Tag: Fernhill Wetlands

Fernhill Wetlands – 10/12/2026

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 16, 2026
1 Comment on Fernhill Wetlands – 10/12/2026

After a successful test of my Achillies and hip on Saturday morning I decided to take advantage of the Monday holiday and give them another easy workout. I’d been seeing quite a few pictures of American bitterns coming from Fernhill Wetlands in Forest Grove, so I decided to make the 50-minute drive north to see if I could spot one myself.

When I arrived at the parking lot at 7:15am there was only one car, and a bit of fog.

Given the foggy conditions I decided that I would start the morning by hiking the 1.4-mile Dabblers Marsh Loop which loops around some fields to allow the fog some time to burn off. From the lot I headed left on the dirt path along Fernhill Marsh.

The first thing I spotted was a hawk (I believe a Cooper’s hawk).

Next up was a rabbit.

After passing the rabbit I detoured on a short path that led to a view of a part the marsh.

I did not notice the bittern in the foreground near the water at first. Instead, I spotted one to the right across the water.

The first bittern I noticed.

While I was watching the one I’d seen a second bittern flew in and landed to the right of the first.

The second bitter I saw which was actually bittern #3.

I finally noticed the third (first) bittern as I was sending a video to my family.

After watching the bitterns for a while I continued on, stopping at another small opening where I saw several birds in the water.

It was too foggy to get any good shots of the ducks, but then I spotted yet another bittern just to my left next to a log.

Continuing on I passed between Fernhill Lake and the Water Gardens where ducks, geese, and great blue herons were out in numbers.

Fernhill lake on the right.

Looking toward the Water Gardens.

Pied-billed grebe

American coot

Great blue heron in the Water Garden.

Cackling goose

Another great blue heron

Barn swallows

The fog was pretty heavy over Fernhill Lake so I turned left onto the Dabblers Marsh Trail when I reached that junction.

I didn’t expect to see much on this loop, but I did see a rabbit, a couple of squirrels and several birds.

Looping around the field.

Red-tailed hawk

This section at the far end of the loop is always good for at least a couple birds.

Northern flicker

Scrub jay

A crew was doing some work on part of the road/loop around the field, so I used the Return Prairie Path for the first time.

My plan had somewhat worked as there was less fog over the lake when I got back. I could now see several egrets, ducks, geese and a great blue heron on the far bank.

Egret coming in for a landing with two others and a great blue heron on the right.

I made my way around the lake to the gazebo overlooking the Barney Wetlands where there was quite a bit of activity.

Song sparrow

Barney Wetlands

Fernhill Lake from the gazebo.

Long-billed dowitcher

Starling and a bald eagle

A couple of ducks in the weltands.

American goldfinch

I continued on from the gazebo by passing between Cattail Marsh and Fernhill Lake then visiting Eagle Marsh and looping back around Cattail Marsh before heading back to the parking area. It seemed like birds were everywhere I looked. Here are some of the different types I spotted.

A couple of egrets and geese.

Mallards and a heron.

Red-winged blackbird

Another egret

A few ducks.

Gold-crowned sparrow

Cormorant

Gadwal

Northern shoveler doing duck yoga.

Killdeer

Green-winged teals

Cedar waxwing

Finch

Northern pintails

Duck variety pack.

Gadwals

American coots

Northern shoveler

American wigeon

Another bittern

Geese

Northern pintail

Bald eagle

The invasive nutria

Wilson’s snipe patrolling the shore.

The cinnamon teal drake in between the other two was not cooperative when it came to getting a decent picutre.

Black phoebe

Spotted towhee

Bittern heading into the grasses.

Great blue heron

When I got back to the parking area, I decided to take a loop around the Water Gardens before leaving so I followed the paved path over to them and wandered around before looping back.

Junco

Heron on top of the piling.

Robin

Mallards

A talkative pied-billed grebe.

Barn swallow

Chestnut-backed chickadee

I wound up covering 5.6-miles on my wanderings and had no issues with the foot or hip.

All in all, a very successful outing. I had hoped to see a bittern and I saw at least four different birds for sure and up to 6 depending on if either of the latter two were ones I’d seen earlier in the morning. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Fernhill Wetlands

Tags American Bittern, birds, Black Phoebe, Cattail Marsh, Dabblers Marsh, Eagle Marsh, Fernhill Lake, Fernhill marsh, Fernhill Wetlands, hiking, Northern Pintail, Oregon

Hiking Portland Trip report Willamette Valley

Fernhill Wetlands – 05/04/2026

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 7, 2026
1 Comment on Fernhill Wetlands – 05/04/2026

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

Tags Cattail Marsh, Dabblers March Loop Trail, Eagle Marsh, Fernhill Lake, Fernhill marsh, Fernhill Wetlands, Forest Grove, great blue heron, hiking, Oregon, Wildlife

Hiking Oregon Portland Trip report Willamette Valley

Wildlife Week – Day6: Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Fernhill Wetlands 05/02/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 4, 2025
4 Comments on Wildlife Week – Day6: Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Fernhill Wetlands 05/02/2025

Originally I had planned to do my hike at Finley Wildlife Refuge (post) on the Friday of Wildlife Week, but going into the week the forecast called for rain showers. I rearranged the order to move Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Fernhill Wetlands to Friday morning feeling in hopes that I could finish these hikes before 11am when the showers were forecasted to start. By the end of the week the chance of showers had been replaced by mostly sunny skies.

We visited Wapato Lake in February 2024 (post) and had enjoyed the short hike. Located in Gaston, OR the trailhead is just under an hour from Salem. A paved path leads to a footbridge over Wapato Creek and then dikes lead right for 2 miles and left for 0.6. We hadn’t done the full 2-miles to the right in 2024, so I started with that section then hiked to the end of the 0.6-mile section before returning to the car for a total of 5.6-miles with virtually no elevation gain.

All trails are open from February 1st through September 30th, then from October 1st through November 30th the final 1.3-mile stretch to the right (south) is closed, and there is no hiking allowed during hunting season from December 1st to January 31st.

There were a lot of ducks, geese, and herons at the lake along with smaller birds in the surrounding trees.
Geese

Osprey

Killdeer

Meadow checker-mallow

Wood ducks

Northern shovelers

Ducks, geese, and a heron.

Scrunched heron

Stretched heron (same heron)

Sparrow

A different heron and a duck.

Yep, it’s a nutria.

Spotted sandpiper

One of several benches located along the dikes.

American coot

Gadwall

Dove

Crow

American kestrel

Swallow

Cinnamon teals having a disagreement.

End of the trail to the south.

View from the end of the trail.

Wood ducks

Robin

Short billed dowitchers

Green winged teal

Hooded merganser and a gadwall

Ring-necked ducks

Heading to the left (NNE) now.

Red-winged blackbird

Egrets, herons, and ducks.

Great blue heron and egret

Cinnamon teal and northern shoveler

Hooded mergansers and a cinnamon teal

Northern shovelers and a northern pintail on the right.

California quail

End of the trail in this direction.

One thing to note is that the bathroom is currently closed due to budget shortages. Other than that, this was a great hike with a nice variety of wildlife and no other people.

From Gaston it was just a ten-minute drive to Fernhill Wetlands.

We had also been here in February 2024 (post), but not on the same day as Wapato Lake. I did virtually the same route today as on that trip which is described in detail in that trip report.
My 3.3-mile track with minimal elevation gain.

The wildlife was sparser here than it had been on our previous visit, but there were a few species about. I also saw my fourth and fifth Bullock’s oriole of the week. Every one of these I’ve spotted have been while flying past me with their bright orange feathers flashing momentarily only to disappear into a tree or bush. I did have some more cooperative subjects though including the first hummingbird of the week.
Swallow

Osprey

Killdeer

American coot

Mallard

Anna’s hummingbird

A bit of the pink on it’s throat.

Ring-necked ducks
Bald eagle

Gadwalls

Song sparrow

Purple martins

Pied billed grebe

Mallard and ducklings

Mallards

Fringecup

Rabbit

Sandpipers

Ground squirrel

American goldfinch. I’d seen a number of these this week but had only managed a picture of the back of one at Finley Wildlife Refuge.

This was another fun morning of looking for wildlife, but my feet and legs are more than happy that there is only one day of Wildlife Week left. The plan is for Heather to join me on the last hike, and we are hoping to check out a couple of waterfalls before stopping at Fern Ridge Wildlife Area west of Eugene. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Wapato Lake NWR and Fernhill Wetlands

Tags Fernhill Wetlands, Forest Grove, Gaston, hiking, Oregon, Wapato Lake, Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Wildlife, Willamette Valley

Coastal Range Hiking Oregon Portland Trip report Willamette Valley

Ki-a-Kuts Falls Fernhill Wetlands – 02/24/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date February 26, 2024
3 Comments on ~~Ki-a-Kuts Falls~~ Fernhill Wetlands – 02/24/2024

A mostly sunny, near 60-degree forecast, looked too good to pass up so we decided to head out and attempt a pair of short hikes in the Oregon Coast Ranges Tillamook State Forest. Our first stop was along Maple Creek Road for a hike to Ki-a-Kuts Falls.
Sunrise from the trailhead.

Clear cut at the trailhead.

The old alignment of the road was said to be located approximately 80 yards from the trailhead, but it appears that between time, storms, and logging operations the old road has become far less obvious.
This was the view through the forest from Maple Creek Road around the 80-yard mark.

We hiked further up Maple Creek Road and checked for a way down to the old alignment, but in the end decided that the slick conditions combined with the amount of blowdown on the hillsides would have made for a much more challenging hike than we were looking to tackle.
We could hear the Tualatin River in the valley below and I managed to get far enough down the hill to get a glimpse of the water. I had descended from a pullout with a fire ring about 50-75′ looking for the old roadbed, but I still couldn’t make out where it actually was and had been slipping a lot on wet wood.

After climbing back up to Heather I called an audible and we turned to Plan B. The second hike we’d originally planned on was a 1.5-mile out and back further into the forest to visit Stairstep Falls, a rapid more than a fall, that requires fording the 25 yard wide Middle Fork North Fork Trask River. We decided against attempting that hike because it would effectively end our hiking day by leaving the only pair of hiking shoes I’d brought soaked. That was fine when it was going to be the final hike of our day, but we wanted to get a little more than 2.5-miles in. (We’d done close to 1 looking for the way to Ki-a-Kuts Falls.)

I’d known going in that there was a chance that we’d need to turn to Plan B because the most recent trip reports I could find for Ki-a-Kuts Falls was from 2014. That Plan B had been Fernhill Wetlands. Located in Forest Grove, OR the trailhead was just 26-miles from where we were. We drove back to Yamhill and then headed North on Highway 47 to the Fernhill Wetlands Trailhead.

Map and information at the trailhead.

There are several loops possible at the wetlands and we hoped to maximize these, so we headed south along Fernhill Marsh.

Starling

Lenticular clouds over Mt. Hood in the distance.

Our first wildflower of the year is Indian plum in 2024.

Egret

Path at Fernhill Wetlands.

We stayed straight at a junction with a path between Fernhill Marsh and Cattail Marsh.
Gazebo overlooking Cattail Marsh.

Great blue heron on a post above Cattail Marsh.

American coot

At the next junction we turned left between Cattail and Eagles Perch Marshes.

Another great blue heron.

Red-winged blackbird

Hawk flying over Eagles Perch Marsh.

Fittingly at the far end of the marsh were a pair of bald eagles.

We turned right and walked along Eagles Perch Marsh for a tenth of a mile to a gate along SW Geiger Rd.

Ring-necked ducks

Buffleheads

This one might be a hooded merganser?

After turning around we headed north passing Cattail Marsh and arriving at Fernhill Lake.

Fernhill Lake

The trail bent eastward along the lake to a gazebo overlooking Barney Wetlands. From the gazebo we watched a flock of tundra swans. This was our second outing in a row (Wapato Lake) seeing tundra swans after not ever having seen them on a hike prior.
This is where the trail turned east (for obvious reasons).

Barney wetlands

There were also quite a few ruddy ducks here which we don’t often see.

After a good long break watching the swans we continued around Fernhill Lake to Dabblers Marsh.
Double-crested cormorant on a post in Barney Wetlands.

Double-crested cormorant

Drying off in the sun.

Nurtia at a bench near Dabblers Marsh

Nutria

Dabblers Marsh

Green-winged teal

Great blue heron

Pie-billed grebe

We turned west between Fernhill Lake and Dabblers Marsh and came to a nice view of the lake and the start of the Dabblers Marsh Loop Trail.

We turned onto the woodchip path along Dabblers Marsh and followed pointers to a loop around some farmland.

Robin

The start of the loop at the edge of the farmland. We stayed left opting to hike the loop clockwise.

Anna’s hummingbrid

A gaggle of geese in the field.

American kestrels manning their posts.

Purple dead-nettle

More geese coming in for a landing.

Near the end of the loop the trail left the field along Dabblers Marsh.

Spotted towhee

Rabbit

After completing the loop and returning to Fernhill Lake we did a loop through the Water Gardens.
Geese on Fernhill Lake

Mallard drake

Mallard female

Water Gardens

Northern shovelers, a mallard, and a coot.

Oregon grape beginning to bloom.

Northern shoveler

Green-winged teal pair

Path along the Research Wetlands.

Egret near the parking lot at Fernhill Marsh

Looking back at the Research Wetlands from the near the trailhead.

We managed to get 3.7-miles in at the wetlands and saw a lot of birds and other animals. While there were quite a few more folks here than we’d seen on our previous hike at nearby Wapato Lake Wildlife Refuge, it never felt too busy. Plan B had earned an A+ in our books. Happy Trails!