Roy Gerig and I took a 5 day 4 night camping trip to eastern Oregon with
the intention of exploring Lake county. We left on Sunday June 7th and
returned on Thursday the 11th.
Our first stop out of Salem was at Detroit Flats, a place that has produce
many interesting finds .Though we arrived at 10:30, and it was not very
birdy, we stilled managed to find a pair of MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS checking out
all of the snags on the "island" area at the end of the trail. A county
bird for both of us, it will be interesting to see if they stay to breed at
this relatively low elevation of 1600 feet.
From the flats, we drove over Santiam Pass and stop at several sites near
Sisters. While birdy, nothing of note was found, including missing the
reported Chestnut-sided Warbler at Cold Springs Campground, though a
nesting pair of Williamson's Sapsuckers was a nice consolation prize.
from the Sisters area, we drove south into Lake County and stopped for the
night at Silver Creek Marsh campground which is south of the town of Silver
Lake on a good paved road. The area was very birdy, with both White-headed
and Lewis' Woodpeckers among the 6 species of woodpeckers. As dusk(and
mosquitos)settled in, a pair of Western Screech-Owls started to call. After
I fell asleep, Roy heard a Flammulated Owl give 5 or 6 toots. In the
morning, we heard(but never saw) a NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH singing. Though it
continued to sing, we were never able to get to a spot where we might view
it.
After we broke camp, we drove up to an area Roy knew as Alder Springs.
There was a small seep that brought in a parade of birds to bathe and
drink. Six species of Woodpeckers here included 3 different Sapsucker
species, White-headed and Black-backed. Fox Sparrows and Green-tailed
Towhees were both numerous here. From there, we went up to Thompson
Reservoir, which was already low on water. Lots of Forster's Terns, but no
Black, and a Bufflehead pair were highlights.
From the Silver Lake area, we went south to spend the night at Summer Lake
Wildlife Area. Between the heat(92 degrees) and the mosquitos, one night
was all that we could stand. Best birds were a Snowy Egret, 3 Red-necked
Phalaropes, and 2 Semipalmated Plovers on the auto tour on Tuesday morning
and a Common Loon on Ana Reservoir on Monday night. Despite several
searches for Black-throated Sparrows at both quarries, the heat and the
wind left them unfound.
From the Summer Lake area, we went south to the Warner Mountains, just east
of the city of Lakeview. As Roy has already mentioned, the bird of the trip
was 2 male BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRDS, one of them in classic J shaped
display dives. Other birds in this beautiful area included Pacific-slope
Flycatcher(the field guides show Cordilleran here), Mountain Quail, and
Sooty Grouse.
Our last night was spent at Klamath Marsh NWR. We listed late for Yellow
Rails, but never heard them. Best birds here were a pair of Buffleheads,
Clark's Nutcrackers, and tons of calling Virginia Rails and Soras.
Full checklists for all of our stops will be on E-Bird soonish.
Jim Kopitzke
Salem
