Tangent and vicinity

This small town is a hub for Linn County?s grass-seed farming industry, and hosts an Acorn Woodpecker colony just one block E of the highway on Tangent Dr. Surrounding agricultural lands offer open-country birding. Follow local loop directions to search for wintering Rough-legged Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, Prairie Falcon, and American Pipit, with chance of Lapland Longspur or Snow Bunting. Scan the large Killdeer and Dunlin flocks for Black-bellied Plover or Pacific Golden-Plover. Bald Eagle is often seen in numbers. Nesting species include Streaked Horned Lark, Western Meadowlark, and Savannah Sparrow. To see and hear more of these, walk or bicycle along quiet gravel roads. Note that land along these roads is private so you must bird from the road.

Along Hwy 99E 5 mi S of Albany, 0.8 mi S of Hwy 34. Local Loop: From Hwy 99E in Tangent, go E on Tangent Dr 3 mi, then S 4 mi on Seven Mile Ln (Glaser Dr and Ridge Dr are good side roads for birds). At T intersection with Plainview Dr jog W 0.5 mi, then S 1.5 mi and E under freeway. Thompson’s Mill State Heritage Area offers a stopping point with restrooms and historical interest. Continue W 2 mi, to small town of Shedd. Continue W 1.5 mi on Fayettville Dr. Turn R and go 1 mi N on Green Valley Rd. Just past where this road turns W, turn N on to Davis Rd (gravel). Go 1.5 mi to Bell Plain Dr, jog W 0.7 mi, then N 2.5 mi on Country Rd (gravel) to Tangent Dr, then E 3 mi to return to Tangent.