COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL May 6, 2015
11A
Actual
Spectrum
Residents
photo by Jon Stinnett
Families of Canada Geese and their goslings cavort together at Cottage Grove's Row
River Nature Park, a bird-lover's paradise that's easy to access.
Life with ...
c.g.
Springtime is
for the birds
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
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A SPECTRUM RETIREMENT COMMUNITY
S
pringtime in the southern
Willamette Valley means
warmer temperatures and lon-
ger days, and spring also offers
a natural alarm clock of sorts for
those who now fi nd themselves
serenaded into their waking
hours by a symphony of bird-
song.
Yes, spring in the valley also
means the arrival from their
winter homes and burgeoning
activity of hundreds of species
of birds, and lately it’s easier
than ever to notice their impact
and appreciate the contribution
of birds large and small to the
natural splendor of the Cottage
Grove area.
I was reminded of the near-
ness and power of the bird world
again last week, when a small
fl ock of goldfi nches perched on
two trees in my family’s front
yard in town. Complex and mel-
lifl uous, their song rivaled any
human composition, a song that
arrived in stereo as the birds
spread out throughout nearby
tree canopies before fi nally
fl itting away after a stunning
several-minute display. Later
that morning, purple martens
seeking a nesting site under the
eaves of the houses in our neigh-
borhood again fi lled the nearby
sky with action and song, while
overhead, jays and crows argued
between themselves on a dead
tree snag.
“It’s in full swing right now,”
local “birder” Barbara Butzer
r
e
p
p
i
r
t
y
a
D
said of the bird migration that
brings so much life to this area’s
air, its treetops and waterways.
Butzer organizes outings of the
“Coast Fork Birders,” a group of
bird afi cionados that now fi nds
itself under the umbrella of the
Coast Fork Willamette Water-
shed Council. Its leader, Julie
Parker, took the group to Cot-
tage Grove Reservoir on a re-
cent Saturday, and Butzer near-
breathlessly described the many
wonders the group saw that day,
including the chasing of swal-
lows from a nest by a group of
starlings, a juvenile bald eagle
catching and eating a catfi sh
and the courtship of two ospreys
witnessed in the physical act of
birdy love.
“There was all this activity
everywhere,” Butzer said. “It
was very exciting.”
Both Cottage Grove and
Dorena Reservoirs offer excel-
lent bird-watching opportuni-
ties, with gaggles of geese and
shorebirds now populating the
shorelines and predators like
kingfi shers plying their waters
for fi shy subsistence for the
young in their nests. In addition
to these sightings, Butzer point-
ed out the arrival of many spe-
cies of swallows, the imminent
arrival of Western Tanagers and
of course the purple martens, the
subject of the Watershed Coun-
cil’s May Science Pub lecture at
the Axe & Fiddle Pub.
For this author, it’s hard to
beat the Row River Nature Park
for an accessible, comfortable
and often jaw-dropping birding
experience in this area. A visit
there last week found duck and
goose families thriving with
handsome clutches of duck-
lings and goslings, families that
play water games together as
they splash about in their wet-
land homes. Nearby, great blue
herons keep a sentinel’s watch
over their own water holes, their
spearlike beaks at the ready for
photo by Jon Stinnett
Great Blue Herons cut a
handsome profi le as they
scan the waters for prey.
any sign of a hapless fi sh swim-
ming by. Overhead, ospreys
chat between themselves and
scan the horizon for fi shing op-
portunities. After all, they’ve
got their own mouths to feed in
a brambly nest high above the
river. Around each bend at the
Nature Park sits a new pocket
of water and vegetation with
its own bird inhabitants, and
it’s easy to amble among them
for hours with nary an intrusion
from the outside world.
Butzer answered many of my
questions about recent bird visi-
tors, though she recommended
reaching out to the Lane County
Audubon Society for bird-re-
lated queries involving local
sightings. Their website can be
accessed at laneaudubon.org or
by calling 541-485-2473. More
information on larger bird mi-
grations nationwide and world-
wide can be accessed through
the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
But wherever you fi nd them,
stay safe and Happy Birding!
The CG Daytripper cele-
brates the plethora of amazing
outings that can be undertaken
from Cottage Grove in the span
of a single afternoon. Ideas for
the column can be emailed to
cgnews@cgsentinel.com.
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