IBA of the Month: Fern Ridge Reservoir
by Mary Coolidge, Assistant Conservation Director
Twice a year, the statewide Audubon chapters meet at a roving location to strategize on our statewide priorities and how to maximize our collaborative effectiveness. The fall meeting was hosted by Lane County Audubon in Eugene, who, by lengthy tradition, guided the visiting chapters on an outing to a nearby Important Bird Area, in this case, to Fern Ridge Reservoir west of the city.
Oregon's 2006 state wildlife action plan, the Oregon Conservation Strategy, was drafted to ensure the preservation of our statewide natural resources, identifying both target species and habitats. The OCS includes mapping of priority focus areas known as Conservation Opportunity Areas, of which Fern Ridge Reservoir is one. Over 286
species of birds have been documented here, a 12,780 acre complex of wetland, grassland, wet prairie (lowland grasses), oak woodland, and freshwater aquatic habitats. The property is owned by Army Corps of Engineers, with 5,261 acres of it licensed to Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to manage as a Wildlife Area. ODFW manages FRWA with three explicit goals in mind: to attract and support waterfowl, to protect, enhance, and restore habitat diversity, and to provide recreational and educational opportunities to the public (including hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing).
Fern Ridge Reservoir was established in 1941 for flood storage for Long Tom and Coyote Creeks, but years of successful management at FRWA has improved habitat and increased wildlife diversity. Together with the 2,500-acre West Eugene Wetlands to the east (a restored wetland area acquired by BLM, the City of Eugene and The Nature Conservancy), the area provides a green anchor in the city and acts as a storehouse
of Willamette wet prairie, of which less than 1/2 of one percent remains in the valley today due to urbanization.
A Sunday morning drizzle didn’t drown our birdwatching spirits, and the eight of us who ventured out to West Eugene found several Acorn woodpeckers active among the Oaks in a small stand north of Royal Avenue on the way into the Royal Amazon Unit of the FRWA. Visiting an IBA in our host chapter helps us envision the focused efforts of chapters in their respective backyards. And spying a housecat in a willow stand on FRWA property identified a century-old conservation challenge: how to keep cats out of urban natural areas.
Species of Ornithological Significance
Fern Ridge represents habitat for a diverse assemblage of bird species, of which 118 species are confirmed breeders. ODFW sensitive species found at FRWA include Purple martin, Yellow-breasted chat, Western meadowlark, Willow flycatcher, Western bluebird, and Grasshopper sparrow. Over 30 species of ducks, geese, swans and
pelicans use FRWA. Breeding season and spring migration populations include Cinnamon teal, Blue-winged teal, Red-shouldered hawk, White-tailed kite, and Bald eagle. Peak winter waterfowl counts reach up to 27,000 birds, excluding the 8,000 to
20,000 Canada geese and 100 to 1,500 Tundra Swans which roost nightly on the lake and migrate to the surrounding fields at daybreak. Wintering populations of Northern pintail, Great egret, and Ring-billed gull are present. Marsh breeders include Pied-billed grebe, Western grebe, Clark’s grebe, American bittern, Virginia rail, Sora, American coot,
Black-necked stilt, Wilson’s snipe, Wilson’s phalarope, Marsh Wren, Willow Flycatcher, and Yellow-headed Blackbird. An estimated 25 pairs of breeding Black Terns nest in loose colonies among bulrush, cattail, sedge and rush in the marsh. Fern Ridge is also important for Solitary sandpiper, Spotted sandpiper, Western sandpiper, Dunlin (flocks up to 20,000 in winter), Black-bellied plover, Semipalmated plover, Greater yellowlegs, Long-billed dowitcher, Wilson’s snipe, and Black-necked stilt. Up to 140 American white pelicans summer at Fern Ridge but are not yet documented to be breeding.
If you go:
I-5 South toward Eugene to the I-195 B exit toward Junction City/Florence. Merge onto Beltline Road/ OR-569 W. Turn right at W 11th Ave/OR 126-W and continue.
There are options here: To visit the experimental Caspian Tern Island at the Royal Amazon Unit, turn right on Fisher Road (at the West Eugene Wetlands Meadowlark Marsh). Left on Royal Avenue to the parking lot (just after the turn onto Royal is the Acorn woodpecker Oak stand where you may be lucky enough to spy a Lewis’ woodpecker). To get to the FRWA Headquarters, return to I-126 W and turn left at
Central Road and left again on Cantrell Road. HQ is signed on the left.
Questions? ODFW FRWA office: 503.935.2591
