Streams and small rivers wind through neighborhoods across greater Portland. Wetlands dot the region, pooled at most every low point next to a butte in east Portland and Gresham and tucked into the draws of hills in Beaverton and Tigard. Water is everywhere. And where there’s water, there’s wildlife, even in the heart of a city.
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These waterways, especially the wetlands, offer some of the best chances to see birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and beautiful insects in your neighborhood. Many of them have a regional trail on their border, offering a great lookout for wildlife viewing.
The Grant Butte Wetlands stretches for a mile between Division and Powell, all of it visible from the Gresham-Fairview Trail. On any day, raptors are on the hunt, beaver dens are busy, and dozens of small animals go about their lives right in front of you.
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Who's in the wetlands?
- Northern harrier
- Turkey vulture
- People
- Violet green swallow
- Great blue heron
- Cattails
- North American beaver
- Black-tailed deer
- Red twig dogwood
- Red-winged blackbird
- River otter
- Kestrel
- Western tiger swallowtail
- Common merganser
- Raccoon
- Skunk cabbage
- Green heron
- American bittern
- Garter snake
- Western spirea
- Eight-spotted skimmer
- Western painted turtle
- Pacific waterleaf
- Swamp rose
- Northern red-legged frog
- Rough-skinned newt