I’m dawn villaescusa, reside Lincoln City, former Business Analyst for State of Oregon
Board Lincoln City Audubon, member Oregon Birding Association
Retired 2 years ago, same time Pixieland opened fall 2012
I started visiting Pixieland after initial restoration efforts were complete
Pixieland - blue circle bottom right, jct Hwy 101 & Hwy 18, Salmon river NE boundary
one of several sections of the Salmon River Estuary
NAMED AFTER - a short-lived amusement park by that name that occupied the site from 1969 to 1975.
-- built created an entire town, complete with an opera house
-- full-sized train carried visitors around park
-- large ponds, concessions, amusement rides and parking
To me this makes the recovery of this small portion of the estuary that much more remarkable!
This was my first look - September 23, 2012, after a long dry spell.
wandered around exploring - tallied 18 species of birds including a surprise Red-shouldered Hawk.
After that first visit, I spent the next full year, 42 visits, documenting the birds and other wildlife that I observed in residence or just passing through.
My findings are stored in an online spreadsheet.
Over the first few months gathered information about Pixieland
-- part of the Salmon River Estuary restoration
-- part of the much broader Cascade Head management plan
CHM Plan has an Appendix listing wildlife of the Cascade Head/Salmon River area as a whole (doesn’t segregate Pixieland)
Last fall asked to write article for Oregon Birds (Journal of Oregon Birding and Field Ornithology)
Told about similar 1996 article, written by John Lundsten. He says: “In 1994, I made monthly bird surveys at Pixieland and other areas in the Salmon River estuary for the Siuslaw National Forest. Pixieland had the greatest bird diversity with 81 species seen.” (NOTE: don’t have copy of his survey)
Comparatively, during my survey of the first year following dike removal, I documented 105 species - 30% more species.
Photo: middle portion of wetlands (Spring)
Large dike removed, tidal effect back bringing salt-water
River and creeks and coastal rains bring fresh water to the marsh
Habitat for birds as well as fish and other wildlife
Ditch connecting Fraser Creek with Salmon River at high tide
Same ditch at low time
mud - Barn Swallows nesting under the bridge and other birds and wildlife
In the winter, a variety of waterfowl use the flooded wetlands
In spring, the marsh provides nesting habitat for Marsh Wrens (like one pictured here), Common Yellowthroat, Wilson’s Snipe and others.
Willows - nesting Yellow-rumped and Orange-crowned Warblers
Larger brush/small trees - American Goldfinch
In case you missed him - second from the left, suspended as usual between two reeds.
south side small copses of trees and brush - “sparrow zone”
preferred nesting habitat for sparrows, grosbeaks, vireos, and thrushes
Nesting residents - White-crowned, Song, and Savannah (not pictured) Sparrows.
Lincoln’s (pictured) possibly but didn’t observe nesting behavior.
In winter also Golden-crowned and White-throated Sparrows
Dike removal took down large trees - point out Fraser Crk ditch, sparrow zone and “Robin Central”
SDCWC and Audubon nest boxes - temporary augment the loss of habitat
Five types of nest boxes were installed -
two duck boxes (pink) -- both used (Wood and Common Merganser prs observed)
2 flicker boxes (red) -- starlings
3 thrush boxes (yellow) -- open style, none used
4 swallow boxes (blue) and
4 small species boxes (turquoise) -- CBCH used 6 of the 8, VGSW interested but not nesting
Talk about zones - Fraser ditch, sparrow zone, robin zone - in spite of not using boxes, had good nesting success
Fellow Audubon board member Jody Picconi and I monitored the nest boxes in the spring,
but when it came time for hauling ladders and climbing up to clean them, younger reinforcements were called for.
Catherine Pruett, Director of SDCWC arranged to have this class of tech-school students come out for a day of learning and nest box cleaning
Shared info about birds and nests
Many medium-sized conifers remain, two large ones by river
Nesting for larger birds such as Steller’s Jays
Cones for visiting Red Crossbills and Pine Siskins, Purple Finches, etc.
No raptors (birds of prey) nest within Pixieland -- use for hunting
Osprey - nearby nests, spring summer fly over w/ nesting materials or fish.
Northern Harriers and Red-tailed Hawks live in the area year around, hunting the grasslands across the river and nesting nearby.
Bald Eagles are also residents - this past spring we documented two first-year nests in the estuary - one here (camp) seen from Knight Park, the other just east of Pixieland “Red “Barn”
Red-shouldered Hawks are fairly recent arrivals to this part of Oregon; however, it was the first raptor I saw during my first visit.
-- seen regularly including juveniles, no nest observed
Other: Peregrine, Kestrel, Merlin, Accipiters
tall snags on the east side of the river favorite hunting perches for Peregrine Falcons, Bald Eagles and Turkey Vultures.
In this case - Great Blue Heron
In addition to the nesting and winter residents, I’ve enjoyed several vagrants, that is, birds outside of their expected range.
This Palm Warbler was one of two that showed up in May 2013.
Others:
Townsend’s Solitaire (coastal mountains)
Black Phoebe
White-tailed Kite
2 Rough-legged Hawks - stayed two-three months
Although my primary interest was birds, I couldn’t fail to notice the abundance of other wildlife
Pacific Tree and Red-legged Frogs,
River Otters, Harbor Seals
Dragon and damselflies and other insects
Deer and elk sign
Coyotes
And, of course, fish
During my year of observation,
kept spreadsheet updated
sent brief reports periodically to Siuslaw, SDCWC, USFW, Yaquina and Audubon
This part of the estuary has only begun to restore itself and it will take years to document changes.
Plan another year of observations (2015), and hopefully future years, for comparison.
If the 1994 data is available, I’d like to incorporate it into my spreadsheet as well.
Also, Cornell Univ keeps worldwide “Citizen science” bird data repository “eBird”
-- birders use online tools to log site-specific observations
-- Pixieland designated as an eBird “hotspot” -- means continued reporting thanks to eBird users
I have a few cards here with links to the spreadsheet, eBird and more of my photos.
Link to 2012-13 spreadsheeet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqzamsBeRhsPdHJPV0NPY2h0ZWtvSkd2SVhwaE95S3c&usp=sharing
Link to more photos: http://s1014.photobucket.com/user/villaesc/library/Birds/Pixieland
Link to eBird: http://ebird.org/ebird/hotspot/L1760306