Mostly Wasco

6/21/19

Hi All,

Since I had painted the house and partially landscaped my backyard, I felt I earned some time off, so made some strategy to work on Wasco County.  I was motivated by a post from some birders who birded there just a few days ago who relayed some fun times.  For those of you who don’t live in Oregon, Wasco County is just east of Mt Hood, which is the northern most mountain in Oregon, and Wasco’s northern boundary is the Columbia River.  As I had birded along that river a few times, I needed to bird inland mostly for land birds.  The east slope of the Cascades meets the high prairie down the north/south center, and so I had plans to bird around the Tygh Valley for much of the time.  My Wasco list stood at 130 and I intended to bring it over 150 if possible.  

So I took off in my truck/camper around mid morning.  I reached Detroit Flats in 2 hours or so, and found that the Horned Grebe was still there, although I mainly stopped there because the day before a few birders found an Eastern Kingbird, a very rare bird for the county.  It did not stay overnight though.  From there I headed north, fairly high on the west flank of the Cascades and crested them after another hour, into Wasco County.  

Horned Grebe

Shortly after entering the county, I pulled over by a marsh and added Yellow Warbler and Common Yellowthroat.  I left the camera in the truck or I might have obtained some decent shot of these. 

I meandered downslope and camped at Bear Springs Campground, mainly because the birders referred to earlier had heard some Barred Owls at night, and I was not disappointed.  I was also able to add a Macgillvray’s Warbler, Hermit and Swainson’s Thrush, Chestnut-sided Chickadee and Hammond’s Flycatcher.

When I left the campground, I could tell my power steering fluid was low and was a little worried, so sent up a prayer.  In 10 minutes I reached the small town of Pine Grove, and as I was going by what looked like a shop for logging trucks, I pulled in as there was a man working on a tractor out front.  I told him I thought I was low on power steering fluid, and he said, “Well that is easy to fix.”  After opening the hood and checking it, he promptly went inside and returned in less than a minute, filled it up, and that was that.  I told him I’d be glad to pay him, but he said, “No, I just enjoy helping people.”  I replied, “I thought you’d say something like that,” and it was off for more birding.  It is really great to run into people with big hearts like that.   

I was now on the prairie and soon added Grasshopper Sparrow on Victor Road.  

The view west from Victor Road, looking west to the mountains

Horned Lark along Victor Rd.

After and hour I reached the town of Tygh Valley.  The area must be the California Ground Squirrel capitol of the world.  They really were literally everywhere.  I walked a certain road where there appears to be a small colony of Acorn Woodpeckers, the first for the east side of the mountains.  I first heard one, and eventually he showed himself.  This was along Shadybrook Lane, where the birding was quite good.  

Another birder stopped and chatted, and we exchanged notes on birding and he was off.  Then a local man stopped and we also talked a while.  While chatting I noticed a couple of fawns just ahead and so was able to get a few pics of them and their mom.  I realized after talking to the other birder and local man that there must be quite a few Wild Turkeys in the area, but I was not successful in locating any, despite lots of searching.  I figured many females were incubating eggs and the males were making themselves scarce. 

California Ground Squirrel

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Western Kingbird

Bambi

Mom was snorting and impatient that her twins wandered near the road.

Junior finally realized he may be in danger and bolted back to mom

After that I drove a few miles to the town of Wamic and the Pine Hollow Reservoir and environs.  First stop was the Price Rd wetlands where I picked up Coot, Green-winged Teal, Marsh Wren and Yellow-headed Blackbird.  I must have disturbed a pair of Red-tailed Hawks as they kept circling above me and screaming quite loudly.

Red-tailed Hawk

Yellow-headed Blackbird

I drove around the reservoir but it was mostly devoid of birds, so I went just west of there and set up camp at the White River Wildlife Management Area where I added Gray Flycatcher and Green-tailed Towhee, and got some semi good shots of a Lewis Woodpecker.

The view from my campsite

During the night I starting hearing what I thought was a screech owl, but after listening a little better, decided it was a Wilson’s Snipe. Later on I heard 2 Great-horned Owls.  I returned to the Price Road Wetlands hoping to hear rails or soras but it was not to be.  One last drive around Tygh Valley failed to produce any turkeys again as well.  A final last short jaunt down a side road turned up a pair of Eastern Kingbirds, so that was a nice consolation. 

Some miles along the highway I stopped at a rest area where I found Brewer’s, Sagebrush and Larks Sparrows.  The Larks Sparrows were feeding young, so some were recently hatched birds, but the Sagebrush Sparrow was probably the best bird for rareness for the trip. I ended up reaching 156 for Wasco.

I was not prepared to bird in the next county to the south, Jefferson, so continued on to Deschutes County and birded the Hatfield Lake area where I added 3 to that county - Marsh Wren, Redhead and Brewer’s Sparrow.  The next few shots were from Hatfield Lake

Male Ruddy Duck.  They are sometimes called "Stiff Tailed Ducks." 
Hunters have called them "Bluebills."

Ruddy Duck

Red-winged Blackbird

Male and female Buffleheads with their brood

With so many nest boxes here, Tree Swallow are much in evidence

Just fledged Tree Swallows

On the way east I pulled over to take some pics of the mountains I’d soon be crossing, and immediately saw this Ferruginous Hawk, so got some decent shots of him. 

Ferruginous Hawk

View of the Three Sister Mountains

Since Detroit Flats is on the way, and is a good excuse to stretch one’s legs, I stopped and walked the spit where birders always go, and took a pic of this osprey.  I am pretty sure he has a catfish as there appears to be some whiskers, but I might have to defer to my older brother who is the fish expert.  Since there are many trout in this lake, I am surprised to see that Ospreys catch these bottom dwelling fish.

That is not a rubber ducky near them

Osprey with a fish

About 30 miles father along, I got stuck in a long line of traffic because of an accident.  I started complaining some, but then realized that if I had not stopped to do some birding and stretch my legs, I might have been involved in the accident, so stopped my grumbling.  

The Best of 2019 Continued

Hi All,

Yep, the time came for me to upgrade my camera.  After consulting a few bird photographers, I chose the Canon Mark II 7D model.  I did this partly because a few of these friends are available and happy to help me.  I bought a used one from a great little photography store locally, who stuck through the tough times a few yeas back and is thriving now.

The other item of note was the 150 X 600 Tamron lens.  Decided to get that one new. 

I have much to learn and some of the curves may be difficult, but I am determined to master the hobby.  I also bought the lens at the same place.  As I was also upgrading my iPhone, I needed to leave them at the ATT store for a few hours, so went to the local sewage lagoons and took some 400+ shots just experimenting.  Below are some of the results.  

Male Brewers Blackbird.  Bet you did not realize they could look so spiffy!

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Here's another Brewers Blackbird fluffing himself all up for the ladies nearby

Double-crested Cormorant

Female Brewers Blackbird, fluffing herself all up for the men nearby

Mourning Dove

Yellow-rumped Warbler just coming into breeding plumage. This may be the best shot

Here are some of the local House Finches in my backyar

Male and female House Finch

Male House Finch

3/29/19
Every once in a while you have a lucky day, when everything seems to go your way.  Today was one such day, at least as far as taking pictures go.  Rosie and I went to the Talking Water Gardens, SE of us, on our day off.  “The sun was shining,” in more ways than one.  The main reason I am stoked is that we not only saw a mink, I was able to take some great pics of him.

We walked to a certain place where turtles bask in the sun so we could take some pictures of them.  While viewing them, a mink popped up and started scampering off, basically the same direction we were going.  There was a pond between us, and we were some 50 feet away, so I moved on ahead to stay even with him hoping for a picture, but there were small trees impeding the view.  So I figured out quickly that if I ran ahead to the corner of the pond, I might just have a shot at him. I quickly arrived, got my camera ready, and in a few seconds he appeared.  He saw me and stopped.  He moved closer stopping twice more, before making a run across the road in front of me.  You can bet I took lots of pics, making the most of the opportunity, even getting one of him airborne.

Most people never even get to see a mink in the wild, and while I have seen a dozen or so, I was truly fortunate to have this experience, so am glad to share such with all of you.  Enjoy! 

This is what photographic success looks like

Even the dad Red-winged Blackbirds gather nesting material

Looks like the turtles are stacking up......

These were the ones we were watching when the mink appeared. 

4/1/19

I continue to experiment with my new (to me) camera set up.  Lots of trial and error (mostly the latter….), but that is just necessary.  I’ve been reading the dummies version for my camera, and a few articles on the web.  Here are a few more pics.  The close up of the hummer on my feeder is exciting because it was hand held and quite close, implying that I can do this in the wild.  The one of the hummer just taking off is interesting and lucky.  The nuthatch on the suet shows some intricate feather detail.   

Female Lesser Goldfinch

Female Red-winged Blackbird

Male Anna's Hummingbird. Isn't he a beauty!

Male Rufous Hummer in flight.  This is probably
as good as it is going to get for hummers in flight.

4/3/19:  As there was a Harris Sparrow just over at the coast in Newport, Lincoln County, a great bird to add to my county list there,  I called Chuck Philo to see if he was free for birding.  He was so we birded a few spots from about 8 AM until about 2 PM.  We were successful in seeing the Harris Sparrow coming to a feeder, and I took some 200 pics, practicing with the new camera.  Here are a few shots of the day: 

Sanderling

Snowy Plover with unbanded legs

Snowy Plover with banded legs.  Looks like he is in the Christmas spirit.

Common Loon

Palm Warbler, one that has escaped my lens until now.

Western Gulls

Pelagic Cormorant. 

4/7/19
Am still experimenting with my camera.  At the north parking lot for the local refuge someone puts out seed for the birds, so decided to take some pics of the local common ones.  I decided to slow down the shutter speed, which resulted in some good pics, but unless the bird was perfectly perdendicular to me, the rear portion tended to be out of focus.

Spotted Towhee.  That red eye really stands out. 

You can see why he is called a "Golden-crowned Sparrow."

Scrub Jay

Fox Sparrow. 

Male Violet-green Swallow

4/9/19:   I stumbled upon this Merlin eating a Killdeer at the Philomath Sewage Ponds.  Too bad for the Killdeer.  I have been experimenting with trying to photograph birds in flight, and so here is the best so far, a male Shoveler.  Still needs a little tweaking, but it is coming.

A Merlin eating a Killdeer

Male Shoveler in flight

4/11/19   I went over to the refuge this morning, but it was quite flooded and not much there.  My good birding friend Roy showed up, and while we were shooting the breeze, a couple adult Bald Eagles showed up, and one came our way, so I quickly got the camera, readied it, and took a few pics.  Here are the results.  After consulting with a birder photographer, I have decreased my shutter speed to 1/1600th of a second.  While these photos don’t look too bad on your big screen, this is still the beginning, so photos will be getting better.   

I did not crop all the photos the same.  This last one appears more distant.

4/13/19
Here is a Band-tailed Pigeon with his wing-man's wing in the background.  These are just now arriving from the south.

Band-tailed Pigeon

Brown-headed Cowbird.  These are just arriving as well.  I have to admit,
they are actually quite attractive with the green and purple hues beaming

Black-capped Chickadee

Purple Finch

4/26/19
We went for a couple of walks yesterday, and I was able to shoot this Pacific Slope Flycatcher.  He has been alluding me for a long time.  Hopefully I'll get a better one soon.

Pacific Slope Flycatcher

 This morning just after breakfast 3 Black-headed Grosbeaks showed up at our feeder - right on time.

Black-headed Grosbeak

House Wren singing away

A Wilson's Warbler - very hard to get a pic of

Common Loon

Turkey Vulture in flight

American Goldfinch

4/29/19
Yesterday a Common Loon showed up just south of me in Benton County.  I knew the place, a small fishing pond at a USF&W complex.  I seriously doubted it would stay long, but it was still there today, as someone reported it again, so I went there and here is my best shot of it.  While waiting for him to come closer, I shot the Blackbird and Osprey.

Common Loon

Brewer's Blackbird

Osprey

5/3/19

I am planning on a 2-3 week jaunt to Eastern Oregon in 2 days, so figured I may as well get this out.  This is my first compilation of photos with the new set up.  Lots of experimenting here, and I have been learning lots.  Hopefully the quality will improve now that I have a better handle on what I am doing.

About 10 days ago we had a female Calliope Hummer show up at our feeders.  This is a rare migrant, a few of which are seen each spring on the west side of the Cascades.  They do not nest here, but do so on the east side of these mountains, so it is a real treat to see one over here.  Then on 4/30/19, another female showed up, and she actually stayed over until the next day.  So I alerted some local birders who needed it for their county list, and 3 were able to take advantage of such.  The last birder to swing by arrived a little after 6 pm.  At the same time we saw her at a feeder, we also saw a male on the other side of that feeder.  Wow!  

After he left, while I was enjoying watching the feeder during supper, I saw 2 females there.  I suspected there were two because I got brief glimpses of a 2nd bird which were never adequate.  So now we had 3.  A few minutes later, we saw 2 males at the feeder!   So now we had 4, which must be some kind of record for this side of the mountains.  Posted are my two best shots. 

Male Calliope Hummingbird

Female Calliope Hummingbird

Pacific Slope Flycatcher

Orange-crowned Warbler. 

Some time after I get back from my jaunt to Eastern Oregon I will post the results.  This won't be until June.  I may be gone up to 3 weeks, so there should be a lot of pics and information.  This summer I will likely be home much of the time as I have quite a long list of chores to do around here, like repaint the house, complete the landscaping in our back yard, finish some drainage projects for winter water runoff, gardening, etc, etc.  Of course if a rare bird shows up, I will probably try for it.  Later