Svenson Island
Seasons
Winter
Spring
Summer
Fall
Checklists
Location
Svenson Island is located a about 3 miles west of the little town of Knappa. From Hwy 30, go north on Svenson Island Road. Just after you cross the bridge and turn right down the levee there is a flooded cattail marsh on the left that is always jammed with ducks in the winter months. You can continue on down Svenson Island Road and bird as you go. The road is quite narrow here so be sure to park in the wider pullout areas. There are two family houses on this road and those should be avoided.
DirectionsHabitat and Birds
Below is a commentary from Dave Irons about his visit to this location in the winter of 2024-25:
Most of the ducks are “Northern Pintail and Green-winged Teal. There are sometimes many dozens of Canvasbacks present, but we only found fourteen this time. It is absolutely the best place in the Pacific Northwest to find numbers of Cinnamon Teal during the winter. We counted 81 Cinnamon Teal during this visit and that was surely an undercount, as so many birds were hidden in the vegetation. We found and got nice photos of a beautiful male Eurasian Green-winged Teal. What was really impressive was the number of American Wigeon that were on the slough between the island and mainland. We counted 1200 (conservative) and found at least eight Eurasian Wigeon in the mix (also likely an undercount). There is also always a nice flock of Snow Geese in the flooded area, usually at least 200. It is a wonderful place to spend the late afternoon listening to the cacophony of waterfowl noises and watch as birds go to roost towards twilight.”
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