Hi Dennis,
I've birded along that frontage road behind the rest area on the east
side of I-5 (northbound) in past years, and remember it was pretty easy
to find Oak Titmouse and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (and probably would be
for Cal Towhee too, if you're tuned into their vocalizations).
But this was the first time I've really checked out rest area on the
west side (southbound). I thought it was a little more interesting in
terms of botany, though it's been a while since I visited the one on the
east side..
The habitat on the west side of I-5 is a little less accessible since
there's just a trail going off through the woods, though it's wide
enough that you're not pushing through brush, and it looks like it gets
quite a bit of use. I did see that someone had stashed the cardboard
sign that they used for panhandling purposes, behind the concrete
barrier at the start of the trail. But I didn't see any obvious
indications of camping out there.
For folks who don't want to take the risk of running into deer ticks or
down-and-out humans in the woods, I'd guess there's a way pick up that
gravel lane from the north end of the southbound rest area (what's that
old song about being on the north end of a southbound train? or a
downbound train?).
Joel
n Sun, 2016-05-22 at 10:07 -0700, Dennis Vroman wrote:
Joel and other OBOLers,
Over the last several years, I have birded the frontage road on the north
bound side along Highland (frontage road) that is directly adjacent to the
rest area (data on e-bird...I-5 Manzanita Rest Stop). If you stop at the
east side rest area and wish to walk along the frontage road it is pretty
easy to do. Last year there were a lot of what I refer to as "Auto
Homeless" along the frontage road, but starting winter of this year, ODOT
clamped down on them and place out signs stating No to overnight staying,
camping, fires, so on. As a result there's hardly anyone along the road
anymore (so far at least). Habitat still holding up fairly well and
hopefully, ODOT will not "ax" it in the future. Beware, there's a lot of
ticks in the grass and brush there, however.
Dennis (north of Grants Pass)
