Willamette Valley's Top Birding Spots

The Willamette Valley region and its ten counties have an abundance of great places to watch birds. Try the many local parks, green belts, or some of these top birding spots:

Columbia River From the Gorge to Longview, the lowlands on both sides of the river are prime wintering areas for waterfowl and a host of other species. . In Washington, key sites include the Woodland Bottoms, Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, the Vancouver Lake bottomlands, and Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge. On the Oregon side, the Scappoose Bottoms, Sauvie Island, Smith/Bybee Lakes, the Vanport Wetlands, and the Sandy River delta are of particular importance.

Metropolitan Portland Numerous parks and natural areas are scattered in and around the city, from the lower Willamette Valley up onto the forested eastern slopes of the Coast Range. Forest Park, Mount Tabor Park, Oaks Bottom, Westmoreland Park, and Crystal Springs in Eastmoreland Park are among the best for birding.

Salem Brushlands in Minto-Brown Park attract many birds. Extensive wetlands at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, and surrounding farmlands, provide habitat for nesting and wintering waterfowl, hawks, and shorebirds.

Corvallis The E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area contains extensive brushy habitat with ponds and wetlands. Finley National Wildlife Refuge and surrounding farmlands attract large populations of wintering waterfowl.

Eugene The foothills of the Cascades and Calapooya Mountains cover much of the south end of the Willamette Valley. Spencer Butte in Eugene is one of the better birding spots. Several reservoirs on the upper Willamette River are worth visiting.

Cascade Range Roads and trails on the west slopes of the Cascades provide excellent conifer-forest birding and access to many lakes and reservoirs, among them Timothy Lake. The Santiam Pass area is especially good; highways from Salem, Corvallis, and Eugene converge here

To find out more about the better places to find birds, order the book, Birds of the Willamette Valley Region.