The air around Corvallis is filling up with new songs and new flashes of bright color, as new species of birds are arriving in our area almost every day. We’ve seen a trickle of birds over the past month, but this week, it turned into a flood. In Benton County, birders reported ten new species for the year, including some of our most colorful birds, like the western tanager and yellow warbler. In Linn County, seven species were added to our year list, including three species of warbler. Every day you can make it out with a pair of binoculars this week, whether it’s standing in a yard or park or walking on a trail, will be more than worth it.
While yellow, red and brown dominate the colors of our arriving spring birds, some bright patches of blue and purple appeared this week too, as camas flowers started to bloom around Corvallis. Camas has a tall stalk and several large purple flowers, and often grows in wet meadows and roadsides. An important First Food for local Indigenous people for millennia, camas is one of our most distinctive and beautiful Northwest native plants.
Birds weren’t our only notable wildlife visitors this past week. A black bear wandered into town near OSU’s campus early Sunday morning, surprising residents and scrambling wildlife officials. In the end, the bear made its way back into its natural territory, no worse for its visit. It’s a good reminder, well timed for Earth Day, that we share our homes with a diverse array of wildlife here in the valley, and even the ones that can be a little scary to see wandering the streets deserve our respect and are best left alone to find their own way home.
Thursday: Taste of Water talk
Do you ever think about the taste of your tap water? Dr. Christy Spackman researched tap water, its taste, and the efforts to change it for her new book “The Taste of Water”, and argues that in the quest for reliable and consistent water flavor, we have taken away some of the harmless local flavors that made each place’s water special. Dr. Spackman will discuss her book in a lecture this Thursday.
The talk runs from 2-4 pm on Thursday, April 25, at 240 Waldo Hall on OSU’s campus. The event is free and open to the public.
Thursday: Chuck Sams lecture
One of the nation’s most accomplished land management and conservation leaders is coming to Corvallis Thursday night. Chuck Sams was the 19th director of the National Park Service, and the first Indigenous person to hold that job. He was sworn in by our country’s first Indigenous Interior Secretary, Deb Haaland. He is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and has served as that nation’s executive director, along with several other high profile positions in conservation.
Sams will give the latest Governor Tom McCall Memorial Lecture in Public Affairs this Thursday, April 25 at 7 pm, at the Peavy Forest Science Center on SW Jefferson Ave. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Click here to register.
Saturday: Finley wildflower walk
Camas isn’t the only flower popping this week. Spring brings all sorts of new color to the Willamette Valley, and the Native Plant Society of Oregon wants to help you get to know these amazing plants. This Saturday, they are running a short walk around Finley National Wildlife Refuge’s Woodpecker Loop. Likely highlights include trillium, iris, checkermallow and more. Meet at the parking lot next to Woodpecker Loop this Saturday, April 27, at 10 am. Dress for the weather and bring your binoculars if you have them.
Next Wednesday: Native plant and pollinator webinar
Speaking of native plants, you don’t have to hike in a wildlife refuge to see and appreciate them. You can grow them yourself, and help our diverse native pollinators in the process. Next Wednesday, the OSU Extension master gardeners are hosting a webinar on the latest science on native plants, pollinators, and using your garden to support both.
The webinar runs from noon to 1 pm on Wednesday, May 1. Click here to register. Organizers urge interested community members to register, whether they can watch live or not, because everyone registered will receive an email link to a recording of the talk a few days after.
By Ian Rose