For our next short outing while I rehab we decided to return to Fernhill Wetlands for some birding. This destination allowed us to do a 3.5-mile hike first thing in the morning then meet up with Heather’s biological father and his wife for breakfast at McMenamins Grand Lodge in Forest Grove.
I had been feeling good following our hike at Wild Iris Park two days earlier in Eugene (post), however I woke up on this morning with a sore and tight right hip (again). It loosened up a little after my morning stretching session, but it was still a bit irritated as we set out from the Fernhill parking lot just before 7am.
We started at Fernhill Marsh and began a counterclockwise loop.
Today’s track.
Heading toward Fernhill Marsh.
We spotted a few ducks, at least one goose, a number of long billed dowitchers, and a sandpiper.
Long billed dowitchers
Goose
Mallard and a dowitcher
Gadwall
Sandpiper on the far side of the marsh.
Camas at Fernhill Marsh.
We made our way around Fernhill Marsh to the gazebo overlooking Cattail Marsh.
Thimbleberry
Twinberry
Sparrows
Roses
The gazebo at Cattail Marsh.
Red-winged blackbird
There wasn’t much to see in the marsh from the gazebo, but we were visited by a rather grumpy looking sparrow while inside the gazebo.
We continued on our loop from the gazebo then took a right when we reached Eagle Marsh. While it is possible to hike out and back along Eagle Marsh looping around it is not possible. With the morning sun low on the horizon the view from the western side of this marsh would be looking almost directly at it which is why we skipped this detour.
Mallard on the path.
American coot in Cattail Pond.
Rabbit near Eagle Marsh.
Green-winged teals in Eagle Marsh.
Cattail Marsh gives way to Fernhill Lake and as we passed between the lake and Eagle Marsh we detoured down a short path to the lake where a great blue heron was hunting for breakfast.
The heron out in Fernhill Lake.
Gadwall in the same area as the heron.
We continued to the junction at the far end of the marshes, and this time did detour on the out and back along Eagle Marsh.
The path between the lake and Eagle Marsh.
Damsel fly
Sparrow
Goose having a bad feather day in Eagle Marsh.
Mallard drake on a log in Eagle Marsh.
Starling
Another great blue heron in Eagle Marsh.
After reaching the end of this spur we headed back to Fernhill Lake and continued our loop around.
Fernhill Lake from the junction.
One of several families of geese along the lakeshore.
Purple martins
These fish, possibly invasive carp, could be seen up and down the shores of Fernhill Lake.
Yet another heron at Fernhill Lake.
We paused at a second gazebo, this one overlooking the Barney Wetlands where we had spotted some tundra swans during our visit in February 2024 (post).
Not much to see in Barney Wetlands on this day.
Cliff swallow in the gazebo.
We continued on to the Dabbler’s Marsh Trail and took a right onto it.
We hiked the Dabbler’s Marsh Loop counterclockwise. There wasn’t much to see on this day but the views across the grassy fields were nice.
Cinquefoil
Fringecup
Robin
After finishing the 1.4-mile Dabbler’s Marsh Trail we looped through the Water Garden (sans water) before returning to our car.
Brown headed cowbird
Sparrow in the parking lot.
This was least amount of wildlife we’d seen on our three visits here, but there was still enough for it to be enjoyable. Our breakfast at McMenamins Grand Lodge was excellent and we had a great time catching up with Jeff and Mary and even got to meet Mary’s sister and her husband before saying our goodbyes. Happy Trails!
Flickr: Fernhill Wetlands
wanderingyuncks 