[obol] [Fwd: Central/SE Oregon & NW Nevada CBC loop notes (long)]
- From: Joel Geier <joel.geier@xxxxxxxx>
- To: Oregon Birders OnLine <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2013 18:39:49 -0800
-------- Forwarded Message --------
From: Joel Geier <joel.geier@xxxxxxxx>
Reply-to: joel.geier@xxxxxxxx
To: Central Oregon Birders <cobol@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Central/SE Oregon & NW Nevada CBC loop notes (long)
Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2013 18:14:02 -0800
Hi all,
Here are some notes from the big loop that my son Wil and I made
together with dog Heidi in order to help with five CBCs in five days:
Oakridge on Monday, Summer Lake on Tuesday, Hart Mountain on Wednesday,
Sheldon NWR (unofficial proposed CBC) on Thursday, and Antone on Friday.
The highlights of our day in Oakridge (not counting the good food & good
company at both ends of the day, at Lion Mountain Bakery and Brewers
Union Local 180) were stunning views of a MARSH WREN posing in bright
sunlight, which we enjoyed together with local birder, community theater
organizer, restorationist and volunteer librarian Bob Wilson, in a
wetland remediation area west of the fish hatchery, then later a couple
of RUFFED GROUSE that froze on a road cut along the Kwis Kwis Butte
forest road when we stopped right alongside them, then eventually
started moving again and walked slowly up the bank.
On Monday evening we drove out to Silver Lake where we decided to turn
south to camp at Silver Creek Marsh Campground on the Fremont National
Forest, 10 miles south of Hwy 31. The road signs saying "No winter
maintenance -- travel at your own risk" were ominous but the snow was
only an inch or two deep, and temperatures were cold enough that there
was good traction at least as far as the campground.
We were thankful to find the campground gate open so that we could pull
off the road (though no other vehicles came through all night, so we
could well have camped out on the road). Apart from the wheel tracks of
a couple of vehicles that seemed to have used the campground as a
turnaround, there were no tracks in the two-week-old snow except from
coyotes and deer. The vault-type restrooms open, clean and remarkably
still stocked with toilet paper. We owe $6 to the Forest Service (I
assumed that no one is collecting fees from the "iron ranger" this time
of year) and this is one instance where I am happy to mail in a check.
The campground was extremely quiet -- not even a coyote howling in the
distance, and just occasional flights overhead by passing jets. I tried
calling for saw-whet & screech owls, but when we got there (around 8:30
PM) and when we pulled out at 6 AM, but I didn't hear any response at
all.
On Tuesday morning at Summer Lake, we enjoyed bumping into a few old
friends and "internet acquaintances," as well as finally meeting the
colorful character who goes by the name of Jake Schas.
I had told Marty St. Louis that Wil and I would welcome the chance to do
some upland hiking in parts of the circle that don't usually get
covered, and he was very happy to oblige. We hiked about 12 miles of
sagebrush/juniper scrub in the Picture Rock Pass area, and sagebrush
steppe and the Klippel Point rimrock on BLM land north of Summer Lake.
Heidi had a great time.
Apart from TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRES most of our species counts were in the
single digits. We didn't find any Western Scrub-Jays (which ought to be
in Picture Rock Pass), but we did find one NORTHERN SHRIKE when we
walked out along the bench above Hwy 31 toward Silver Lake, plus a ROCK
WREN right along the highway on the NW side of the pass. A flyover of 13
MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS as we walked along the powerline road was our biggest
bird flock of the day.
We also came up with one CANYON WREN above the highway, and later found
a few more, plus another ROCK WREN, in the Klippel Point rimrock.
The way that we find CANYON WRENS in winter is by calling for them
(either a whistled imitation of their song, or a whistled screech-owl
imitation -- usually I try both), and then listening for their
distinctive scold note. This is something that I learned from Steve
Shunk, who is really good at finding Canyon Wrens in winter. I'm
convinced that this is a species that could be reported in much higher
numbers on south-central/central Oregon CBCs, if more birders made an
effort to call for them around rock outcrops, especially rimrock with
good southern/southwestern exposure to sunlight, and near the top ends
of canyons (I think that the bottom ends of canyons tend to get too
cold, due to dense cold air flowing downhill through the canyons).
The second ROCK WREN along Klippel Point was interesting. It didn't
vocalize in response to my calls, but it flew around the corner of a
rock outcrop. I was ready to call it another Canyon Wren but was puzzled
that it didn't respond vocally, in the way that they usually do. But
then it came back to investigate, and we both got a good view.
Our biggest surprise of the day was when we flushed a WILSON'S SNIPE in
the sagebrush steppe above Klippel Point. We thought that the bird must
be confused and/or desperate following the cold snap of the previous
week, but then 100-200 yards later we flushed another one, and we
started to think that maybe the snipe knew something that we didn't.
They seemed to be flushing from around melting patches of snow. Marty
was not surprised by our report and guessed just about exactly where we
found these snipe; he's found snipe up there in past years.
One very civilized & sensible thing about the Summer Lake CBC is the
idea of a mid-day rendezvous for lunch. This might not work for all
CBCs, but it seems like a good idea to think about, wherever there's a
good central location. I enjoyed the chance to meet a few more people
that I missed earlier in the day, including several COBOLers.
After the Summer Lake CBC we headed to Hart Mountain, where Wil enjoyed
the comforts of the bunkhouse while Heidi and I enjoyed the solitude of
Hot Springs Campground. There is no better way to wrap up a day of
winter birding in south-central Oregon, than to take a dip in the hot
springs under bright stars, then towel off in temperatures which are
hopefully above the single digits Fahrenheit, then jump into a
doubled-up pair of sleeping bags.
In the morning I tried owling around the campground area but only
managed to wake up one more TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE which responded with a
single note to my best Saw-whet Owl imitation. In some past years, there
have usually been at least a few distant sounds that might have been
owls (and once we even had a small owl come fluttering in right around
the group in response to my saw-whet imitation), but this year there was
none of that. With the cold conditions of the previous week, it seems
likely that most songbirds, and their predators, moved down to warmer
locations.
Warming up back at the bunkhouse in the morning, I enjoyed getting more
acquainted with Judy & Steve Franzen who came over from Eugene, plus
Vickie Buck, Mary Fay, Pat Grediagin, and Dave Rein from the
Bend/Sisters area, along with the Millers who are regulars for this
count, plus Steve Dougill & Jake Schas again, Ken Binder from Portland,
and Keely Lopéz and Jeff Mackay who are part of the Hart Mountain
management team.
Wil and I worked our usual patch along the east side of Hart Lake, plus
Degarmo Canyon. Since Steve Dougill and Jake Schas were also working
other parts of the escarpment, we took a bit more time to struggle up
the steep talus slopes into areas that we seldom manage to get to. I
can't say that we found a whole lot more birds, but it was definitely a
good workout, and who's to say that we wouldn't have found the only
GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET flock for the count, without that extra effort.A
bonus was listening to a bona fide chorus of TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRES
singing in the bright sunlight, and several views of a NORTHERN
PYGMY-OWL that was patrolling the area.
At the mouth of Degarmo Canyon, we flushed a GOLDEN EAGLE that must have
been bathing in the stream. When Heidi showed strong interest in the
rocks at the mouth of the canyon where the eagle flushed from, I took a
closer look and saw a couple of fresh spots of blood on a rock. My guess
is that the eagle was washing up after a rabbit kill. We saw an eagle in
the same place again when we came back down the canyon, after hiking up
above the waterfall where an adult COOPER'S HAWK was herding a MOUNTAIN
CHICKADEE flock down the drainage. We were hoping for an American Dipper
(which we've seen there in the past) but no such luck on this count.
After the countdown that evening, Heidi and I went back to Hot Springs
Campground where I was surprised to find other campers with bright lamps
shining, down below the springs. We went to the upper (south) end of the
campground and enjoyed another quiet night, though I had to keep an eye
on the quiet snowfall at intervals, to make sure that we could get out
of there in the morning. Apparently we did, even with a couple inches of
fresh powder.
On Wednesday morning we drove over Dougherty Rim to Sheldon NWR for the
unofficial/trial count.
But before I get to that, let me throw in a plug here for the PLUSH
general store (which had fresh avocados!) and the ADEL store where we
topped up the tank in the morning. These stores were hit very hard by
the government shutdown this fall, and could certainly use your
patronage if you go birding in that area.
The Plush store (which also sells gas) has a much better selection of
food items than you'd expect for such a small town. While I was
dithering between two different options for cheddar cheese, the gal at
the counter called out, "More choices than you'd expect for such a
little store, huh?" The fellow in Adel who came out to pump gas in the
morning was also very friendly, and asked where we'd found the snow
(which was piled up on the back window and bumper, from Hart Mountain).
They are desperate for any kind of precipitation out there right now,
and they could also sure use cash from visiting birders.
The Warner/Coleman Valley in my experience is every bit as good for
birding as Malheur NWR, in any season of the year, although it doesn't
draw anything close to the same numbers of visitors. Please think about
it next time that you have the chance for a birding trip. And when you
go there, please make sure to mention that you're there to look for
birds. The local store owners are starting to develop an appreciation
for birders, as part of what makes their local economy tick. This is a
very good thing since ultimately it leads to more support for bird
habitat conservation.
Proceeding east/southeast from Adel over a snow-dusted Dougherty Rim on
Thursday morning, Wil and I saw NO birds at all apart from one
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK that was hover-hunting in strange little deflection of
Hwy 140 in the extreme SW corner of Harney County (which I've always
assumed had something to do with federal or state allocation of highway
maintenance funds, since surely there must have been a more economical
cut & fill way to route this highway from Lake County straight into
Nevada).
I've already posted our Sheldon NWR sightings from Thursday.The best
one, hands down, was the AMERICAN TREE SPARROW along the dike below
Dufurrena Pond #20. However, Wil (taking it easy after about 18 miles of
hiking in the previous two days) had some good sightings just by hanging
out in the minivan on the first pond below the hot springs, particularly
a PIED-BILLED GREBE that put up its periscope, and at least on AMERICAN
COOT.
Coming through Denio on Thursday afternoon we found a flock of JUNCOS
right on the Oregon birder, but we weren't sure if they were OREGON
JUNCOS or NEVADA JUNCOS. As we continued north past Fields along the
edge of the Alvord Desert, at the base of Steens Mountain, we had our
eyes open for Rosy-Finch flocks. However the snow line was at least
another 1000 ft up on Steens Mountain, and we didn't see any
Rosy-Finches.
We made it as far as Seneca that evening (another commercial call-out
goes to the R&J Drive-In in Burns, for a very good burger and also
vegetarian fare), where we were very thankful for Tom Winters'
hospitality. What a great place he lives in! We only saw it by moonlight
but it was beautiful.
The next day Wil, Tom and I had a very good breakfast at the Outpost
Restaurant in John Day, the same place which serves as the morning
meeting place for the John Day CBC. Notice that I'm not at all shy about
putting in a plug for a good & comfortable restaurant that supports the
CBC! We need to show our support for these places.
I've already posted results from Friday's Antone CBC. The only other
thing worth mentioning is the gnarly drive home, through freezing rain
on top of packed snow, eventually turning to slush, then more rain, and
fog on the Cascades passes. Anyway we made it home and have another
winter's worth of great memories.
Happy birding,
Joel
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
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