Hi Jen & all,
Thanks for your report on the raptor route, which was fun to read.
About marmots: A couple of decades back when I was fairly new to Oregon,
I recall being surprised to see a Yellowbelly Marmot sitting on the
artificially constructed rip-rap berm outside the entrance of the
Redmond, Oregon airport (Roberts Field, elev. 3080 ft).
It was a surprise as I was accustomed to seeing Hoary Marmots in more
alpine settings on backpacking trips farther north in the Cascades. But
afterwards I learned that "rockchucks" are much more widespread than
their alpine cousins, and I began to notice them elsewhere around
central/eastern Oregon. It seems that their main requirement is large
boulder-sized talus for dens.
Happy birding,
Joel
On Sat, 2016-02-27 Jen Sanford wrote:
On the road out of Lonerock at 2800 feet I encountered a
yellow-bellied marmot, which I have never seen at an elevation lower
than 6000 feet. What can you all tell me about low elevation marmots?
I am excited to know they can be found in more places but am curious
where else folks have seen them.
