21st Annual Great Blue Heron Week
May 30th June 10th, 2007
May 30th June 10th, 2007
Celebrating Parks, Natural Areas and Clean Water
Portland Parks and Recreation’s new City Nature Division is focusing on urban forest management and integrating the urban forest canopy with the city’s more than 10,000 acres of parks and natural areas. Our regional, interconnected bicycle-pedestrian trail system is closer to reality with the completion of the Springwater Corridor’s Three Bridges project and many other trail projects throughout the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan region.
Great Blue Heron Week is an opportunity to celebrate both our successes and future challenges. Climb into a canoe or kayak, hop on a bicycle or stroll on foot through our growing system of trails and greenspaces. This is an invitation to participate in the numerous field trips and special events. Celebrate the continued existence of this graceful bird and the natural world it represents.
The late Oregon poet laureate William Stafford best captured the spirit of Great Blue Heron Week in his poem Spirit of Place which he read to Portland City Council to commemorate the special role herons play in our region.
Spirit of Place
Out of their loneliness for each other
two reeds, or maybe two shadows, lurch
forward and become suddenly a life
lifted from the dawn to the rain. It is
the wilderness come back again, a lagoon
with our city reflected in its eye.
We live by faith in such presences.
It is a test for us, that thin
but real, undulating figure that promises,
‘if you keep the faith I will exist
at the edge, where your vision joins
the sunlight and the rain: heads in the light,
feet that go down in the mud where the truth is.
William Stafford, Oregon Poet Laureate
Great Blue Heron Week, 1987
Trips and Events
Wednesday, May 30
Wednesday, May 30 Portland City Council Great Blue Heron Week Proclamation, 10 am, City Council Chambers, City Hall, 1220 SW Fourth Avenue, 10 am.
Wednesday, May 30, Lunch With the Birds, Jackson Bottom Wetland Preserve, Noon to 1 pm. Join Jackson Bottom naturalists for this great weekly event! They will provide spotting scopes, binoculars, field guides and naturalists to help you identify the waterfowl and other birds that show up at Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve. Meet at the north viewing shelter, next to the Clean Water Services treatment plant on Highway 219 south of Hillsboro. This event is free. The site is wheelchair accessible. Contact Sarah Pinnock at 503-681-6278 for more information.
Wednesday, May 30 Canoe the Slough, 6 pm to 6:40 pm or 7 pm to 7:40. Join the Columbia Slough Watershed Council, City of Portland’s Environmental Services and Northwest Discoveries for a paddling tour exploring the tree-lined Whitaker Slough. During these very special evening trips, Columbia Slough Watershed Council guides will travel with participants in canoe bimarans (two canoes lashed together). We provide the boats & life preservers; you provide the enthusiasm! Space is limited. This event is free, but pre-registration is required (please indicate which of the two trips you wish to go on). Contact Katie Meckes at 503-281-1132 or katie.meckes@columbiaslough.org. Meet at Whitaker Ponds Natural Area - 7040 NE 47th Ave, Portland, OR 97218. Registrants must arrive at least 15 minutes early to check in and receive a life preserver.
Thursday, May 31
Thursday, May 31, 2 pm, Metro Council Great Blue Heron Week Proclamation, Metro Council Chambers, 600 NE Grand.
Thursday May 31, 2006, Willamette Cove Paddle, 7 am to 9 am. Join Jim Labbe, Urban Conservationist and Portland Audubon volunteer Barb Grover for a morning paddle to Willamette Cove through the North Portland Harbor. We'll enjoy a leisurely morning of paddling, birding and learning about the past, present and future of this unique North Portland natural area. We'll also talk about the emerging North Willamette Greenway River and how you can support its expansion. This is a Wild in the City trip. The trip is free but pre-registration is required. Register Now! Directions will be emailed to registrants
Thursday, May 31st Maddax Woods Heronry, West Linn Do Your Own Heron Watch, daily, dawn to dusk. Bring your lawn chair and binoculars and sit out on the lawn, or set up on the viewing platform and observe the Goat Island Heronry of 38 nests, from Maddax Woods Park. Only 600 feet of water separates you from one of the best kept secrets in the South Metro area. Directions: Follow Willamette Drive (HWY. 43) to Burns Street, .35 miles North of I-205 (marked by a sign for the library), head east down to River Street, turn left (North) on River Street to the driveway of Maddax Woods directly at the end of River Street. For information call West Linn Parks and Recreation at 503-557-4700.
Friday, June 1st
Friday, June 1st, Rock Creek Herons and Norm Thompson Campus 8 am to 10 am. Join Mike Houck on a hike along Hillsboro’s Rock Creek Greenway and explore the wetlands and riparian habitat at the Norm Thompson corporate headquarters. We will also get close up views of two Great Blue Heron nesting colonies at Rock Creek. This is a Wild in the City trip. The trip is free but pre-registration is required. Register Now! Directions will be emailed to registrants. Photo: Mike Houck. - This trip is Full!
Saturday, June 2, Big Four Corners Natural Area Paddle 9 am to Noon. Join Ry Thompson (Bureau of Environmental Services), Bob Sallinger and Jim Labbe, Audubon Society of Portland Urban Conservation Program, for a Columbia Slough paddle through Big Four Corners, the City of Portland's fourth-largest natural area. We'll explore the unique bottomland habitats and remnant oak woodlands along the Upper Columbia Slough. We also learn about the recent success in bringing this special natural area in to public ownership and the prospects for increasing natural area protection along the Upper Columbia Slough. You are responsible for bringing and maintaining your own kayak/canoe. This is a Wild in the City trip. The trip is free but pre-registration is required. Register Now! Directions will be emailed to registrants.
Saturday, June 2, Spring bird walk at Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area, 9 am to 11:30 am. Great Blue Herons are just one of the many birds regularly seen in this 2000 acre wetland in North Portland. By June the herons are usually seen hunting for fish and frogs to feed their growing babies. Spring brings more than 25 different songbirds to join the resident birds nesting at Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area. In early June the place looks and sounds like a jungle. Meet Metro naturalist and expert birder James Davis in the parking lot on North Marine Drive. Learn to identify birds by sight and songs. Bring binoculars or borrow a pair of ours. Suitable for adults and children 10 and older. Free. Advance registration is required; call 503-797-1715. Metro WC.
Saturday, June 2, Painted Turtle Walk, 1 pm to 2:30 p.m. Oregon's turtles are rare, shy and hard to find, but Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area is home to one of the largest populations of Western painted turtles in the Northwest. See these beautiful reptiles with the help of Metro naturalist James Davis, who will have small telescopes for a close look. Learn about the natural history of painted turtles and why they are so rare. Although this program focuses on the turtles, great blue herons often feed where the turtles bask in the sun resulting in some interesting interactions between the two. Suitable for adults and children 5 and older. Meet in the parking area on North Marine Drive. Free. Advance registration required; call 503-797-1715. Metro WC.
Saturday, June 2, Columbia Land Trust guided tour of Clark County Greenspaces, 9 am to 5 pm. This tour of Clark County Greenspaces will include a special visit to the Vancouver Lake lowlands to view a great blue heron rookery. Executive Director, Glenn Lamb will be your guide on a tour of conserved lands along the Vancouver Lake lowlands, Lacamas Lake and the Columbia River. The tour is free of charge and open to the public. Gifts to support our work are always appreciated. Tour includes lunch, snacks, beverages and transportation. We leave from the Columbia Land Trust office in Vancouver at 9:00 am and arrive back by 5:00 pm. Space is limited so reserve your spot today! Call Tammy at 360-696-0131 or 503-224-3601.
Saturday, June 2, Willamette River Water Trail Dedication Event, 10 am to 3 pm. Celebrate the completion of the Willamette River Water Trail and the dedication of the trail's Northern Section with distinguished guests; Governor Kulongoski and others, project partners; Willamette Riverkeeper, Oregon State Parks and event host, City of Portland. Participants can pick up a copy of the free 72 page waterproof water trail guide covering the mainstem Willamette from Salem to Portland. Free canoes can be reserved by contacting Willamette Riverkeeper at 503-223-6418. Location: Portland Parks and Recreation, Willamette Park, SW Macadam and SW Nebraska. Details online at www.willamettewatertrail.org.
Sunday, June 3
Sunday, June 3rd, Sternwheeler The Rose, Ross Island Cruise, 9 am to 11 am. Join Portland Audubon Society and the Urban Greenspaces Institute on a family-oriented two hour cruise around Ross Island. If you don’t paddle and canoe or kayak this is time for you and your family to see great blue herons, osprey and bald eagles nests. We will cruise up through the Holgate Channel and circumnavigate Ross, Hardtack, and East Islands. Leaders: Bob Sallinger, Audubon Society of Portland and Mike Houck, Urban Greenspaces Institute and Gil Kelley, Portland Planning Director. Cost $17 per person. This is a Wild in the City trip and pre-registration is required and payment of the $17 fee must be received by May 30th to save a space for you on this cruise on the Willamette. Register Now! Photo Sternwheeler The Rose: Mike Houck. - This trip is Full!
Monday, June 4
Monday, June 4th, Two Rivers and a Slough Hike, 6 pm to 8:30 pm. Join Susan Barthel, Columbia Slough watershed program coordinator for Bureau of Environmental Services, and Gregg Everhart, trails planner for Portland Parks and Recreation, for a hike along three new or improved trails at the northwest side of the 40-Mile Loop. We'll take a 5-mile round-trip walk through cottonwood forests next to the Columbia and Willamette Rivers and see new restoration plantings along the Columbia Slough. Think of the changes in the nearly two hundred years since the Lewis and Clark Expedition paddled by these two watery confluences! We'll talk about plants and habitat so bring your binoculars and use them on trees and ships as well as birds. Meet at the north parking (the second paved lot) lot of Kelley Point Park. Directions: I-5 North and take the Marine Drive exit and take West Marine Drive past Smith and Bybee Lakes through the Rivergate Industrial Area to Kelley Point Park - or follow Highway 30 to the St Johns Bridge, take Lombard north to the park entrance. Call Susan at 503-823-7268 or email susanb@bes.ci.portland.or.us for questions.
Tuesday, June 5
Tuesday, June 5, Tues. Heron Lakes Golf Course Heron Nesting Colony, 6 pm to 7:30 pm. Ginny Stern and Sunnyside Environmental School students will lead a walk with Heron Lakes Golf Course Manager Jesse Goodling, to a Great Blue Heron nesting colony at Heron Lakes Golf Course. Bring your binoculars and spotting scopes, and view over 30-40 nests. Sunnyside 5th grade students will share what they have learned this past spring about this Great Blue Heron nesting site. Meet at the golf course maintenance building at 6 pm sharp, and we will walk together to the rookery. This is a Wild in the City trip. The trip is free but pre-registration is required. Register Now! Directions will be emailed to registrants. Photo Heron Nesting Colony: Mike Houck.
Wednesday, June 6
Wednesday, June 6, The Future of Ross Island, 7 pm to 9 pm. The founders of the Friends of Ross Island will unveil their vision for the future of the Ross Island complex at bridgeport brewpub + bakery, home of Blue Heron Ale and site of a multitude of early regional greenspace planning meetings. Blue Heron Ale will be the featured beverage of the evening. The program will be a presentation on Ross Island’s history and possible futures by Mike Houck, Urban Greenspaces Institute, Bob Sallinger Audubon Society of Portland, Travis Williams, Willamette Riverkeeper, Urban Greenspaces Institute, Mike Faha and Mike Abbate GreenWorks, P.C.; and landscape designers Christina Frank and Melissa Medeiros. This event is co-sponsored by the Friends of Ross Island and bridgeport brewpub + bakery, home of Blue Heron Ale, honoring Portland’s official city bird for over two decades. Bridgeport Brewpub + Bakery is located at 1313 NW Marshall St and is on the Portland Streetcar line and TriMet #77.
Wednesday, June 6, Lunch With The Birds, Jackson Bottom Wetland Preserve, Noon to 1 pm. Join Jackson Bottom naturalists for this great weekly event! They will provide spotting scopes, binoculars, field guides and naturalists to help you identify the waterfowl and other birds that show up at Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve. Meet at the north viewing shelter, next to the Clean Water Services treatment plant on Highway 219 south of Hillsboro. This event is free. The site is wheelchair accessible. Contact Sarah Pinnock at 503-681-6278 for more information.
Thursday, June 7
Thursday June 7th, Morning Birding Bike Ride along the Columbia Slough, 7 am to 8:30 am Join Jim Labbe Urban Conservationist Audubon Society of Portland and Barb Grover Events Planner with the Bike Gallery for a morning ride along the Columbia Slough Trail. We’ll take a leisurely, pre-commute bike ride along the Lower Columbia Slough trail and enjoy the lively birdlife to be encountered on spring morning. We’ll also learn about future extensions of the Columbia Slough Trail and how citizens can get involved in protecting and restoring the slough. You are responsible for bringing and maintaining your own bicycle; pumps and patch kits recommended. Helmets are absolutely required. This is a Wild in the City trip. The trip is free but pre-registration is required. Register Now! Directions will be emailed to registrants.
Thursday, June 7, Willamette River and South Portland Riverbank Restoration Paddle, 6 pm to 8 pm. Join Art Bass from Willamette Riverkeeper, Michelle Koeppe, local houseboat resident and naturalist, and Ry Thompson from Portland's Bureau of Environmental Services for an evening paddle on the Willamette River. We'll launch at Willamette Park and visit several revegetation and restoration projects along the South Portland Riverbank area and at the mouth of Stephens Creek, discuss habitat restoration and enhancement in the urban environment, and do some birding along the way. Registration and paddling experience are required. Bring your our canoe/kayak or reserve a free canoe and register by contacting Willamette Riverkeeper at 503-223-6418 or amy@willamette-riverkeeper.org. Kayak rentals can be arranged through Alder Creek Kayak & Canoe (www.aldercreek.com, 503-285-0464) or Portland Kayak Company (www.portlandrivercompany.com, 503-459-4050). Life jackets are absolutely required.
Thursday, June 7, Walk along the future North Portland Willamette Greenway, Trail, 6 pm to 8:30 pm. Join leaders of npGREENWAY on walk along the future North Portland Willamette Greenway Trail envisioned by this non-profit grass roots organization. The walk will be along a short paved existing trail, through Willamette Cove, former industrial sites, under cottonwood trees and along the edge of the working Willamette River to Swan Island and return along Willamette Blvd for sweeping vistas across the Willamette and the west hills. From the path, view barges, ocean freighters, ships in dry dock and fishermen's small boats all in a setting with cormorants sunning on industrial piers and hearty Blue Herons poking along the shoreline. Wear good, sturdy shoes to cover 5 miles. Meet at the end of N. Pittsburg Ave. near the intersection with N. Crawford St. at Cathedral Park under the St. Johns Bridge. The trip is free, but donations to support npGREENWAY are gladly accepted. Pre-register by email to info@npGreenway.org or at 503-823-4099.
Friday, June 8
Friday, June 8, Exploring Downtown Ecoroofs, Noon to 1:30 pm. We will take a walk through downtown Portland to look at roof gardens and ecoroofs. Tom Liptan Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services’ ecoroof expert and Mike Houck, Director of the Urban Greenspaces Institute will take you on a walking tour of the growing array of ecoroofs and roof gardens that are proliferating in downtown Portland and elsewhere around the city. Ecoroofs, one of Portland’s many strategies for managing the city’s stormwater, also contribute to improved air quality, reducing heat island effect and provide wildlife habitat in the heart of the city. This is a Wild in the City trip. The trip is free but pre-registration is required. Register Now! Directions will be emailed to registrants.
Saturday, June 9
Saturday, June 9 Great Blue Heron Walk, Jackson Bottom Wetland Preserve, 9 am to 11 am. This will be the perfect time to observe Great Blue Herons on and around their nests! Join Sarah Pinnock for a walk through Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve to see this amazing yearly event. We will walk about one mile to the east side of the Wetland, set up spotting scopes and check out the action! On the way we’ll watch for all the migratory birds that have returned to the Preserve to nest. Please wear shoes or boots that can get wet and/or muddy. There is a $3 per person charge for this program and pre-registration is required. Call Sarah at 503-681-6278 for more information, or to register.
Saturday, June 9, Animal tracking practice at Smith and Bybee Wetlands, 9:30 am to noon. Metro volunteer naturalist and experienced tracker John Halsell is starting a new, regular tracking program at Smith and Bybee Wetlands in North Portland on the 2nd Saturday of each month. Smith and Bybee offers tracking on sand, mud, grass, the forest floor, and trees. It is an outstanding place to see beaver evidence. This program is not about great blue herons but about how you can become familiar with the other animals living in the same habitat without seeing them. John will focus on what’s happening that week and cover different topics in the ancient art of using tracks and sign to know who’s been around, and what they have been doing. All skill levels are welcome for adults and teens. Meet in the parking area on North Marine Drive. Free. Advance registration is required; call 503-797-1715. Metro WC.
Saturday, June 9, Cycle The Wellfield, 9 am to 1:30 pm. Join the Columbia Slough Watershed Council and the Portland Water Bureau for a free bicycle ride through the Groundwater Protection Area located in the Columbia Slough Watershed. At several stops along the ride, Groundwater Specialist Randy Albright will reveal the mysteries of groundwater, discuss how groundwater provides flexibility and reliability to the City's water supply, and explain how we can all protect this important resource. Bring your bike, helmet, water & snacks, and dress for the weather. Helmets are required for all riders. Ages 12 and up are welcome. Space is limited. Pre-registration required. Please contact Katie Meckes at 503-281-1132 or email katie.meckes@columbiaslough.org. Directions: Meet at the Parkrose/Sumner Transit Center parking lot near NE Sandy & 95th Ave. (Across the bridge from the MAX Red Line stop at the intersection of NE Sandy Blvd. & NE 95th Avenue)
Saturday, June 9, Saturday, Walk on the Wild Side, Exploring the 40-Mile Loop from South Waterfront to OHSU, 8 am to noon. Mike Houck will lead a walking tour along the Willamette River Greenway to Willamette Park and up through George Himes Park and Terwilliger Parkway to OHSU. From there it’s all downhill via the Portland Aerial Tram (it's free going downhill!) back to South Waterfront. This is a great opportunity for new residents of South Waterfront to explore the green connections to “pill hill.” This is a significant walk, five to six miles, with lots of uphill walking. So, be in shape and wear sturdy walking gear. We’ve allowed plenty of time for a nice, leisurely hike, with time for lunch and the ride back on the tram. This is a Wild in the City trip. The trip is free but pre-registration is required. Register Now! Directions will be emailed to registrants.
Saturday, June 9, Soak It Up Stormwater Tour, 9 am to 12:30 pm. Celebrate Great Blue Heron Week with a tour of innovative stormwater management projects in Portland. Take a guided tour of green street, rain garden and ecoroof projects. These sustainable, on-site stormwater management techniques mimic nature by collecting stormwater and allowing it to soak into the ground as soil and vegetation filter pollutants. The tour will give property owners tips on how to use sustainable stormwater management techniques on their own property and qualify for a discount on their stormwater management bill. It will also give educators ideas for next year’s science curriculum options. The tour relates to the “Soak It Up” math/science curriculum that the city’s Bureau of Environmental Services offers free to Portland schools. Soak It Up is for fifth grade through high school students. Everyone who takes the tour will get information about the city’s stormwater discount program, Clean River Rewards, and a copy of Portland’s Stormwater Management Manual. Advance registration is required and the tour is limited to 20 people. To register, email peggym@bes.ci.portland.or.us or call at 503-823 7757.
Sunday, June 10
Sunday, June 10th, Friends of Ross Island Ross Island and Holgate Channel Regatta, 8 am to 11 am. Participate in a colorful flotilla of canoes and kayaks on this three-hour paddle around what will soon be one of Portland’s premier wildlife refuges, to view Great Blue Herons, Osprey and Bald Eagles on their nests. The young herons are large and raucous this time of year. We will see and hear numerous summer birds such as Swainson’s Thrushes, Black-headed Grosbeaks and Spotted Sandpipers as we ply the shallow waters between Hardtack and East Islands. Leaders include Bob Sallinger, Director of Audubon Society of Portland’s Urban Conservation Program; Travis Williams, Director of the Willamette Riverkeeper; Mike Houck, Director of the Urban Greenspaces Institute; and Donna Matrazzo, Sauvie Island Conservancy. Captain Peter Wilcox of RiversWest will provide safety boats and other assistance.This is a Wild in the City trip. The trip is free but pre-registration is required. Register Now! Directions will be emailed to registrants. Photo Kayaking Ross Island: Mike Houck.
