November 4, 2016

Time to head out again.  Can’t stay in one place too long, right?  Actually the longer I stay in Portland the more I want to return to Oregon so best not dawdle.

Northern Oregon coast here we come.  NOT.  Well we had good intentions but the weather forecast for Saturday (tomorrow) was for heavy rain and breezy (i.e. 17-24 miles per hour, with gusts to 30+ mph).  So we headed to the Central Oregon sunshine instead.  We are equal opportunity adventurers in Oregon.  We love it everywhere – Willamette Valley, Cascade Mountains, High Desert, and the Coast.  So many great places to see and so many things to do.

Our destination tonight is a BLM campground along the Crooked River south of Prineville.  We’ve stayed at other places nearby (mainly pull offs along the side of the road).  The BLM has nine small campgrounds along the river – used primarily by fishermen.  We chose the first campground since we couldn’t quite remember how many there were (I thought 6) nor how good they were.  The first campground – Castle Rock – had only six sites, but we found one we liked.

I could not believe how many American Robins were at the campground.  When they left to roost for the night I estimated over 100 robins.  They were busy flitting about making that dash for food before dusk settled in.  Another surprise was two Townsend’s Solitaire.  I think I’ve seen more Townsend’s Solitaire in Oregon this trip than in all my previous sightings together – anywhere.  Good year for being Solitaire.

Birds Species Seen or Heard at Castle Rock Campground

• American Robin
• Townsend’s Solitaire
• Ruby-crowned Kinglet
• Yellow-rumped Warbler
• Northern Flicker

November 5, 2016

Woke up to partly cloudy skies and a cold wind.  We broke camp after breakfast and headed south.  Destination for the night – LaPine State Park.  This state park is located south of Bend, Oregon.

We continued along Highway 27 searching the adjacent lands for Mountain Bluebirds, which we’ve seen in this area before.  We weren’t disappointed, although we only saw three whereas in the past we’ve seen much larger flocks.  I suspect it is the time of year – most Mountain Bluebirds migrate a little further south for the winter (according to Sibley’s).

I did see two blue birds and at first though Mountain Bluebirds, but they were too large in size and the shape of their bill was more jay like than bluebird.  Turns out they were Pinyon Jays – FOYs (First of Year – first time we’ve seen them in 2016).  Woohoo!!!  We were hoping to see these birds further south at Cabin Lake campground.  I’m so glad we saw them here because they were absent from the Cabin Lake area.

We took back roads to get to Fort Rock State Natural Area (SNA).  From Fort Rock we were going to head to the Cabin Lake campground and several bird blinds.  Turns out the road we took to Fort Rock SNA was the same one to Cabin Lake campground – only Cabin Lake campground came first.  So we stopped at the campground.  They have a volunteer who maintains two bird blinds.  Turns out he turned off the water on October 29th so no birds – not a single one.  This area is suppose to have a high concentration of bird life due to the intersection of two ecosystems – Ponderosa Pine and desert scrub-shrub.  We did see a couple Mule Deer and a squirrel.

On the way from Cabin Lake campground to Fort Rock SNA we saw THREE Golden Eagles.  A very pleasant surprise after finding no bird life at the watering holes/bird blinds.

We did a short hike at Fort Rock SNA.  This area was used by Native Americans in the past – over 70 pairs of sandals were discovered at the site.

Next stop – LaPine State Park.  We are staying here one night.  We had originally intended to stay two nights but they charge $26.00 per night for a full hookup regardless of whether you want those amenities or not – we don’t.  So will find a nearby U.S. Forest Service campground costing us about $4.00-$8.00 per night.   Does that make us cheap?

Once at the campground we did a short hike along the Deschutes River.  We didn’t see much in the way of bird life – a Northern Flicker, Common Raven, Mallards feeding in the river, and a contingent of Steller’s Jays.  We heard chickadees but I wasn’t sure which ones – just know they weren’t Black-capped.  Their song I know.  The “chickadee dee dee is so clear, where for the other chickadees it sounds nasally.  I suspect the chickadees are mountain chickadees.

November 6, 2016

Cold this morning when we got up and to think we gained an hour too due to the change from daylight savings time to regular time (or whatever they call it).  We did a short 3.0-mile hike (Deschutes Trail) around the park before heading to a campground northwest of Bend, Oregon.  The trail was nice and flat, and along the way we observed a Red-tailed Hawk and a flock of Red Crossbills.  I was able to confirm the chickadee sightings as Mountain Chickadees, which is what I expected.

Before reaching our destination for the night – Indian Ford Campground near Black Butte Ranch just northwest of Sisters, Oregon – we decided to take a detour and check out Smith Rock.  Smith Rock is  a premier rock climbing location in Oregon and, I suspect, the entire United States.  The day was cool, but the sun was shining – always a plus in central Oregon.  Probably a plus for climbers too.

We weren’t the only ones who decided to spend the day or even an hour or so at Smith Rock.  I stopped counting vehicles at 149 and there were at least another 100 in the parking lots.  They even have expanded the parking area since we were here several years ago.  Smith Rock is managed by the Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation.  If you have never been to this area before, come.  This area is beautiful.  Smith Rock juts up in the middle of the high desert – truly amazing geologically.  There are a number of trails for those who don’t want to climb the rock faces.

After Smith Rock we drove to Indian Ford Campground.  We’ve stayed here before and it is a favorite.  However, the U.S. Forest Service has decided to close the campground for the winter.  What winter?  Temperatures were in the high 50s today and are expected to be in the 60s tomorrow.  Needless to say we were disappointed.  We continued on Highway 20 towards Salem, Oregon stopping off at the Lone Pine campground along Shuttle Lake.  This is another U.S. Forest Service campground.  Of the three forest service campgrounds along the lake, this was the only one open.  And then there are only four campers here, including us.  Not high traffic this time of year, although there were several people on the lake fishing.  Some good birds too.  We did a short hike along the lake.  What a difference a lake makes – ducks, coots, and grebes.

Tomorrow our intention is to head to the coast.  However,  since we haven’t really stuck to our original schedule yet, it will be interesting to see where we end up.

Birds Species Observed or Heard at LaPine State Park

• Golden-crowned Kinglet
• Mountain Chickadee
• Northern Flicker
• Red Crossbill
• Finch sp.
• Steller’s Jay
• White-breasted Nuthatch
• Common Raven
• Red-tailed Hawk

Birds Species Observed or Heard at Lone Pine Campground – Deschutes National Forest

• Great Blue Heron
• American Coot
• Bufflehead
• Common Goldeneye
• Western Grebe
• Eared Grebe
• Steller’s Jay
• Gray Jay
• Pacific Wren
• Golden-crowned Kinglet
• Mountain Chickadee
• Surf Scoter
• Great Horned Owl

 November 7, 2016

Woke to a beautiful sunrise – red sky at morn sailors be warn, red sky at night sailors delight.  Probably true if you are on the ocean, not so much when you are on land?  We get some beautiful sunrises in the Homer in the fall and winter and they do not portend bad weather.

We left our campsite early – around 7:30 am – and headed to the coast.  The weather there the next several days is supposed to be good so we are going to take advantage of it.  Of course in western Oregon they say if you want to know what the weather is – look out the window.  Hard to predict the weather here for more than a day or two ahead of time, and even then it is only accurate about 50% of the time.  Maybe NOAA’s forecasting has improved over the last ten years.

We drove through some beautiful, wild country – rain forests – on our way to the coast.  The moss on the trees was heavy, and the trees looked like something out of Lord of the Rings – Middle Earth.

We stopped for lunch in Newport – the Thai Elephant Restaurant (very good, give it  4+ stars).  After lunch we stopped off at the South Jetty to check out the birds – always a ‘must do’ when you come to Newport.  The surprise for me were the Harlequin Ducks.  You don’t see them too often in Oregon – at least not that I recall.

This gull was lucky enough to capture lunch – a sea star.  Now eating it is a whole other story.  We never did see the gull consume the sea star.

From Newport we continued north along Highway 101 with stops at Nestucca National Wildlife Refuge (closed for maintenance – really???) and Clay Meyers State Natural Area.  Nestucca National Wildlife Refuge is a haven for Canada and Cackling Geese, and especially the Dusky Canada Goose.  And, as billed, the geese were here by the hundreds, if not close to a thousand or more.  The nearby Clay Meyers State Natural Area has a nice trail, which we hiked.

With the change in daylight savings time it gets darker sooner than we are used to, so we made a last minute dash – luckily we had less than 20 miles to go – to our campsite at Cape Lookout State Park.  This state park is located along the coast near Tillamook – famous for its cheeses and ice cream.  We got a site and then hastily made dinner before it got too dark to see.  We have d-lights  (solar powered lights) to read by, but we don’t have a light for outside – except flashlights.  They don’t work so well when you are trying to cook or clean up afterwards.

The nearby hillsides (mountains really) have been clearcut – very ugly – and they are burning the slag.  The area is a little hazy, but luckily doesn’t smell too bad.  We got an occasional whiff of smoke now and then.   After dinner Jack went to take a shower.  I was sitting in the van working on this blog  when I heard what sounded like someone getting into our dish tub outside.  I called out to Jack, but got no answer.  So I pulled out the flash light – it does get dark here by 5:30 pm – and looked outside.  On top of our dish tub (where we store dishes etc.) was a raccoon. The wiley raccoon had gotten the tub’s lid off and was scrounging around for food.  Other than coffee, the raccoon wasn’t going to find any food stuff in that container.  So I tried scaring them off (there were three of them in the campsite) – not an easy feat.  I then grabbed the tub, packed what had spilled out, and put it in the van.  They are cute creatures, but can be dangerous.

Birds Species Seen or Heard at South Jetty, Newport Bay, Oregon

• Surf Scoter
• Harlequin Duck
• Bufflehead
• Western Grebe
• Western Gull
• Glaucous-winged Gull
• Eurasian Starling (they are everywhere)
• Red-necked Grebe
• American Crow
• Ring-billed Gull
• Common Loon
• Cormorant sp.

Birds Species Seen or Heard at Clay Meyers State Natural Area

• Surf Scoter
• Bufflehead
• Bald Eagle
• Red-breasted Merganser
• Western Gull
• Great Blue Heron
• Ruby-crowned Kinglet
• Golden-crowned Kinglet
• Northern Flicker
• Dark-eyed Junco
• Belted Kingfisher
• Great Egret
• Western Grebe
• Chestnut-backed Chickadee

November 8, 2016

This morning was delightfully warm.  Skies were mostly cloudy, and we even saw a morning rainbow.  Is that good luck?  As I was cleaning up from breakfast (doing dishes) several hundred Cackling Geese flew by heading south – probably for Nestucca National Wildlife Refuge.

We were going to walk the beach at Cape Lookout this morning on an outgoing tide (high tide was about 20 minutes earlier), but there wasn’t much beach to walk.  So off we went to Cape Mears NWR/State Park to check out the ocean birds there – unfortunately not much.  Didn’t see a single Common Murre.  To the south of Cape Mears is Three Arch Rocks, which has the highest breeding colony of Common Murres outside of Alaska – 500,000 nest on three small rock islands (see photo).  You can see Three Arch Rocks from Cape Mears.  Every time I’ve been to Cape Mears I’ve seen Common Murres, so to see none was surprising.  I hope the murres aren’t experiencing the same problems as Alaska’s Gulf Coast murre population, which was significantly impacted this past winter.

From Cape Mears we back tracked about ten miles and headed towards Tillamook – land of cheese and ice cream.  Well we all know where cheese comes from right? COWS.  Lots of cows and does it ever stink in Tillamook – at least one farm we passed.  I don’t have a great sense of smell, but I nearly gagged on the smell as we drove by.  And believe it or not, there was an RV camper park adjacent to the dairy farm.  I don’t think they could have paid me any money (think in the millions) to stay there.

We went to the city of Bayocean – okay it really doesn’t exist, but the land was platted and the lots sold and occupied for a brief period of time – back in the early 1900s.  It is known as “the town that fell into the sea”.  The area  abuts Tillamook Bay and we must have seen several thousand American Wigeons, among a  single Eurasian Wigeon (oh wait, that’s the other way around).  I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many wigeons in one place before.  Where the Great Salt Lake has Northern Shovelers; Tillamook Bay has American Wigeons.  Amazing!!!

This area generally has (Black) Brant in the winter, but we didn’t see any this time.  We did get to see a small flock (9 or so) of Black-bellied Plovers.  When they were on the ground I couldn’t quite tell what plover they were (too far away), but when they flew their black arm pit was unmistakable.  Seems a little late for plovers, but then they winter along the Pacific coast.

Watched a Western Grebe with a fish in its mouth evading a gull trying to steal its catch.  Luckily, the grebe could dive under water to escape the gull.  We gave up watching the two before the gull gave up trying to steal the fish from the grebe.  I wonder who won?

Upon our return to Cape Lookout State Park we thought we might go for a walk on the beach, but again the tide was just too high for me to feel comfortable about having dry feet.  And, gotta watch out for those sneaker waves.  So instead we took a short upland hike.  Along the trail we kept flushing 3-4 Northern Flickers.  They were busy eating grub on the ground, along the trail.

Bird Species Seen or Heard at Cape Lookout State Park

• Steller’s Jay
• European Starling
• Cackling Goose
• Northern Flicker
• Bald Eagle
• Bewick’s Wren
• Pacific Wren
• Song Sparrow
• Dark-eyed Junco
• Glaucous-winged Gull

Bird Species Seen or Heard between Cape Lookout State Park and Bayocean/Tillamook Bay

• Northern Flicker
• Double-crested Cormorant
• Pelagic Cormorant
• American Crow
• Belted Kingfisher
• Red-breasted Merganser
• Great Blue Heron
• Great Egret
• Horned Grebe
• Western Grebe
• Bald Eagle
• Golden-crowned Kinglet
• Canada Goose
• Hummingbird species (believe Anna’s – didn’t see any rufous coloring)
• Mallard
• Northern Pintail
• American Wigeon
• Eurasian Wigeon
• American Coot
• Ruddy Duck
• Golden-crowned Sparrow
• Mew Gull
• Western Gull
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Northern Harrier
• Black-bellied Plover
• European Starling
• Surf Scoter
• Bufflehead
• Ring-necked Duck
• American Robin

Tomorrow we head north to the Astoria area for the night.  I am hoping the weather will hold for another day or two.

November 9, 2016

All I can say is I woke up a very disappointed person.   The president elect is not what this country needs to move forward.  I feel he will only set us back – way back.  He will not unite us, only further divide us. 

The weather at Cape Lookout this morning when we woke up was miserable – rain, wind, cold – fitting for how I was feeling.  We didn’t even try to make coffee to get us going.  We headed north and sought out a half-way decent restaurant for breakfast.  We stopped at a café in Garibaldi, Oregon located just north of Tillamooooook.  Okay, I couldn’t help the “moo” reference.   The food was decent, but I am still looking for that fabulous breakfast spot.

We continued our drive along Highway 101.  Unfortunately with the rain there was fog.  The Oregon coast is one of the most beautiful coastlines in the United States – not to be missed.  I was looking forward to taking some great scenery shots, especially in the Oswald West corridor, but that was not gonna happen with the fog.

We made it to Fort Stevens State Park around 11:00 am and found a decent campsite.  This park has over 270 spaces, of which only 6 are tent campsites and those are crammed into the same loop as the cabins.  So we opted to get a site with electricity (and pay about $8.00 more) – for the privilege of having a little space between us and our neighbors.  At least the weather was decent here.  No rain.

This park abuts both the Pacific Ocean and the Columbia River, so we went to both areas to check out the birds.  At a viewing area near Trestle Bay, we saw a couple hundred shorebirds.  I suspect mostly Western Sandpipers based on size and bill shape (too far away to get decent views even with a spotting scope), a smattering of Sanderlings, and a single plover (which based on coloring I suspect is a Black-bellied Plover).  As we were coming back to the parking lot a woman told us about seeing some phalaropes by Lot C, which was our next destination.  Off we went to check out the phalaropes.  We did see several phalaropes on land searching for food (I’ve never seen that before) with a couple of phalaropes in the water doing their circling thing to stir up food.  Along with the phalaropes were several Dunlins and Least Sandpipers.

Okay the phalaropes were too far away to get a decent photo, but based on views with the scope they looked like Red Phalaropes – in non-breeding plumage of course.  But I’m not 100% sure, let alone 90% sure.  As we were checking out the area for other shorebirds a Peregrine Falcon flew by stirring up the birds.  He went after one phalarope in particular but missed each time – lucky for the phalarope as he could dive underwater, if only briefly.  The other shorebirds scattered but the phalarope being harassed continued to swim on the pond and search for food.

At Fort Stevens we could go for a walk on the beach, so we did.  I don’t think we went too far.  Definitely no more than a mile one way.  On our walk I counted 17 dead birds, of which 11 were Northern Fulmars, three were phalaropes (with only their wings left), one  pelican, and two unidentifiable birds, although I think one was a grebe.  I was surprised to find so many dead birds.  During the walk we also picked up beach debris (aka garbage), and found lots of very small pieces of plastic on the beach.

We went to another section of beach to check out what is left of the Peter Iredale shipwreck, which occurred on October 25, 1906 when the captain decided he wanted to take a shorter route and save a few days.  Short cuts are not always a good thing.

Tomorrow we head back to Portland for several days to dog sit for our friend Jane who graciously lets us stay with her each time we come through Portland.  We then head to Klamath Falls for several weeks to explore for birds and enjoy the comforts of staying at Jack’s sister’s home.

Birds Species Observed or Heard at Fort Stevens State Park

• Bald Eagle
• Mallards
• Western Grebe
• Bufflehead
• Surf Scoter
• Loon sp.
• Dunlin
• Phalarope sp. (I think Red Phalarope)
• Least Sandpiper
• Sanderlings
• Peregrine Falcon
• Red-necked Grebe
• Golden-crowned Kinglet
• Black-bellied Plover
• Chestnut-backed Chickadee
• Ring-billed Gull

November 10, 2016

We broke camp early and headed to Portland.  We made three stops along the way: Trojan Park (formerly a nuclear power plant site, now a great birding site), Graham road (near Trojan Park, with a large pond on the right hand side of the road), and Sauvie Island ODFW wildlife areas – the sites we missed when we rescued the owl.

When we got to Trojan Park we were literally in the fog, but did a short walk around the park grounds (series of ponds)as the fog lifted.  Beautiful morning.  There were lots of Cackling and Canadian Geese, and several domesticated geese (I believe).   And as you can see from the photos, there has been some hybridization going on here.  Maybe it is something in the water.

Graham Road is a short road – about 200-300 feet long – but the pond on the right had lots of waterfowl on it, as well as several Great Blue Herons and Double-creasted Cormorants.  Oh, and I cannot forget the ever present coots.

When we got to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife areas on Sauvie Island we found the areas closed unless you had a valid hunting license.  Since we don’t, we left the island and headed in to Portland.

We will be in Portland until Monday morning, November 14, when we head down towards Klamath Falls, with several stops along the way to visit favorite sights and friends.

Bird Species Observed or Heard at Trojan Park and Graham Road

• American Wigeon
• Swan sp. (too far away to id beyond species)
• American Coot
• Canada Goose
• Cackling Goose
• Greater White-fronted Goose
• Domesticated Goose
• Great Blue Heron
• Great Egret
• Pied-billed Grebe
• Hooded Merganser
• Double-crested Cormorant
• Song Sparrow
• California Scrub Jay
• Red-breasted Sapsucker
• Steller’s Jay
• American Robin
• Belted Kingfisher
• Mallard
• Gadwall
• Northern Shoveler
• Bufflehead
• Ruby-crowned Kinglet
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Black-capped Chickadee
• Common Merganser
• Green-winged Teal
• American Crow

NOTE:  Take every opportunity you can to enjoy the great outdoors and the wildlife these lands support.  I suspect our public lands and wildlife are under threat – now more than ever.  I hope I am wrong.  Support your public lands.  We birders have a strong voice – let’s use it.  We are an economic force to be reckoned with.

It’s a Great Day to Bird