This spring several neighborhood folks gathered regularly along SW 45th Avenue around sunset, to watch a pair of screech owls nest and raise their young owlets. This all started back in late March 2026 when the female owl was seen perched in an open cavity 15 feet up on the side of a large, old, maple tree on the west side of SW 45th Avenue. Of course, our neighbors out walking their dogs and watching the sunset were curious about why we were all staring up into that old maple tree on the side of the street, asking, “What are you all looking at?!”
photos by Kristin Hiatt
The male and female owls had nested in this same location last year and had four little owlets to show off to their gawking human neighbors staring up at them from our neighbor Rachel’s driveway. So, we had hopes they would choose this same nest cavity again this year and had been watching for them – and, yes!, they again chose this same tree cavity for this year (we’ve seen this same owl pair nesting for five years now).
The female laid her eggs in early April, and we had this year’s three owlets peeking over the edge of the nest cavity at the end of May. June was our busy month to watch when the young owlets were growing their feathers, getting stronger, and perching on the edge of their cavity. Soon they were big enough to fly short distances away from the nest cavity and into the upper tree limbs, where we got to watch them huddled together waiting for their parents to bring them food (mostly mice and an occasional small bird or snake – free “pest control” for their human neighbors!).
Finally, toward the last half of June our family of owls moved away from our neighbor Rachel’s front yard. We lost sight of them as they began exploring the neighborhood trees and the other good places to find their food. That makes them hard to see, but they will stay nearby all year, and hopefully they’ll choose that same old maple tree next year to have some more baby owls!
If you’ve used the shortcut behind the baseball field at Hayhurst School, gone out the fence and down a path, across a rickety bridge to the a dead end of SW 48th Street then you’ve been in the headwaters of Pendleton Creek.
Technically, it starts about 400 feet east on 48th Ave. where new homes surround a preserved wetland. Pendleton Creek makes its way west through our neighborhood and the Cedar Sinai Woods (west of SW Shattuck) eventually meeting up with Fanno Creek near the intersection of Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway and SW Oleson. You can enjoy Pendleton Creek gurgling or gushing by after a rain along the lovely creekside foot path (labeled as Kanan street on some maps) that runs between SW 50th south of Cameron to SW 54th, where sadly the public pathway ends. The creek is dry much of the Summer but carries a lot of water in the rainy season.
Hayhurst Neighborhood Association, with support from Seth Healy from the Westside Watershed Resource Center and the City of Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services, has been working to improve the wetland and water quality at the headwaters of the creek. Two fourth grade classrooms at Hayhurst School (Ms. MacDonald and Ms. Vallance’s classes) provided enthusiastic help during the last school year.
Students help restore Pendleton Creek behind Hayhurst School. Credit Barbara Linssen.
We first met the classes in October to discuss native versus invasive plants, habitat, water quality and local wildlife. This spring, we got dirty pulling out invasive English Ivy. Concentrating on the slope leading up to the northeast corner of the school property students made pretty quick work of the ivy. Once that ground was clear we came back a few weeks later and planted appropriate native plants supplied by the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services. Oregon Grape, ferns, ocean spray, fringe cup flowers and more are now getting established. The students had such a great time that they want to continue taking care of the area.
This first summer will be the biggest challenge for these new plants. If they can avoid drought, being accidentally cut down or crushed by adventurers, they are very likely to survive once fall rains arrive. Volunteers from the neighborhood will continue to weed carefully around the plants. Eventually competing invasive plants will be crowded and shaded out by the natives
Some of your neighbors will be hauling water to the site this July and August to keep the young plants going. If you’d like to help please let us know by emailing hayhurstna@gmail.com. Even one hour of your time would be a big help, and students can earn community service credits.
Drive down Shattuck Road, and you’ll see the landscape changing at the old Alpenrose Dairy site, almost by the hour. Gone are all of the dairy buildings, and the open fields are dotted with mounds of dirt and heavy equipment. Over the last month, excavators and graders have been leveling out roadways, and diggers have been carving trenches for sewer and utility lines for the new Raleigh Crest development.
At the monthly “Good Neighbor” meeting on June 3, development managers from AKS Engineering reported on the construction schedule updates for this summer:
Utilities and curbs
Stormwater and utility conduits will be installed on SW Shattuck Road the week of June 8. Traffic control will run along Shattuck and will be needed at times near SW Pendleton Court during that week.
The stormwater connection across SW Dover Street will be installed between June 18 and 26.
Construction of onsite curbs will also begin in June.
The City of Portland will be connecting the water main at SW Illinois, which will require a road closure.This should be a one-day project—the exact date is not yet known.
Home construction is expected to begin in early fall.
View of the Raleigh Crest Site from the corner of SW Illinois and SW Shattuck June 8, 2026
credit: Beth Blenz-Clucas
Red ElectricTrail and Shattuck pathway
The foundation is in place for the new Red Electric Trail. The Holt Homes landscaping team will design the transition from Shattuck to the trail.
The multi-use pathway along Shattuck will no longer have the two-foot landscape buffer between the walkway and bikeway due to future maintenance needs. The current plan is to create a wider buffer of street trees and water catchment planted with the City of Portland’s choice of native plants between Shattuck traffic lanes and the path.
Shattuck Road speed cushions
Meanwhile, Hayhurst Neighborhood Association is still advocating with the City of Portland to install speed cushions along SW Shattuck Road. Board members are communicating with Portland Fire Chief Lauren Johnson, who expressed reservations about adding the bumps, due to Shattuck’s status as a Major Emergency Response Route. Chief Johnson stated, “Installing speed cushions on a Major Emergency Response Route that only has one lane each way, no improved shoulders, and no room for cars to pull off onto a shoulder can really slow Fire responses.This area of Portland already experiences longer response times and I am concerned about additional delays.” The city’s transportation bureau will continue to look for ways to make the street and intersections safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, and they are making plans for crosswalk striping and sidewalks at the intersection of Shattuck and SW Illinois. Read the Fire Chief’s letter to Hayhurst N.A. here.
But, as Hayhurst Neighborhood Association Board member Alissa Cattone noted in a response to the Chief, “These updates don’t appear to go far enough, particularly to keep children safe. We are very concerned about the currently perilous conditions on SW Shattuck Road, and at the SW 60th/Illinois/Shattuck intersection in the Hayhurst neighborhood that aren’t adequately being addressed.” Cattone and other neighbors point to the existing Shattuck Road speed cushions to the north of Hayhurst in the Bridlemile neighborhood between Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway and SW Patton Road, which were constructed with gaps to ease emergency vehicle travel.
Here is the current intersection crosswalk plan at SW Shattuck and Illinois/ 60th:
Source: Portland Bureau of Transportation 2026
Note: Hayhurst Neighborhood Association holds a reserve fund to conduct a traffic study of the area surrounding Raleigh Crest development. The study will be done once Phase 1 of the development is occupied and a real-time assessment of actual increased traffic is possible. Neighbors are invited to participate in discussions about SW transportation issues at the monthly Hayhurst N.A. meetings.
Submit your thoughts about the SW Shattuck Road traffic developments to Marita Ingalsbe, Hayhurst N.A. Chair, at hayhurstna@gmail.com.
Alissa Cattone, Marita Ingalsbe and Beth Blenz-Clucas contributed to this article.
Stop by the Hayhurst NA table there to chat with neighbors and grab a snack as you walk or roll, plus you can sign up to volunteer for a morning or afternoon shift here.
by Becky Bard, SMART Reading Site Coordinator at Hayhurst Elementary School
On Thursday, March 12, SMART Reading celebrated a major milestone: the 5,000,000th book given away to a child in Oregon! The celebration took place at Hayhurst Elementary School. SMART Reading staff and Hayhurst Principal DC Re-Bloom organized the celebration.
Noteworthy presenters included Oregon’s First Lady Amy Kotek Wilson, who read the humorous picture book The Smart Cookie aloud, and Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong, Superintendent of Schools for Portland Public Schools, who helped hand out copies of the book to the kids.
Amy Kotek Wilson, First Lady of Oregon, reads to students at Hayhurst
An adult who is a former SMART student, Stephen Phan, shared his story, which was interesting and engaging for the kids. SMART’s Executive Director, Jessica Bowersox (a former Hayhurst SMART reader) led the event. Portland Public School Board members Christy Splitt (a Hayhurst neighbor) and Rashelle Chase-Miller also attended.
Hayhurst principal DC Re-Bloom with SMART coordinators Becky Bard and Suzi Haywood
Help promote Safe Routes to School. Join friends, family and neighbors for a public Traffic Safety Event on Monday, March 30, 7:30 to 9 am. Adult volunteers RSVPand report to SW 50th Ave and Vermont St. Receive signage to display that encourages drivers to slow down and yield at crosswalks in this school zone as well as the Vermont corridor to the east of 50th, including the intersection at 45th.
City Councilor Mitch Green helped local volunteers at our event in October and will join the volunteers at this spring event, along with his District 4 City Councilor colleague Eriz Zimmerman. Also, our State Representative Dacia Grayber will be joining the volunteers!
Build community, meet neighbors and promote safe routes to school for all! This event is brought to you by West Hills Montessori School in partnership with PBOT Safe Routes to School; Portland Police Bureau; District Four Coalition; and the Maplewood, Multnomah and Hayhurst Neighborhood Associations. Registration is limited to adult participants, please.
