Hi
All,
Continuing
my effort toward 100 species in each county, I headed over toward
Wasco Co late Saturday. I reached the eastern part of the county at
Frog Lake just SE of Mt Hood where I listed HERMIT WARBLER, STELLAR'S
JAY, BALD EAGLE, JUNCO and SPOTTED SANDPIPER. My plan was to bird my
way to Tygh Valley and find a place to camp, re-work Wasco back up
into Mt Hood County for the rest of Sunday.
When
I came out of the mountains onto the prairie, I started filling in
with species along the road that I needed (I was just over 70 for the
county before resuming efforts) and so added stuff like: SAY'S
PHOEBE, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, BULLOCKS ORIOLE. It was hot and windy
making birding slow, so I headed toward Tygh Valley, but stopped
first along Juniper Flat Rd for some curlews Chuck Gates told me of,
but they were a no show. Upon reaching Tygh Valley I took a Right on
Andy ? Rd and found an EASTERN KINGBIRD, which may be among the
better birds of the trip. Then I head along the White River west
stopping here and there adding: DOWNY WP, WESTERN TANAGER, PEWEE,
TREE SWALLOW, CLIFF SWALLOW, LEWIS WP. I then headed west into the
Mt Hood Nat Forest to camp for the night, adding CHIPPING SPARROW
along the way.
In
the morning the chipping sparrows were all over, as well as one DUSKY
FC. Coming back to Tygh valley I found a PYGMY OWL, ROCK WREN,
PRAIRIE FALCON. Near and in town I found KINGFISHER, BANK SWALLOW,
PHEASANT, BH GROSBEAK, WOOD DUCK (with young), OC WARBLER, SNIPE.
Back
at Juniper Flat Rd 2 CURLEWS put in a nice show, as well as did a
HORNED LARK. Around the corner from there were a pair of PRAIRIE
FALCONS, and just after that was a canyon off to the right where I
found CANYON WREN, LAZ BUNTING AND ASH-THROATED FC. Further along I
came to a (the?) TRI-COLOERED BLACKBIRD coloney.
Then
in Pine Grove I took a side street Chuck mentioned and found CALLOPE,
RUFOUS and BLACK-CHINNED HUMMER all at one feeder, as well as WESTERN
BLUEBIRD, WB NUTHATCH, CASSIN'S VIREO, PURPLE FINCH and PINE SISKIN
in the area. Since I was now just over 100, I headed back into the
mountains to Hood River County.
I
had more work to do there only having listed just over 50 (but that
list includes smew and black duck from that distant past). Starting
near Bennet Pass I found Hairy WP, Hermit and Townsend's Warblers,
and just downhill found: VAUX SWIFT, OS FC, GRAY JAY, JUNCO,
CHEST-NUT SIDED CHICKADEE, VG SWALLOW, AND WARBLING VIREO which
seemed kind of high up for them. At Mt Hood Meadows parking lot
were: CEDAR WAXING, LAZULI BUNTINGS, a pair of WILLIAMSON'S
SAPSUCKERS nesting, LINCOLN'S SPARROW, RUFOUS HUMMER, CHIPPING
SPARROW, SPOTTED TOWHEE, VAUX SWIFT, TREE SWALLOW, YR WARBLER, OC
WARBLER, RT HAWK, EVENING GROSBEAK, SISKIN. I slowly worked my way
lower in elevation, stopping at Nottingham Campground where I found
MACGILVRAY'S WARBLER, SPOTTED SANDPIPER, STELLAR'S JAY, and probably
the best find for the day was a female HARLEQUIN DUCK with 5 young.
In and around Parkdale I located RB SAPSUCKER, BULLOCKS ORIOLE, A
GOLDFINCH, WILLOW FC, C QUAIL. I decided to go to Lost Lake and
listed C YELLOWTHROAT, HOUSE WREN, HERMIT THRUST, WILSON'S WARBLER
along the way.
When
I reached the town of Hood River I had 94, and figured it might not
be too hard to find some ducks and shorebirds along the waterfront,
but it turned out there were far more people there than birds, even
starlings. A bit of advice: don't go to the Hood River waterfront
looking for birds on a windy Sunday afternoon as there will be
multitudes of wind surfers, kayakers, paddle boarders and the like.
I
figured picking up a few more would be easy stopping there en route
to the other eastern Oregon counties while coming or going, so headed
west on I-84. About a half mile before reaching Multnomah County a
PILEATED WOODPECKER flew across the road right in front of me, so
that was a nice way to leave the county.
Next
up: I hear next weekend is supposed to be a scorcher, so I might
head to Curry where it won't be so bad.
Bill Tice: Birding - The best excuse for getting outdoors, and avoiding chores.
