North Bend
Seasons
Checklists
Location
North Bend is located on Hwy 101 22 miles south of Reedsport and 25 miles north of Bandon. There are several spots to check out.
1) Simpson Park Island is to the west of Hwy 101, just south of the Coos Bay (Conde B. McCullough Memorial) Bridge. Access is the first road (Ferry Rd.) south of the bridge on the east side. Bear left at the first fork onto Chappel Pkwy. Continue down the hill (past Pittum Loop) towards the water and follow the road under the bridge to a parking lot. Walk the railroad tracks south to a junction and take a right along the tracks to head out to a not-so-obvious island created by dredge spoils. Look for sparrow flocks along the way and, after the junction, look for ducks on both sides of the tracks.
2)Return to Ferry Rd. and turn left (east) to a dead end that the bay just after Ferry Park. Scope the bay for water birds and listen for songbirds in the park itself.
3) Heading south through North Bend, turn right (west) onto Virginia Ave. Head west 0.9 miles and bear right onto Maple St. After 0.2 miles, bear left onto Maple Ave which quickly turns into Colorado St. Turn right after 0.2 miles at Airport Way and drive to the end where the road dead ends at the Coos Bureau of Land Management (BLM) office.
DirectionsHabitat and Birds
Palm Warblers often winter in this area, and Black Phoebe is usually flycatching at the wastewater pond to the NW. Geese, Plovers and wintering Loons can be scoped from the overlook at the BLM In the past, North Bend has produced such rarities as Tropical Kingbird in 1982, Blue Jay in 1977, White Wagtail in 1999, Black-and White Warbler in 1978, Clay-colored Sparrow in 1983, Lark Bunting in 1980, and Dickcissel in 1988.
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