Play in the Rain Day

Saturday November 7, 2009, WREN took part in the 2nd annual Youth in Nature Partnership, Play in the Rain Day! It was an amazing event that provided many opportunities for families to explore, experience and create at Mt. Pisgah.

WREN attempted our very first Scat Ornament craft! It was hugely successful. Each participant crafted an ornament using a ball of model magic and deer fur, feathers or hay. All ages enjoyed our craft and along with the "Scat Song" sing-along our booth was a big hit!

Sandpiper Pond, September 8

This Widow Skimmer was having no problems flying although missing a piece of wing. Its getting late in the season, and the Odonates are looking a bit ragged.

Western Forktail female

Tule Bluet pair with a brown female above and a blue female below. The different color forms that female Odonates have make identification more difficult.

I'm often asked about these tiny hopping bugs that are numerous along shorelines of water bodies. They are perfectly colored and even have a warty body resembling the irregularities in the mud making them very hard to see. They are Toad Bugs (predators) in the order Hemiptera; family Gelastocoridae

Striped Meadowhawk

Flame Skimmer

Yellowlegs break time

Blue Dasher female

Black Saddlebags above and below

WEW, July 16

June Wetland Wander

Eight of us wandered around the Golden Ponds area, viewing the rehabilitation process going on. The stream sides have been made more gentle and will soon support riparian vegetation. New pine trees have been planted near the picnic table. We were surprised to see some recent vandalism but were in hopes that, as more people make use of the area for birding, fishing, running and just visiting, vandalism will decrease. Emily Steel from the City of Eugene and Jules Abbott from WREN were group leaders. We saw a variety of birds and were introduced to many native and non-native plants in the area.

Walkin' & Rollin' Through the Wetlands 09!

On May 30, WREN closed another American Wetlands Month with Walkin' & Rollin Through the Wetlands 09. We enjoyed meeting community members as they stolled and rolled down Fern Ridge Bike Path on a gorgeous sunny spring day! Here are just a few fun moments we captured and treasure...


WREN volunteers and staff at the welcome booth pick up their passports and map...

Steve Gordon and Cary Kerst delved into the world of dragonflies and damselflies for a fantastic display...

Lane County Audubon Society talked with people about the fantastic birding opportunities in the West Eugene Wetlands...

Susan Oldland with Long Tom Watershed Council and her beautiful displays at Meadowlark Prairie Overlook...

Matt & Holly McRae toured up and down the bike path...

Star Raptors from the Cascades Raptor Center dazzled the Walkers & Rollers...

Participants carefully selected the prizes they sought to win at the end of the day...

WREN staff basked in the sun and fun of another tremendous event!

The UO ELP students rocked at their Wetland Wildlife booth...

Life Technologies sat proudly next to the trailor of invasive species and trash they had cleaned out of their adopted section of Amazon Creek a couple of weeks prior...

The Ethnobotany Resource Area Booth was staffed by Nan MacDonald, who provided a diverse selection of foods, fibres and basketry materials that were used historically by Willamette Valley Native Americans. On hand was information about WREN's Ethnobotany Resource Area Project and up coming Ethnobotany related Native American Basketry classes in the WEW...

Thank you so much to all who supported and made this event so great!

Individuals: Andy Gilmore, Bev Soasey, Cary Kerst, Dave Walp, Doug Huntington, Greg Poitra, Denise Gudger, Jo & Peter Von Hippel, Kevin Matthews, Matt McRae, Megan Foster, Mike Shippey & Mary Minniti , Molly Myers, Nan MacDonald, Pat Johnston, Richard Hand, Richard & Susan Bowden, Steve Gordon, & Tania Siemens

Businesses & Organizations: Café Mam, Cascades Raptor Center, City of Eugene Recreation Services & Restoration Staff, City of Eugene-Amazon Pool, Doak Creek Native Plant Nursery, Elmira Automotive, Eugene Chamber of Commerce, Euphoria Chocolate Company, Fern Hill Nursery, Lane County Audubon Society, Latitude 10 Café, Life Technologies, Long Tom Watershed Council, North American Butterfly Association, Paul’s Bicycle Way of Life, Science Factory, Tamarack Wellness Center, Umpqua Dairy, University of Oregon Environmental Leadership Program, Willamette Education & Early Detection of Invasives Network (WEEDIN)

Three New Dragonflies in West Eugene Wetlands

During the past week, I have found three dragonflies at Sandpiper Pond that we have not found there before. This brings the number of Odonata species that have been seen at Sandpiper Pond to 36. They are all known from the Eugene area. The Spot-winged Glider is a migratory species and likely flew in from some distant place like the southwest United States. They were observed ovipositing, but we don't know if they successfully complete their life cycle in Oregon.

Pacific Clubtail

Dot-tailed Whiteface

Spot-winged Glider

Sunday, May 24 in the Wetlands

Lorquins Admiral mudding

Red Wing Blackbird with Darner

Marsh Wren singing

Black Tern

OK, you Blue experts. I thought this looked like an Eastern Tailed Blue. What say you??

Life Technologies volunteers "Wade for the Wetlands"

Last Wednesday, 28 volunteers from Life Technologies volunteered their time to clean-up Amazon Creek between Beltline and Terry. Three years ago, Life Technologies (formally Invitrogen) adopted a section of the creek through the Eugene Stream Team's adoption program.

Volunteers removed blackberries and scotch broom, and hauled an incredible amount of trash from the creek, in just four short hours. If you'd like to see just how much trash was removed, come to the Walkin' and Rollin' through the Wetlands event on May 30th, where the trailer will be parked for all to see. For more information visit http://www.wewetlands.org/.

Wetland Wander, Stewart Pond Area

Windy but no rain and the five participants enjoyed an exploration of meadows and forest. Camus was in bloom, grass was green, oaks (white and black) were leafed out. We saw red-winged blackbirds, a red-tailed hawk, goldfinches, several kinds of swallows, a cinnamon teal and a green winged teal along with the usual scattering of Canada geese.