Oregon
November 7-14, 2010 - Trip Report
Guide, Greg Smith

 

Sunday, November 7 - Arrival in Portland, OR
After a few stops to pick folks up, we headed west on our way to Astoria.  The weather was mild and the skies mostly clear as we caught our first glimpse of the Columbia River.  We made a stop at the Eagle Sanctuary where we got a feeling for river habitat and viewed numerous waterfowl. The sun was setting as we checked into the Cannery Pier Hotel overlooking the Columbia River and the Astoria-Megler bridge. After unpacking and a little local exploration we got together and celebrated our welcome dinner before getting ready for tomorrow’s explorations along the north coast.

Monday, November 8 – North Coast
After breakfast we drove over Young’s Bay noting all the waterfowl on the white-capped water and headed to a small nature preserve in Seaside where an immature female Painted Bunting had been seen on previous days.  Although we did not see the bunting, we did get great looks at Hooded Merganser, Steller’s Jay and a number of other passerines.

The rain started so we hopped in the van and headed south to Cannon Beach and Ecola State Park.  There was no rain on the coast, but it was breezy and very cold.  We scoped the rocks offshore and found Brandt’s Cormorants and Glaucous-winged Gulls.  No Rocky shorebirds were seen, but we did hear Black Oystercatchers that must have been on the backside of one of the offshore rocks.

Next stop was going to be the wastewater treatment plant that has a birding trail around its perimeter, but the access road was closed to by construction because of a broken water line.  So we stopped at the city park where we found a flock of Greater White-fronted Geese along with one minima Canada Goose.  Nice looking bird!

Further south we birded rocky shoreline, beaches, bays and woodlands.  Although we saw some birds, it seemed the storm made everything keep under cover.  So we ended up at Fishermen’s Korner Restaurant in Garibaldi where we had meals cooked from local fish.  Very tasty!

After our late lunch we found a pair of Bald Eagles perched in a tree lit up by stunning afternoon light.  Common Loon and Surf Scoter were in the bay as we headed north back to Astoria and dinner at local restaurants.

Tuesday, November 9 – The Drive
Today was the day we headed over to the east side of the Cascades for three nights in Klamath Falls.  Today was the day where we were only supposed to have .5 inches of snow from this early season snow storm (more like 4” – 6”).  Today was the day where we got to drive through blizzard-like conditions for four hours.  It was great to arrive in Klamath Falls and meet up with Gwyneth and Barbara (our local experts).

Wednesday, November 10 – Klamath Falls
We started off our day by removing a very thick frost from the windshield and heading over to Upper Klamath Lake.  It was an absolutely stunning morning!  A few of yesterday’s storm clouds remained, but there was more blue sky than gray.  Most of the fall colors were still perched on the trees and the ground was covered with snow.  

Our first stop was along the lake where we had numerous Buffleheads mixed in the a few Bonaparte’s Gulsl and some Western Grebes.  We birded a few more spots along the lake before heading to Jean’s Rocky Point feeders which were in among ponderosa pines that bordered a wet meadow. 

What a spot!  Not only a great view, a wonderfully warm home with a myriad of feeders…and birds.  We got outstanding views of all three nuthatches, three jays, an absolutely stunning male Varied Thrush, five rowdy looking Mountain Quail and two species of chickadees.  All these birds and warm cookies right out of the oven, birding as it is meant to be.

We headed off to Township Road where a large flock of assorted blackbirds (including Tri-colored) were waiting.  Next we scoped grain fields where we saw coyotes, numerous Red-tailed Hawks, a few Rough-legged Hawks and numerous Northern Harriers.

After lunch at Pappy Ganders (with those delicious homemade French fries), we headed off to the NWR Headquarters for The Klamath Basin.  The feeders had two different goldfinches, California Quail (after all, we were in California), Purple Finch and other species we had already had the opportunity to view.

Next we walked around Discovery Marsh where we got looks at some of the few shorebirds we saw in the marshes – Sort-billed Dowitchers.  Thunderstorms and hail were coming towards us so we headed backed towards the car.  The sky behind was very black as we walked west into the bright sun.  As we looked to the east a Prairie Falcon came screaming into the pond intent on a dowitcher dinner.  It was very dramatic as the falcon was lit by the sun and pushed onto a black background.  That vision will stayed etched in everyone’s mind.

After getting in the van we headed down to the Tulelake Auto Tour route and started a slow drive on the south end of the lake.  Large flocks of Snow Geese retreating from the hail got our attention.  Sunlight trees were silhouetted by black clouds as we spied a Great-Horned Owl in the back of a tree.  Male Ring-necked Pheasants were scattered in fields as we pulled away from the lake’s edge and pushed up against the north boundary of Lava Beds National Monument. 

After finishing the route we headed over to Petroglyph Point, a large, eroded lava flow that had hundreds of petroglyphs etched into the base of the cliffs.  It was a cold wind blowing and the sun was low on the horizon, so we loaded up in the van and headed back to Klamath Falls and our warm rooms.

Thursday, November 11 – Butte Valley
As with the first day after a winter storm in most of Oregon and California’s interior valleys, we were greeted with tule fog, a ground fog that isn’t usually too deep but is very dense.  We met Charlotte in Dorris and headed off to look for raptors in the Butte Valley.

It took about four hours for the fog to lift, but during that time we got excellent looks at Townsend’s Solitaire perched on a frost-covered fence post and an immature Golden Eagle flying very close overhead.  It did clear as we headed to Sheep Mountain Road and there stood Mt. Shasta.  Very present and cloud free as we started searching for more raptors.  Lots of Red-tailed Hawks and then we saw more harriers and a few Rough-legged Hawks.  We hadn’t seen any Ferruginous Hawks for the day when all of a sudden we found two birds, one soaring and one perched close to the ground as they are known to do.

Last sighting before we headed off to Worden for a late lunch was a herd of Pronghorn.  There were at least 55 animals foraging in a field before they sauntered off in single file.

After lunch we decided to head back to the Tulelake. This circuit allowed us to pickup a few more species.  Two drake Ring-necked Duck and a hen were mixed in with a group of dabblers right next to the road.  Next up was an adult Bald Eagle that refused to take flight even when the van was directly underneath the bird, amazing view.  We had only seen three Tundra Swan up until this point, but the two flocks with almost a hundred birds was a treat!

A group of Snow Geese resting on the water gave us the opportunity to scope for an interloping Ross’ Goose.  We found at least three with the most obvious wearing a blue neck band with the alpha numeric code of “E6”.   Again the afternoon lighting was exceptional, especially with the reflections bouncing off of the water.

We finished the loop seeing more of the regulars and large flocks of Canada Geese.  Tucked in coves created by vegetation were Redhead, Mallard, Northern Pintail and more.

Friday, November 12 – Klamath Falls & Ashland
This morning we drove out to Eagle Ridge County Park to see what might be on this section of Upper Klamath Lake.  A couple of California Gulls mixed in with the usual waterfowl suspects were new as was a Great Egret.  But the highlight of the park was having a small flock of Common Bushtits and Golden-crowned Kinglets come in close, with the kinglets flaring their orange crowns; sweet!

It was now warm enough the we decided to head over the pass that was between us and Ashland.  It didn’t take long to find snowy patches of highway as we crossed Oregon Route 66. After lunch in Ashland (great mahi tacos) we got together with Gwyneth and headed to Lithia Park (designed by John Muir’s good friend John McLaren who also helped design Golden Gate Park).  Lithia Park was glowing with fall colors as we started at the top looking for American Dipper, which we found.   Then it was on to Wood Ducks, which we found.  And then we headed for the Western Screech Owl, which we found!  All of these birds had been sought out by Gwyneth and remained loyal to her when it was time for our visit.

Our last stop was the nature center in town with all of its feeders.  Spotted Towhees, Mourning Doves and Oak Titmouse all put in appearances and made for a late afternoon bird extravaganza at the center’s various feeders.

Saturday, November 13 – Medford and Ashland
Uh oh, today was overcast and very cool.  Almost made it to 42 degrees, but we were off and birding.  Our first stop was a small wetland in a relatively new housing development.  Swimming along were some drop dead gorgeous American Wigeons and Green-winged Teal drakes.  But the birds we were after waited just five minutes to explode from the grassy shore – Wilson’s Snipes.  It was a brief view as they flew from one side of the pond to the other, and they started calling!

Next stop was a state park on the banks of the Rogue River.  It was still overcast as we walked a loop trail along the river.  For whatever reason, there were no birds along the river.  But as soon as we turned away from the river we had flocks of American Robins, Cedar Waxwings and mixed groups. It was like someone turned on the tap as there were birds everywhere, including more Acorn Woodpeckers. The waxwings were feeding on mistletoe berries, the woodpeckers on acorns and the robins were on the ground searching for invertebrates.  Nice spot once we figured out where the birds were…

Time for lunch at the Jacksonville Inn.  Warm soups, toasty sandwiches and tea warmed everyone up.  After lunch we went to different greenways where some of the more common residents were out foraging.  Then we started seeing a few of the local birds: Lincoln’s Sparrows, Downy Woodpeckers, Fox Sparrows and Cooper’s Hawks.

Time to wrap it up and head back to the lodging.  We had our farewell dinner scheduled for 7:30 at Larks (appropriate…) and we certainly didn’t want to be tardy.

Sunday, November 14 – Heading Home
One last bird was added on our trip to the airport – Turkey!  Even though it was mostly drizzle on the drive back, we did see a lot of birds in the fields from Roseberg north.

 

Photo Credits
All photos by Greg Smith.

 

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