A dear and long-time friend called this morning wanting to know a good spot to watch birds up in our neck of the proverbial woods. Having been keen to get in a little time on the local bottomland between trade shows, I was more than happy to oblige in not only telling my friend where a great spot could be found but volunteered to show her as well.
Autumn on the reclaimed riverbottom land just outside Scappoose, Oregon that is now primarily dedicated to agriculture is truly sublime. As most of the surrounding area is covered by evergreen forest, the bottomland has some of the largest expanses of deciduous vegitation and therefore the largest and most dramatic swaths of autumn color to be witnessed in all of Columbia County.
Of course, as beautiful as the local arboreal display is, the visual reminder that the area lies not far from an active volcano, Mount St. Helens in southwest Washington state, is usually sufficient to stop most visitors as well as locals in their tracks; especially on a crisp, clear day when the view is at its best.
The proximity of the bottom’s agricultural fields to the Scappoose Slough, a small branching channel from the nearby Columbia River, allows bird watchers the opportunity to not only enjoy the expected open field birds of northwest Oregon, such as Northern Harrier, Circus cyaneus, American Kestrel, Falco sparverius, and, during their brief sojourn in the area, Sandhill Crane, Grus canadensis, but riverine species as well, such as this Double-crested Cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus.
Peace and good bird watching.
