March 2022 Community Events

Here are some opportunities offered by our partners this month:

Friends of Trees

The Wetlands Conservancy

City of Hillsboro

SOLVE

Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District


Counts Show Bird Populations Are on the Rise at the Rock Creek Floodplain Enhancement Project

Since 2019, Portland Audubon has partnered with Clean Water Services to assess the avian bird community at the Portland Community College (PCC) Rock Creek Floodplain site. It’s a collaborative effort that engages local communities and partners and provides educational opportunities for youth.

Utilizing a blend of professional-level surveys and community science eBird surveys, partners and volunteers were able to analyze the spring migration/breeding season of bird communities as well as winter waterbird use of wetland emergent habitat. These surveys play an enormously important role in helping Tree for All partners understand the impact and response of habitat restoration programs on local avian populations.

From 2019-2021, Portland Audubon staff collected expansive data utilizing winter waterfowl surveys and spring point counts, the results of which were then combined with more than one hundred community science eBird surveys. In total, these surveys documented 111 bird species using the site from January 2019 to October 2021, and included a diversity of species from Neotropical migratory songbirds (26 species), waterfowl (12 species), shorebirds (5 species) and raptors/owls (7).

Through this partnership, Portland Audubon has also delivered after-school STEM programming with Adelante Chicas and with PCC-Rock Creek faculty and students.

To learn more about the transformation of Rock Creek Floodplain Enhancement Project, click here.

Photo credit: Mick Thompson

February 2022 Community Events

Looking to give back to your community this month?

Here are some opportunities offered by our partners:

Clean Water Services

Friends of Trees

The Wetlands Conservancy

Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District


Increasing Accessibility to Our Community Assets

Over the past few years, Tree for All Partner Tualatin Hills Parks & Recreation District (THPRD) has put diversity, equity, inclusion and access (DEIA) at the forefront of its planning and programming. 

THPRD offers a series of free public amenities through parks, trails, nature parks and natural areas. They invite residents to gather, play, and explore more than 99 park sites with recreational amenities, over 68 miles of hard- and soft-paved trails, three off-leash dog parks, three skate parks, and more than 1,500 acres of natural areas, presenting an incredible range of opportunities for individuals and families to get an up-close look at forests, lakes, streams, birds and other wildlife we have in the area.

THPRD removes barriers to participation, fostering an inclusive culture, and offering programs that celebrate our region’s diverse population. The Adaptive and Inclusive Recreation program provides access to recreation programs to patrons living with developmental, learning, or physical disabilities or mental illness. THPRD also provides financial aid for district programs, offers free programming and services for residents of all ages, infants to seniors, assists homeless and homebound people, and tailors programs to the district’s diverse population. 

With such a broad reach and deep impact, THPRD’s DEIA efforts will improve access to nature for thousands of Washington County residents, access which we know will result in improved health outcomes for our community. You can learn more about THPRD’s outstanding DEIA efforts and the programs and services described above at THPRD.org.


Birds Flock to Fernhill After Restoration, Partners Find

Volunteer birders participated in Portland Audubon-led bird surveying at Fernhill.

Volunteer birders participated in Portland Audubon-led bird surveying at Fernhill.

Cinnamon Teal - Photo by Haley Crews

Cinnamon Teal - Photo by Haley Crews

Tree for All partners Portland Audubon and Clean Water Services recently reported promising results from a five-year community science-led survey measuring the richness and abundance of native bird species at Fernhill.

Nearly a decade ago, Clean Water Services began ambitious habitat restoration work at Fernhill. Their mission was to transform the 90-acre site from obsolete sewage ponds into a native wetland habitat designed to treat wastewater naturally while simultaneously restoring natural bird and wildlife habitat. The City of Forest Grove was also an important stakeholder during the planning process.

The site’s transformation included planting more than 750,000 native wetland plants and three billion seeds, as well as placement of more than 180 logs and snags to create habitat and perches for birds and other wildlife. You can read more about that work on the Fernhill Tree for All case study.

In 2015 Clean Water Services sought out assistance from an organization with expertise in bird biology and community organizing to assist in measuring the impact of its restoration efforts on bird populations at Fernhill. Portland Audubon was an ideal partner in this work.

“Portland Audubon’s skill in setting up a monitoring protocol and analyzing the data, and their ability to muster a cadre of expert birders from the community to commit to performing five years of monitoring has been invaluable. It has been great to have such a well-respected, impartial partner evaluate the changes. ”
— Carol Murdock, Clean Water Services

Over the past five years, Portland Audubon has conducted formal bird surveys at Fernhill, examined historic eBird data and engaged local birders in community science to monitor bird activity. 

Here are some of the partners’ key findings:

Green Heron - Photo by Candace Larson

Green Heron - Photo by Candace Larson

Richness

The number of different bird species has increased significantly each season since restoration work was completed. This indicates that improved habitat complexity has enabled increasing numbers of bird species to benefit during migration and spring and summer breeding seasons.

Abundance

Overall bird abundance, or total number of birds—including dabbling ducks, grebes, rails, songbirds and wading birds—has increased substantially since restoration was completed. 

While overall abundance has increased steadily, species that depend on large water bodies (like obsolete sewage ponds) including gulls and terns have decreased since those artificial ponds were removed.

“We hope our findings will inspire other people across the country and in other parts of the world to consider this approach to wastewater treatment and habitat restoration. This is an excellent example of how green infrastructure can benefit wildlife and humans alike.”
— Joe Liebezeit, Staff Scientist & Avian Conservation Manager, Portland Audubon

Audubon Portland leads community science bird count efforts across Washington County and throughout the region. Learn more about their Washington County Greenspace Bird Surveys at Fernhill, PCC Rock Creek and new efforts at Cook Park here.

Interested birders are invited to Portland Audubon’s upcoming Cook Park Community Science Training on Wednesday, March 17 from 6-7 p.m. Learn more and sign up.

For more information on the research process and findings, check out Audubon Portland’s 2015-2020 Fernhill Results Technical Report.

Since 2005, regional partners have been collaborating to restore the Tualatin River Watershed.

Today, they are exploring what comes next.