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| A hawk hiding in the branches. It had just finished eating a tasty mouse. |
Today we went to Sauvie Island for the Raptor Road Trip. The first stop was at Kruger's Farm Market, where we picked up a Sauvie Island parking pass and a map. Then we headed out to the tree viewing locations where Metro naturalists were stationed, and lots of scopes were pointed at amazing birds. Of course it was fabulous to have some professional scopes available, and naturalists there to tell us about what we were looking at. But I think the very best thing about the Raptor Road Trip was the invitation to come to Sauvie Island for the sole purpose of lingering and paying attention to birds. Sauvie Island is truly an amazing place to find birds, and raptors in particular. We kept catching sight of some wonderful birds as we drove, so we would have to pull over and take a closer look.
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| A lovely egret. |
Parking permits are always required for all the wildlife areas on Sauvie Island. Daily permits are currently $3.50 and yearly permits are $11.00. I have been told that all the stores on Sauvie Island sell them, including the general store which is right at the base of the Sauvie Island Bridge, but many of the stores are closed in the winter. You may find that the most convenient way to get one is to buy one online and print it out yourself:
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/online_license_sales/what.asp#sauvie Signs posted announce that from October through April, the wildlife areas are closed to anyone without a hunting license. But you can still park at the wildlife areas and see quite a lot without walking into them.
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| Now that's a nest! It clearly belongs to a large raptor. |
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| We were told these were migratory, dusky Canada Geese, smaller than the ones typically seen. |
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| A ring-necked pheasant that streaked across the road. |
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| A merlin. |
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