Beyond 100 In Oregon County Listing: April 2019

Hi All,

The weekend of 4/18-22/19 was Rosie’s and my 39th anniversary, so we had worked it out to take off Thursday and return on Monday. Originally we intended to go to the Southern Oregon Coast, but the weather was not looking too promising, so we headed straight south to Jackson County. We planned to spend time at Howard Prairie Reservoir, which is fairly high in the Cascades at about 4500 feet elevation. En route there we stopped to see a California Thrasher which had been being seen for about 2 weeks at the same location, only the 6th state record. This was the easiest bird of this caliber I have ever added to my state list. He was singing away in the top of a cedar tree, where he apparently sings all day long, every day. But as he was partially obscured by the foliage, I did not get any worthy pictures.

When we arrived at the reservoir, we soon found out that all the campgrounds were still closed for the season, so started driving down side roads looking for a place for the night. We ended up parking in a very wide spot on the side of one of the main roads and only encountered one other car.

Mt McLaughlin, seen from the west shore of Howard Prairie Reservoir

It was a beautiful night! The moon was full and shining brightly, and I sat in a camp chair in the warm, still mountain air. It was soooo quiet. I heard a screech owl soon after, and later heard a saw-whet owl during the night.

I was up early, going for a walk and birding. As soon as I stepped out of the camper, I heard a Mountain Quail, a nice morning greeting. Down the road a flock of 6 Wild Turkeys seemed out of place at that elevation. On the lake was one American White Pelican, but otherwise bird species were more or less expected - Mountain Chickadees, Ospreys, Bald Eagles, Killdeer, Stellar’s Jays, Ravens, Cassin’s Finches, Juncos, Chipping Sparrows, etc.

After breakfast we began driving around a little more, hoping to find a nice place and met a couple with 3 children who were in a 5th wheel down a side road. They told us of a secluded place along the east shore not far away, and even led us there. So for the next 2 days we spent our time here. Here are some shots from there.

There were plenty of Osprey around, some seen catching fish

A White-headed Woodpecker, one of my favorites

The ever present Canada Goose

Migrating White-fronted Geese

We had this location all to ourselves, except for one fisherman for a few hours

The rest of that day was pretty good weather and we walked here and there, but by evening the sky darkened and during the night it began raining. The next day it was rainy and misty, and besides going for one walk, we put together 2 jig-saw puzzles and played Yatzee.

The weather was starting to improve by the next morning, but we planned to leave anyway, so headed back down to the lowlands, stopping first at Emigrant Lake, a popular place for fishing, boating and camping. There was a place I knew of on the south shore which was visited less, so we went there for a walk and some birding. The weather was warm, the sun was shining and the birds were quite evident, which made our walk all the nicer. Some of the more interesting birds here were Clark’s Grebe, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Gray Flycatcher, Dusky Flycatcher and Hermit Thrush.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

A pair of American Kestrels, male below

A pair of Mallards checking out at baby Canada Goose

Gray Flycatcher

Small Blue Butterfly

From here it was a short jaunt to a birding friend’s who has had some Purple Martins at his place, but they were not there this morning. He has quite a bird feeding station set up, and we enjoyed his local birds while we waited and visited. One of the first birds I noticed was a Rock Wren, which completely surprised our host as he has never had one on his property, and here is a shot of it from his camera.

Rock Wren. Photo by Karl Schneck

White-breasted Nuthatch at Karl Schneck's place

California Towhee at Karl Schneck's place

From there we headed north to Medford and made a couple birding stops for some rare birds I had heard were being seen, some at a particular wetland, and most of these were still there.

A Killdeer doing a "broken wing" display, to lead me away from her nest

Dunlin in breeding plumage at the wetlands

Canada Goose on her nest. She is trying to look inconspicuous

After lunch we headed a little farther north for a walk to Upper Table Rock, a flat-topped butte, very popular with hikers. It also has an interesting history of Indian vs White Man wars. The parking lots were full. I suppose that Easter Sunday had something to do with it. It was very warm by now and we had to stop often and rest on our way up to the top, which was a little over a mile. The view from the crest looking over the Medford valley was splendid. I had the opportunity to photograph some Turkey Vultures flying by below us. A ground squirrel paid us a visit - we figured he was accustomed to people and was looking for a hand out, which we did not have.

The trail of Upper Table Rock

An energetic hiker

Here we are at the rim, with the Medford Valley behind us

The flat area on top

This was a selfie, and the squirrel timed it just right, wanting to get in the picture

Here is a better shot of him

A Turkey Vulture in flight

From here we continued north for about 30 miles to a place named, “Joseph Stewart State Park.” This was a large, well kept park with many old planted trees and set up very nicely. As it was early in the season, only half of it was open and we found a campsite to our liking. It was getting to be dusk not long after our arrival, so we fixed dinner and went to bed soon afterward.

We must have needed our sleep as we both slept until about 0800. I went for a short walk while Rosie fixed breakfast, spotting my first of the year House Wren, singing his heart out. After eating we took about a 3 mile walk through the forest to the boat ramp. The woods were alive with bird song, livening our morning. Many of the conifer trees were mature and large, something long gone in most of the Northwest.

I noted on the map that we could continue north and then west over to I-5 instead of backtracking to Medford to get on the freeway there. I could tell it would be a windy road, but the scenery would likely be great - and it was. I am not sure if it ended up being shorter time wise, but it was a new road for us, and was well worth it.

We stopped for lunch east of Sutherlin before doing the last leg of our trip.