead of birding around McMinnville I was now headed back south to Ankeny. Annoying when you have to change a plan but that’s birding. On offer was one of just three remaining Woodpeckers in the US, Lewis’s Woodpecker. As far as I could remember I’d never been anywhere near one. And remarkably, although it hadn’t been reported for a week, I got it. I’d arrived at what was a known stakeout for it not really expecting to find it, and indeed after half an hour searching the specified trees had not found it and wandered off birding elsewhere. It was a good site for other reasons and I’d seen quite a lot before I bumped into another birder who said he’d had the Woodpecker not five minutes earlier in exactly the spot I’d started. I hurried on down the hill to where I’d left the car and found the Woodpecker exactly where he said it was. For exactly five seconds before it then flew over my head and landed in the tree above where I’d been standing. Back up the hill I trekked, and together the other birder and I admired this unique-looking bird. And then it flew back to the tree above my car again. Just Red-naped Sapsucker and American Three-toed Woodpecker to go now. Rather than follow it I birded my way back down and then went down the road a bit to a slough that had more ducks on it than were possible to count, Bald Eagles (which by the way make a really wimpy sound), Cackling Geese, Bewick's Swans, a few waders, and a Pied-billed Grebe. Also seen in this general area were California Scrub Jays, Northern Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Bewick's Wren, Western Meadowlark, and lots of Sparrows including more Golden-crowned Sparrow.

Eagle Marsh, Ankeny

Pintail

Further south than I wanted to be I headed back north to a huge site, Baskett Slough. Realising I’d bitten off more than I could chew I confined myself to a trail on a small hill named after a ranger who had died in one of the 911 planes, Rich Guadagno. The trees here held loads of Acorn Woodpeckers, Brown Creeper and White-breasted Nuthatch. Below, on the marsh, were thousands of Cackling Geese. With time running out I rolled the dice one last time and went to Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve where a Clay-coloured Sparrow had been reported. It was a longer walk than I thought with the area the bird had been favouring right at the end of the furthest end of the reserve. A pair of birders had seen it briefly and were hoping for better views. I joined them, hoping that their wish would be fulfilled. And it was! The fifth and final tick of the trip, a diminutive and pale Sparrow that was notably smaller than the Dark-eyed Juncos and other Sparrows that it was associating with.

Clay-coloured Sparrow

I spent the final half hour before leaving for the airport at Fernhill Wetlands. A busy site, lots of people out for a walk around a series of ponds, it took seemingly forever to find the Cinammon Teal that I knew to be here. As dusk fell I headed east to Portland for my flight home. A deeply satisfying weekend, I had made the most of a very short amount of time and birded my 41st State. The final tally was 106 species, but I had spent a fair amount of time targeting specific birds rather than going all out for sheer numbers. The flight arrived in London mid-morning and off to Canary Wharf I trundled.

Mount Hood