Delta Ponds, Eugene

I made a very brief stop at Delta Ponds in Eugene. Since the site is right by a major highway, the traffic noise effectively eliminates any birding by ear. But the ponds attract good numbers of waterfowl and herons. A Black Phoebe was a nice find.

egretGreat Egrets and Great Blue Herons were common. I am incapable of photographing white birds on a sunny day without them totally washing out.

beaver dam low resBeaver dam. We didn’t see any Beaver, but we did find two River Otters.

pond turtlesThe best sighting of the day, despite the slight social awkwardness, was this pair of Western Pond Turtles, a lifer for me. Western Pond Turtles, one of only two native turtle species in Oregon, are nearly extirpated from their range north of Eugene, and are listed as critical on the the Oregon list of sensitive species.

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