CAMPUS AREA DELIVERY
TAKE OUT ★ EAT HERE
BY JAMES JOHNSTON
SERVING DELICIOUS NEW YORK PIZZA BY THE SLICE AND BY THE WHOLE PIZZA PIE
11:30AM-MIDNIGHT MON-SAT ★ 3:30PM-MIDNIGHT SUNDAY
$ 2.00
OFF
COUPONS GOOD UNTIL
DECEMBER 30, 2004
ANY 18” LARGE OR
16” MEDIUM PIZZA PLUS
2 FREE 20oz. SODAS
®
1 FREE 12 OZ. SODA
1211 ALDER
ON CAMPUS NEXT TO SACRED HEART HOSPITAL
JAMES JOHNSTON
686-9598
10¢ OFF PLUS A SLICE
Seals at Strawberry Hill wayside
Wild in the Winter
December is a great time to watch wildlife.
W
e humans may feel a little chilly
from time to time during the west-
ern Oregon winter, but the
Willamette Valley is the bird equivalent of the
Bahamas for hundreds of species that migrate
here from their summer homes in the far
north.
One species that is quite rare and very un-
usual in its extremely limited range is the
Canadian dusky goose. The dusky goose
winters almost exclusively in the Willamette
Valley and nests in the summer only in
Alaska’s Copper River Delta. Dusky goose
populations plummeted after a double
whammy of habitat contraction. First, the
once extensive Willamette Valley wetlands
Reservoir (accessed off Clear Lake Road just
past the airport) you can often see large num-
bers of bald eagles during December and
January.
A little closer to home, you can see large
numbers of cormorants roosting in cotton-
woods during the late afternoon and evening
at Delta Ponds, on the east side of the
Willamette River about a quarter of a mile
downstream from the Valley River shopping
mall. There are good views from the north-
west corner of the VRC parking lot. Another
good evening roosting spot for cormorants is
along the riverbank in Island Park in
Springfield.
Lane County is not just for the birds. On
Connecting Eugene
Lane County is not just for the birds. On the coast,
gray whales can be seen fairly close to shore on their
way to calving grounds in Baja from their summer
feeding grounds in the Arctic Ocean.
with six trains and seven thruway buses,
were paved over or converted to agriculture.
Then, the devastating 1964 Alaska earth-
quake uplifted large sections of the Copper
River Delta, turning marshy foraging
grounds into dry land.
One of the last productive habitats for the
geese is found just about 30 minutes north of
Eugene at the W. Finley Wildlife Refuge. To
get there, drive Hwy. 99 north from Eugene.
Five miles north of Monroe take a left on
McFarland Road at the RFP Family Store and
drive a half-mile to a large parking area at
McFadden Marsh. This large created wetland
is lousy with noisy flocks of geese. If you
can’t tell from their brown chests, the duskys
can be picked out by the orange collar that the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gives them
when they’re young.
From the road or from a wildlife blind a
short walk from the parking area, you’ll also
be able to pick out pintail ducks, wood ducks,
mallards, mergansers, cormorants, egrets and
magnificent snow-white swans. There’s an-
other excellent wildlife viewing area another
half mile down McFarland Road.
On your way back to Eugene, consider
stopping at the Fern Ridge Wildlife Area at
the very end of Royal Avenue (take Airport
Road from Hwy. 99, hang a left on Greenhill
and then a right on Royal). This wind-swept
marsh always has lots of red tail hawks and
osprey. From here or from the boat launch
areas on the north side of Fern Ridge
the coast, gray whales can be seen fairly close
to shore on their way to calving grounds in
Baja from their summer feeding grounds in
the Arctic Ocean. You can spot the gray’s dis-
tinctive tall geyser of water from high view-
points around Cape Perpetua north of
Florence. Some 70 percent of the world’s pop-
ulation of gray whales will pass by Oregon
from Dec. 25 to Jan. 10. On the way to Cape
Perpetua you can usually spot sea lions and
seals on rocky outcroppings around
Strawberry Hill (the Sea Lion Caves, inciden-
tally, are well worth the price of admission).
If it’s land mammals you want to see, and
you’re not afraid to do a fair bit of driving,
there are two elk viewing areas that you can
almost always see elk from during the month
of December. The first is the Long Ranch
viewing platform on Highway 20 east of
Sweet Home (about six miles east of the
small village of Cascadia). Almost 40 elk
wintering here. The early morning or late af-
ternoon are the best times to see them.
An even better bet is the Dean Creek
viewing area three miles east of Reedsport on
Highway 38. There are several pullouts from
which a herd of almost 100 animals can be
seen.
It may seem cold and wet as you tramp
around looking for birds, whales and other
animals, but for many of these critters who
are used to the Arctic, Lane County’s a regu-
lar tropical paradise.
ew
Amtrak ® connects Eugene to the Pacific Northwest and the rest of America.
For reservations
visit www.amtrak.com or call 1-800-USA-RAIL
Amtrak is a registered service mark of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation.
DECEMBER 16, 2004 39