[obol] Deschutes River State Park and FOY House Wren
- From: Justin Rodecap <rodecapj@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2013 00:13:40 +0000
All, Saturday morning I spent a beautiful morning on the Sherman Co. side of
Deschutes River State Park hiking along the river trail to Gordon Canyon and
then along the railroad grade and up to Ferry Springs before arriving back at
the trailhead. There were lots of birds, expected and otherwise. In the willows
close to the mouth were several Varied Thrushes and a single Mountain
Chickadee. On the river were lots of Common Goldeneye and Bufflehead, a few
Mallard pairs in the shallows. Mixed in with a small group of Common Mergansers
on the rocks upriver was a single female Hooded Merganser. It would seem that
nearly all of the wintering Barrow's Goldeneye have moved on as I only saw a
single male. In front of the sandbar next to the campground a Pied Billed Grebe
was skulking near some geese. In the trees and brush along the river were
numerous Golden Crowned Sparrows, Juncos, Towhees and Song Sparrowsalong with a
few Fox and Lincolns Sparrows. Along with the sparrows, R.C. Kinglets, Bewick's
Wrens, Bushtits, Black Capped Chickadees, N. Flickers, Scrub Jays and a few
Downey Woodpeckers were present. The alder catkins were full of American
Goldfinches and Pine Siskin. There were numerous pairs of Canyon Wrens on the
boulders and cliffs above the river. Most isolated small trees in the bouldery
areas held a Hermit Thrush. The trail to Ferry Spring held a small band of
Chukar, a pair of Rock Wrens, a Rough-Legged Hawk, Meadowlarks and a couple of
Brewers Blackbirds along with several Magpies. Probably the best bird of the
morning was an extremely early House Wren in the brush and trees close to
Gordon Canyon. I don't remember ever seeing one at the Deschutes until at least
the first week of April. On a non birding note, in some of the rocky cliff
areas Balsam Root was already in bloom along with Desert Parsley. Western Fence
Lizards were active on the rocks. Along the river trail were numerous Mourning
Cloak Butterflies. The trail to Ferry Springs had Gold Star, Prairie Star and
what looked like an early blooming Phlox species. There was a Coyote close to
the spring. All in all, a lovely morning! Happy Birding!Justin Rodecap
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