Brandon,
Enjoyed your post about the recent trip to the upper Umatilla River area
(North Fork Umatilla Wilderness). Maybe I can answer a couple of your bird
questions. N. Pygmy-Owls are widespread and uncommon/common especially in
the fall in the Blue Mountains; they breed there, too. But, most folks
don't spend much time in their habitat like you did, so they aren't usually
reported in the numbers you found.
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches are annual each fall, especially October, in
flocks of a few to a few hundred birds around the open, grassy hillsides in
the Tollgate area. Bald Mountain (partly in Umatilla and partly in Union
counties) NE of Tollgate along the 64 Road, aka Kendall/Skyline Road, is a
reliable place to see them. They are easy to miss, though, unless you spend
some time in their habitat.
Although Trumpeter Swans are showing up more frequently in Umatilla County
than just 5 years ago, the default swan is still, by far, the Tundra. Based
on the description of your sighting, and without hearing the vocalizations,
you are best to report them as you did, tundra/trumpeter. It's not very
often we see swans flying below eye-level, so that was unusual. I'm not
aware of swan habitat in the NF Umatilla River canyon; the closest water is
Langdon Lake at Tollgate and Jubilee Lake 12 miles NE of Tollgate, and both
lakes are over 5000' elevation. If the swans were deep in the canyon, they
probably couldn't gain altitude fast enough to rise over the ridges to the
east and north and had to retreat down river to the south and west.
Just 5 to 10 years ago, an eagle seen in that area, almost certainly would
have been a Golden. But, that's no longer the case. The breeding population
of Bald Eagles has increased substantially throughout Umatilla County over
the past 5 years, and they are as likely to occur in that area as are
Golden Eagles. If you saw several eagles, likely, you saw some of both
species.
Thanks for your report!
Aaron Skirvin
Pendleton
On Sun, Nov 10, 2019 at 8:41 AM <bmwboarder@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi friends,
I recently spent about a week in and around the North Fork of the Umatilla
Wilderness bear Tollgate, Oregon. I wasn’t really there for birding, but I
did have my binoculars and spotting scope, so did check out the birds that
I could easily spot.
First off, there were Pygmy Owls calling all over the place. I think I
heard them in 5 different spots, mostly along the rim of the canyons. Once
one quietly popped up unsolicited and sat on the top of a tree at eye
level, right at about noon! Such cool little birds. It was fun to show
others in my family that it was an owl that had been calling, and look how
small it is!
Next, we had a flock of gray crowned rosy finches at the edge of the
canyon as well, near shamrock springs. I’ve seen them around the area
before, but not sure how common they are there. Got pictures of one flock
up in a tree.
Mountain chickadees and hairy woodpeckers were common birds.
Sitting at the point near Shamrock springs, my brother and I spotted a
trio of swans flying below us, to the east, heading towards the 5,000ft
summit (bottom of the valley is 2,400ft). Would these be assumed to be
tundra swans? I marked them as tundra/trumpeter, but probably they are
tundras at this location right? Ten minutes later they flew back past,
heading back to the west and south. They sure seemed out of place in the
forest/meadow mountains.
If you haven’t been out to that wilderness, it is super cool. Lots of
trails that can get you deep into the wilderness and far from any roads.
Though definitely rugged, many of the trails gain or lose close to 2,000ft
of elevation. But the views and the wildlife are worth it all. I saw other
birds of prey that I couldn’t identify, some were probably golden eagles,
and I wonder about the others. Fun area to sit with a scope. If you have
never been to the wilderness, a drive out to Zigzag springs or Coyote Ridge
would give great views of the area.
Cheers!
Brandon Wagner
Back at home in foggy Independence, OregonPOST: Send your post to
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