Columbia Slough Biking Big Day a big success!
Blog post and photos by Thomas Meinzen, Communications & Program Associate
In one day by bicycle in the Columbia Slough watershed, CSWC bird walk leaders Ryan Gilpin and Thomas Meinzen searched to see how many bird species they could find by pedal power! Ryan and Thomas collected pledges per bird species to support watershed conservation efforts and the Council's free bird walk program. All pledged donations went directly to the Columbia Slough Watershed Council to support habitat restoration, conservation, and free bird walks and other naturalist events for the community.
On May 16, Ryan and Thomas awoke pre-dawn and hopped on bicycles to explore the Columbia Slough watershed, looking for as many bird species as they could find before nightfall in the longtime birding tradition of a “Big Day.” Their goal was to find 100 species of birds, and conservation was on the line—generous donors had pledged an amount (between 15 cents and a dollar) for each bird species they found, so the more birds, the more funds raised for the Council!
Over the course of the day, Ryan and Thomas biked and walked 46 miles across the Columbia Slough watershed (route below), found 100 species of birds, and raised over $1,000 in pledges for watershed conservation and the Columbia Slough Watershed Council's free bird walk program!
Thomas and Ryan celebrate their 100th bird species at the end of their Biking Big Day.
For a narrative report of their day and the birds they found, read on…
We started pre-dawn in N Portland and biked up through Pier Park, getting our first forest birds by ear under the dark canopy of Doug-firs and redcedars. We then wound our way up through industrial areas, past some wetlands and up to the Purina factory, where we picked up Brewer's Blackbird and Rock Pigeon. Already, we noticed that WESTERN TANAGERS were everywhere, moving from tree to tree even in the industrial areas—a promising sign that we might have a good day for spring migrants. We continued north to reach our first major stop, Kelley Point Park, by 6 am.
Kelley Point Park lies at the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers, making its cottonwood gallery forest a prime spot for neotropical migrants. We quickly added four species of warblers to our list (Orange-crowned, Wilson's, Yellow and Yellow-rumped), plus Warbling Vireo, Western Wood-Pewee, House Wren, and two OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHERS. Several male RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS were buzzing about the madrone flowers in the park, and we were pleasantly surprised by 4 different RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKERS (photo at right) and a mixed flock of 4 finch species. Ryan spotted a RAVEN overhead, and we snagged a NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW and PURPLE MARTIN over the river. At the outflow of the Columbia Slough, we found our first Wood Duck of the day. By 7 am, we were up to about 55 species—not a bad start.
Smith and Bybee was also alive with birdsong, but other than a HAIRY WOODPECKER nest, we didn't find too much to add to our list. Biking down the path along the N side of Smith Lake, we were stopped by some bike chain trouble. Fortunately, there beside the lake we spotted a GREEN HERON, and a small flock of EVENING GROSBEAKS winged overhead—two more species for the list!
From Smith Lake, we rode south to meet up with the Columbia Slough and biked east along the slough levee. This section of our route proved better than expected. We added Northern Shoveler and Bullock's Oriole at the sewage ponds at the beginning of the levee path. Three Bald Eagles chased a Red-tailed Hawk along the Slough, making the Red-tail look tiny by comparison. Looking north across Heron Lakes Golf Course, we found our first Cinnamon Teal, a flyover GREAT EGRET, and another Green Heron. Then, a careful look at a flock of Canada Goose feeding on the golf course revealed our best bird of the day: a BRANT, a sea goose that is normally only found out on the Pacific Ocean and Oregon coast. After posting this rare find to the Portland Area Birders chat and pausing for some snacks, we continued biking east, picking up Black Phoebe and American Kestrel along the Slough. Things were looking up for us to reach our goal as we turned north toward Vanport Wetlands and Force Lake, two of our most promising birding spots of the day, and checked the time: still only 10:15 am!
Vanport Wetlands yielded several of the species we hoped for, including REDHEAD and RUDDY DUCK. A distant flock of soaring AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS was our 75th species—3/4 of the way to our goal! At Force Lake, we added GREATER SCAUP and RING-NECKED DUCK, and enjoyed watching 5 species of swallows spinning across the lake. A cloudy sky threatened rain, but it never came.
All this way, I was impressed at how easy it is to bike and bird across the Columbia Slough watershed. We'd been on bike paths for most of our ride, and the birding had been great throughout. However, it was getting much more challenging now to add new species to our list, with so many of the expected species checked off. We rolled into the Columbia Children's Arboretum just after noon, hoping we might find some of the warblers we'd missed in the morning. Sure enough, I soon heard a distinctive chip note from the top of a tall fir, and with some patience, spotted our one and only TOWNSEND'S WARBLER (pictured at left) of the day. Walking on through the park, we lucked into a NASHVILLE and a BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, together in one tree. We were now were up to 8 warbler species for the day!
Now into early afternoon, we biked up to the Columbia River to check Broughton Beach, a popular spot for gulls, diving ducks, and shorebirds. Although we arrived at low tide, the water in the Columbia was so high that there wasn't much beach left to check. We picked up a couple Glaucous-winged Gulls and four flyby CASPIAN TERNS. We'd been seeing OSPREYS all day along the Slough, and here we had 4 feeding along the river along with 2 more Bald Eagles. It's great to see so many of these impressive fish-eating raptors in the watershed—an encouraging sign for the aquatic health of the ecosystem.
Unable to find much more at Broughton, we biked along Marine Drive and the adjacent bike path, scanning across the airport to the south for raptors and open-country birds. I spotted a WESTERN KINGBIRD in a field along Marine Drive and while we scanned for other birds, a fellow on a motorcycle pulled over to ask us about "the yellow finches with black wings and red heads" he'd been seeing crossing the road. He too, then, had been noticing the waves of migrating Western Tanagers! When we reached the western tip of Government Island, we stopped and scoped, finding 16 Caspian Terns resting on the island's tip, soon joined by 4 Ring-billed Gulls. Ryan keenly spotted a tiny BONAPARTE'S GULL walking along the island's edge, our 95th species of the day. We were almost there!
We cycled around the PDX airport, winding back through industrial areas and reaching Whitaker Ponds Nature Park just after 3 pm with high hopes. We checked in at the Columbia Slough Watershed Council office and chatted with the Council's Education Director, Jennifer Starkey, before making our way around the park. A COOPER'S HAWK shot through the sky above us and we finally heard the telltale call of a PILEATED WOODPECKER from the cottonwoods near the park entrance. As we walked down the path, we found the Cooper's Hawk had succeeded in catching a juvenile European Starling, which it was plucking on the ground in the shade of a redcedar (digiscoped photo at right by Ryan Gilpin). We watched it from close by, quite impressed. Afterward, we searched the ponds, but alas, they held none of the duck species we were missing. Now at 97 species, we planned our route west back across the watershed.
After stopping for a bite to eat, we birded Woodlawn City Park, finding several tanagers and warblers in a mixed flock, but nothing new. Just as we were about to leave the park, a repeated up-slurred note drew our attention upward. HUTTON'S VIREO? Sure enough, we spotted the little vireo—98! With just 2 species left to reach our goal, we biked west through the neighborhoods, hoping for a Eurasian Collared-Dove, which we had somehow missed all day. We arrived at Willamette Bluffs Park as the sun was getting lower, with downtown Portland awash in evening light below us. I heard the sharp call note of a LAZULI BUNTING, another big miss of the day, and we soon spotted the gorgeous cerulean-blue male among the old plant stalks below us. We walked down into the park and headed down a path toward some oaks and blackberry brambles. Suddenly, a sparrow flew out from one of the brambles. It perched briefly in the open: a GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW, lingering here on its way up to the Yukon and Alaska to breed. Our 100th species of the day!
Having birded for just over 14 hours, and walked and biked over 45 miles, we were feeling a bit tired, so after checking a couple more spots on our way back toward Ryan's house, we decided to call it a day with exactly 100 species at about 7:30 pm. Altogether, it had been an amazing day!
Many thanks to all those who pledged to support our Big Day and helped make the Columbia Slough watershed an even better place for birds—and people! If you would like to contribute a donation or pledge in celebration of the Big Day, please do so here. Thank you!
