Hayhurst Neighborhood Association

Category: Nature

  • Our “Hayhurst Neighborhood OWL Watch”

    Our “Hayhurst Neighborhood OWL Watch”

    by Douglas Rogers, Hayhurst NA Treasurer

    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?!”

    Owl babies
    Owl mother
    Owl babies four

    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!

  • What’s up with the Trail at Pendleton Creek Headwaters?

    What’s up with the Trail at Pendleton Creek Headwaters?

    by Barbara Linssen

    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.
    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.