Malhuer and Baker Counties

2/24/16

Hi All,

I had been planning a winter trip to Malhuer and Baker Counties to pick up as many winter species as I could, ideally over 60, so that when I return next June I can hopefully mop up enough to reach the 100 barrier.  So my wife and I took off about 10:00 on Wednesday Feb 24. .  When packing the car, I heard a flock of EVENING GROSBEAKS which were the FOY locally.   A few minutes later as we approached the town of Dallas there was a lone TURKEY VULTURE.  

I planned to bird some in Deschutes County on the way, since I am approaching the 200 barrier there.  Having been in touch with Judy Meredith of Bend about some local birds, we made a stop at the 1st street river walk to look for the Black-capped Chickadee.  I heard a chickadee twice, but, as Dan Heyerly might say, “My hearing is not what it use to be,” and I cannot distinguish between the Black-caps and Mountains.  I did at least see both LESSER GOLDFINCHES and COMMON GOLDENEYES.  I had hoped to try for Pine Grosbeaks outside of Bend, but time was not on our side, and we went to the Hatfield Lakes (Bend Sewage Lagoons).  This is a great place in the middle of the desert to find waterfowl.  One of the first birds we saw was a BALD EAGLE on a perch overlooking the first lagoon.

BALD EAGLE ON PERCH AT HATFIELD LAKE

THE BACK/SECOND POND OF HATFIELD LAKE (S)

I NEEDED A REDHEAD FOR DESCHUTES COUNTY, AND THIS IS THE ONE THAT WAS THERE, MY WIFE ROSIE.

We also picked up LESSER SCAUP and TUNDRA SWAN.  There were many ducks and we tallied 14 species of waterfowl.  Along Hwy 20 at MP 20 I tried for Canyon Wren, but none answered to playback.  About MP 53 or so we saw a GOLDEN EAGLE.  Adding 5 leaves me 3 short of reaching 200, so I guess I will be back before too long.  We tried for Canyon Wren a few other places along the way with the same results, so I presume they are not singing yet or not on territory.

It was dark before we reached Chickahominy Reservoir, and we notice no dead jack rabbits on the road, and we saw none all the way to Burns.   It used to be some 25 years ago it seemed like there was one every 5 miles or so.  We finally saw the first one a few miles east of Burns the next day. 

We stayed in the Silver Spur motel, the cheapskates we are.  I guess for $40.00 it was quiet and clean.  When I asked the guy at the desk how the Malhuer fiasco affected them, he said, “It was great for business!”  Guess birders are not the only ones who contribute to the economy there.

SILVER SPUR MOTEL

2/25/16

We did not sleep very well (we never do outside our own bed) so I was out at daybreak.  I figured I could look for a few winter Harney species I did not have.  It was colder than I was used to, and snow was blanketing the fields.  Along Hotchkiss Rd I saw a flock of some 3000 SNOW GEESE.  While not a county bird, this was a nice change from the ones and twos I usually see in the Willamette Valley.  No sooner had I looked ahead when I noted a NORTHERN SHRIKE on a hedge row.  Farther along the jaunt on Greenhouse Ln were a small flock of TUNDRA SWANS.  

TUNDRA SWAN, CANADE GEESE AND BALD EAGLE.

While watching them, a pair of SANDHILL CRANES flew past.  "Ah, there goes my Polk County nemesis bird."  Looks like I will be jinxed this year as well, since they are migrating north, and, of course later in the day, Brandon Wagner texted me, letting me know one was reported from BSNWR.  Back in Burns a lone SCRUB JAY was at the graveyard.

We left Burns about 8:30.  Before leaving the valley we saw 2 FERRUGINOUS HAWKS, a few CALIFORNIA GULLS, more CRANES, both species of EAGLES.   Just before entering Malhuer County, we stopped at the Malhuer River, where I picked up another Harney County bird, a pair of HOODED MERGANSERS.  Also present was one TREE SWALLOW.  It seemed strange to see a swallow in late February on the east side of the Cascades with snow on the ground.  

The only birding I had done previously in Malhuer County was been while driving in the car along I-84 a few times, and also along Rts 78 & 95 some 33 years ago.  So my county list was at 17.  After Juntura we drove along the Malhuer River all the way to Vale.  At one point we saw some 7 GOLDEN EAGLES in a 10 mile stretch.  It was nice to see a few SAY’S PHOEBES with snow on the ground. 

I TRIED TO USE THIS SHOT OF A SAYS PHOEBE AS AN EXCUSE THAT I NEED A BETTER CAMERA THAN WHAT IS ON MY PHONE.

A TOWNSEND’S SOLITARE few across in front of us, and when I stopped so my wife could get on it, we saw a small flock of BUSHTITS.  I was somewhat assuming this was a great bird in the sage brush, but Gate’s list of Malhuer birds did not list it as a county rare bird.  Otherwise, by the time we got to Vale we listed 30 species, among which were BALD EAGLE, ROCK WREN, BELTED KINGFISHER, COMMON GOLDENEYE, HOODED AND COMMON MERGANSER, HARRIER, HORNED LARKS.  

We decided to head to Bully Creek Reservoir for lunch and more birding. The water looked almost devoid of birds, but after eating I walked to where I could scope toward the west end of the lake where I could see a large raft of ducks, so we drove down the dirt road, parked and walked around a certain point where we could ID the ducks.  Among them were CANVASBACK, LESSER SCAUP, BARROW’S GOLDENEYE, BUFFLEHEAD.  Other birds in the general vicinity were TUNDRA SWAN, GADWALL, CALIFORNIA GULL,  AMERICAN GOLDFINCH, GREAT-HORNED OWL, CAL QUAIL, COOT, DC CORMORANT, WESTERN MEADOWLARK and a FLICKER.   Along the walk we kicked up a Jack Rabbit and were impressed with his speed and bounding ability.  We headed to Ontario for the night.

GREAT-HORNED OWL AT BULLY CREEK RESERVOIR.  AFTER SEEING THIS PIC, MY WIFE ASKED ME WHY I NEEDED ANOTHER CAMERA

2/26/16

We slept better, probably because we were tired from a lack thereof the previous night.  First stop was the Ontario Sewage Lagoons. I have never been there before, and was very impressed with the size and birding potential they offer.   (I wonder how they got missed when I did the Guide to the Sewage Lagoons of Oregon.)  I quickly racked up RING-NECKED AND RUDDY DUCKS, PINTAIL, GREATER SCAUP, SHOVELER, and a few TREE SWALLOWS.  Upon leaving a RING-BILLED GULL and a large flock of SNOW GEESE flew over.  The place appears to only be open on week days during business hours.  I found the staff friendly and helpful, and they only request that you sign in and sign out upon leaving.  You can drive your car on the main berm that divides the ponds down the center.

We retraced our route to Vale, taking Rt 26 west.  I kept looking for Rough-legged and Ferruginous Hawks and almost gave up hope before both were spotted about a mile before the county line.  I did stop at what looked to be a birdy place and while birding alongside the road, a PHEASANT piped up, the only one of the trip.  A minute or two later a flock of CRANES and WHITE-FRONTED GEESE flew over.  A mile down the road was a tree full of EVENING GROSBEAKS.  In all the driving through Malhuer County, we dipped on N Shrike and Mountain Bluebird.  

One particular sight we thought was amusing were Prairie Dogs on the snow.  Am sure they could see their shadow on the snow, and I presume they were done hibernating for the winter.  Certainly much easier to see at this time of year.  Off to the south was Ironside Mountain, standing out like a sentinel near the lowlands.  I plan to camp there next June.  We saw the town of Ironside on the map, but would have drove right through it not knowing such if we had not seen the sign.  We ended up tallying 62 for Malhuer County. 

THE BLUE MTS AS SEEN NEAR IRONSIDE

YOU CAN TELL THAT THE SUN SHINES ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THIS HILL.

Birding seemed to pick up upon entering Baker County, seeing GOLDEN EAGLE, SOLITARE, MAGPIE, JUNCO, RW BLACKBIRD, RAVEN, RL HAWK, MT BLUEBIRD.  We stopped at the town of Unity and walked from one end to the other along Main St/Hwy 26.  It appeared that at one time it was more thriving, but now more or less run down.  Birds added here were: BREWER’S BLACKBIRD, W MEADOWLARK, EC DOVE, STARLING, ROBIN, CANADA GOOSE, RED-TAILED HAWK, ROCK DOVE and MALLARDS.  The Unity reservoir was mostly frozen over with some ice fishermen near the camping area.  But on the south end was some open water where we added: TUNDRA SWAN, COMMON GOLDENEYE, BUFFLEHEAD, GW TEAL, PINTAIL, A WIGEON, and BALD EAGLE.  Along the way I photographs a golden eagle perched on an outcrop, and shortly after a Canada Goose on one. 

GOLDEN EAGLE

A PAIR OF LONG-NECKED, WHITE CHEEKED EAGLES

We meandered north along some small river adding BELTED KINGFISHER, COMMON MERGANSER, SONG SPARROW, FERRUGINOUS HAWK, HOODED MERGANSER, CROW.  Further along we drove through the Wallowa-Whitman NF, recently charred from last year’s fires.  At least 20 miles of burnt woods was a little depressing, but at least there is hope for regeneration, and likely lots of woodpeckers for the next few years. 

BURNED FOREST WALLOWA-WHITMAN NAT. FOREST.

MULE DEER NORTH OF UNITY.  A COMMON SIGHT

Upon reaching Baker City we headed for the Sewage Ponds, and lucked out by crossing paths with Rick, the main employee overseeing them.  He gave us permission to enter, advising us to stay off the wet berm next to the ponds.  We talked about obtaining permission to enter them, to which he said the best way was to go to the town hall and get a permit.  He admitted it is a lacking system, as they cannot possibly keep up with all who go into them, being open not only to birders but ranchers as well.

BAKER CITY SEWAGE LAGOONS

The main pond was birdless, except for a flock of SNOW GEESE on the berm opposite, maybe 150 yards away.  When I drove around toward that end, I could see that one was a ROSS’ GOOSE.  Otherwise, the only other new duck was a LESSER SCAUP.  We next drove to the frontage road ponds.  This road parallels the freeway (I-84) and are easy to access and see waterfowl from, hardly any traffic.  We did well here, racking up: RING-NECK DUCK, REDHEAD (finally!), CANVASBACK, BARROW’S GOLDENEYE, CINNAMON TEAL (A little early), GADWALL, COOT, PIED-BILLED GREBE, HARRIER and FLICKER.  At one point we watched a female COMMON MERGANSER chasing a muskrat 2/3 of the way across the lake.  When the muskrat would dive, so would the merganser, right on its tail.  Maybe she liked the “musk?”

We checked into the motel “Always Welcome” which was being remodeled.  It was quite spacious compared to the previous night’s room, cheaper too.  After this we walked around town for about 45 minutes, hoping for B Waxwings or Pine Grosbeaks, but no such luck.  We did add C QUAIL to the list at least.  It was interesting that many people we saw were either in short sleeves or no coat, while we were maxed out with coats, hoods, gloves and long underwear.  Little wonder that Ecuador is on my winter retirement  horizon.  We slept well again, so had plenty of energy for the day.

2/27/16

I had been wrestling with the decision on which way to return home, either along I-84, or back through the middle of the state.  If I took the northern route, I-84, I could work on the various counties that the highway treks through, especially Gilliam and Sherman, the other two counties I need to reach 100 in.  I was ultimately influenced most by the weather - which appeared to be permissive heading back across the middle of the state, no snow in the forecast.  (The scenery is so much better to me that it was an easy decision.) So we headed south on Hwy 7 out of Baker City with plans to walk along the Powder River Trail some 16 miles away.  However, when we neared the area it was obvious that snow would prevent that.  We did however find a DIPPER at the parking area.  

Just before reaching that parking area I noticed a large, gray accipiter chasing after a dove which I took for a NORTHERN GOSHAWK.  He must have nabbed it behind some bushes where they dove, for I did not see them again and did not want to wait around very long.  A few birds added along the way before reaching Grant County were CLARK’S NUTCRACKER, WESTERN BLUEBIRD, MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE,  and RB NUTHATCH.  I ended up with 69 species in Baker County, leaving only 31 to reach the 100 mark.

It began raining quite hard when we reached the pass which appears to also be the county line dividing Grant and Baker Cos, and just a few hundred yards into Grant County a PILEATED WOODPECKER flew across the road.  I let out a laugh, just "knowing" it would be a good Grant County bird, but after checking my records, it was already on my Grant list, a little bit of a let down. 

The lower in elevation we got, the less the rain came down, and by the time we reached Prairie City, it was clear and partially sunny.  I looked on my map ap for a sewage pond, as well as drove around some, but did not find any.  I did however add ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK to Grant.  Other birds along the way were SCRUB JAY, BALD EAGLE, GOLDEN EAGLE, CALIFORNIA GULL, GH OWL (on the nest), SOLITARE, SAY’S PHOEBE and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW.  We located the sewage pond in John Day and found a place to view it from and added AMERICAN WIGEON and GREEN-WINGED TEAL.  

We noticed that it was the time of year when the cows were dropping their calves, as wherever we saw where there were cows, the calves were sure to be there.  Another thing we noticed was that since the trees were leafless, you got a sense that Northern Orioles must be quite common as at every clump of cottonwoods there was sure to be an oriole nest.  Also, the bulky nests of larger birds were also quite visible, and it did not take long to find a Great-horned Owl on one.

At a couple places we found a rural shoe store out in the middle of nowhere.  These were advertised by hanging many pairs up high on a prominent willow tree.  One was in Malhuer County (Rt 20), the other in Wheeler County (Rt 26).  It looked to us that these shoes were really not in too bad of shape, maybe new (er?) when slung onto the trees.  Maybe some shoe store was going out of business and could not unload them?  Anyone know?

SHOE STORE NEAR JUNTURA, ALONG RT 20

SHOE STORE WEST OF MITCHELL, IN WHEELER COUNTY, ALONG RT 26

THE SOLE OF THE BUSINESS

Wheeler County was slow, but I added GOLDEN EAGLE and ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK.  Crook County was about the same as I added COMMON GOLDENEYE and BUFFLEHEAD at Ochoco Lake.  I was hoping for a Rough-legged Hawk in Deschutes Co but it was not to be.  We did see 2 TURKEY VULTURES a few miles east of Sisters.  We really needed a walk after sitting in the car for hours, so we took the back way from Sisters to Calliope Crossing and walked for 1.5 miles, finding a pair of WILLIAMSON’S SAPSUCKERS.  Santiam Pass was clear and the rest of the trip uneventful. 

My plans are to return to Malhuer and Baker Cos this coming June to find what summer species I can with hopes to boost the list over 100.  Regarding Gilliam and Sherman Cos, I should take an overnight trip there soon for a few winter species, so that come May or June the findable summer species should elevate my list to over 100. 

Falcon Slam and Dark Gull

Falcon Slam

Thursday, February 4, 2016

That Dark Gull

Hi All,The weather man was merciful today, so I got out while it was dry.  I 

needed to go to McMinnville for some items, and along the way saw a 

NORTHERN SHRIKE near the junc of Crowley Rd and Rt 99.  In Amity I saw a MERLIN perched on a snag.   

Leaving McMinnville I headed west on Rt 18 and noted the large gull flock that can sometimes be seen in fields outside of that town, so I took a left on Delashmutt Rd and to view some 300 or so gulls.   On my first 

pass looking them over I saw some 5 WESTERNS, and many many 

GLAUCOUS-WINGEDS, and lesser numbers of HERRINGS, 

then THAYER'S.   

On my next pass through I spied a smaller, very dark gull which got 

my birding salivary glands thinking of lesser black backed gull.   It had yellow legs and was just too dark to be anything else, 

so I called Paul Sullivan who came out to check it out.  We finally concluded it was a very dark CALIFORNIA GULL.   The iris was dark, and the bill just was not quite right for the rarer one.  

Before proceeding on to the Sheridan Sewage Lagoons Paul 

found a first year GLAUCOUS GULL.

There should be a photo of "the California Gull "uploaded here.  

If someone wants to try to turn it into a Lesser Black Backed 

I hope you are successful.  Also, I hope the file is not too large. 

At the SSP there was one PEREGRINE who must have just eaten.  When Paul 

and I saw it fly, it looked like his crop was bulging, and a little 

further up the dike road we came upon the remains of a coot.  

Nothing rare at the ponds, only the expected waterfowl.   

I drove back into Polk County and saw a PRAIRIE 

FALCON along Livermore Rd, as well as a RED-SHOULDERED HAWK.  So along with the 

many kestrels, I finally had a 4 falcon day. 

This was posted to OBOL on 2/4/16.  I have had some serious doubts about labelling the dark gull a California Gull, and have since submitted a report to the ORBC with a few pics.  I have to admit that at the distance we were observing such if the iris could really be seen, and the bill  could very well have had mud on it from probing for worms. A few have relayed to me that they have never seen a California Gull this dark.  Here are a few more to mull over.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Umatilla Union and Wallowa Counties

• August 11, 2015

Hi All,
What follows is another account of weekend birding toward county listing,
My wife and I left mid morning on Saturday toward NW Oregon, with plans
to work on my Umatilla, Union, and Wallowa County lists. Having her
with me would be different than going it alone, both advantages and
disadvantages. The food would be better, tent cleaner, someone to
talk with along the way to discuss by birding strategies, but there
would be delays here and there that would be expected as well. I
should add at the beginning that I probably should label this trip,
“The weekend of the mis-construed check-lists,” which will become
clearer later on.

The first (of many) pit stops was the rest area just south of Wilsonville
where I noticed that the urinals were stamped with a “Falcon”
label. I wonder how long I had missed such, but took it as a good
omen for the upcoming weekend. After gas, the next stop was at the
Deschutes River State Park, just into Sherman Co for lunch. There
was a group of gulls flying around over the river and I added
Western, Herring and GW'd to my Sherman and Wasco list. Heading east on I-84 I was able to add Caspian Tern, Cormorant and Great Egret to Gilliam
and egret to Morrow.

Upon entering Umatilla County we began listing everything we saw since I
did not really remember what all I already had, but understood that
my list was sitting at about 50 species from former jaunts here. We
saw our first of many Swainson's Hawks, a species that seems very
common now that young birds have fledged and were seemingly everywhere that
suitable habitat existed. Another nice find was a Northern Oriole
which flew across the hwy in front of us.



Our first birding destination was the Cold Springs NWR east of Hermiston.
It must have been >90 degrees and windy, but I figured the
shorebirds would not be so affected. At the small farm pond just
before the entrance we added Lesser Yellowlegs, Snipe and Spotted
Sandpiper. The lake was filled with peeps, many Western and Least
Sandpipers, as well as many Spotted Sandpipers. I ran into local
birder Neil Hines who thought that the Spotted's have 2 broods, and
judging from the numbers, he is probably right. Other birds added
here were American White Pelican, Common Yellowthroat, Black-capped Chickadee,Pied-billed, Western and Clark's Grebe, Pewee, Cormorant, Gadwall, Caspian Tern, A Goldfinch, and 5 species of swallows. I missed the Solitary
Sandpiper which Mike Denny relayed he had found earlier in the day.

I ran into Neil on the way out who suggested camping in the Tollgate
area for forest type birds, but I worried it would be too crowded
with campers from the Walla Walla area. I had my sights on a place
named “Indian Lake” in the SE part of the county as having more
or less the same birds as the Tollgate area, and I'd be close to
Union County for the next day, so headed that way. Birding did not
really start to pick up until we reached the final road out of Pilot
Rock and headed up Birch Creek Road along the creek of the same name.
Pheasant, Turkey, Calfornia Quail, Spotted Towhee, Western Tanager, Cedar Waxwing were all additions to the list, as well as some elk, both mothers with fawns.  The fawns were larger than the mule deer we were also seeing. 

Female Elk With Young

Upon entering the campground was a sign that said, “If you don't stop at
the checkin area, you will be charged double for your campsite.” I
have camped at many campgrounds in the past but have never seen such
a sign. I guess it would end up being double or nothing here – if
you did not want to pay double you would not stay. The host had
hummer feeders so I guess he was not such a bad dude after all. We
paid our dues and set up camp. I did see one hummer fly off from the feeders
the next day, but not sure to species.

On the lake were Shovelers, Wood Ducks, and Western and Pied-billed Grebes. As dusk arrived I counted 12 Common Nighthawks feeding. We ate dinner under a lantern and I did a tally for the day. That was when I realized something was
amiss. I finally figured out that my Umatilla and Union lists were
somewhat switched, the second page of each with the other county.
(When you print off the lists from the East Cascades Audubon Society the
first page has the non passerine birds and the 2nd
page has the passerines) It took me a few minutes to realize I was
filling in passerines on the Union list, so had to draw a line
through those and use the Umatilla page for the appropriate birds.
This is also when I realized that I had started the day with about 70
species in that county from previous jaunts, and not 50 as I had
thought. (The 50 was for Union Co.) Nevertheless, when it was all
straightened out, I was at 99 for Umatilla when we hit the sack. 

Then it dawned on me, “Wouldn't it be nice to hear an owl for #
100?” But in all my efforts in the last 3 months of county
listing, I had dipped on hearing owls after dark, so the hopes for
such were not too great, especially now that it was August. I don't
sleep very well when camping, especially the first night, so when a
Saw-whet piped up, I was elated. Matter of fact, he was vocal the
whole night, which means I did not sleep well either.  I was now dreading  that I was now hearing this owl, as it more or less helped keep me awake.


When I looked at the time on my I-phone when I woke up, it was 5:27.  No sense laying around when it was getting light and the birds started singing.  So I got up and walked back down the road we came in on.  My list got padded with some of the following: Chipping Sparrow, Cassin's Finch, Grey Jay, Goshawk, Pileated WP, Lincoln's Sparrow, Kingfisher, Creeper, Red Crossbill, Mt Chickadee and Bluebird and Red-breasted Nuthatch. The goshawk was an imm bird, quite vocal and I finally viewed him high in a pine tree. During the walk I saw a young elk
with spots. Having read that mother elk can be aggressive toward
people when you are between them and their young, I looked all
around, hoping I was not going to be the brunt of her anger, but she
never showed up.

The county line was probably less than a mile to the east and when I left Umatilla County my list was 107.

Union County would take some work with only 50 therein to start with, but
little by little as we stopped along the forest service roads, the
list got enlarged with more of the common stuff. Some better birds
were Olive-sided Flycatcher, Williamson's Sapsucker, Common Nighthawk, Rock Wren, Clark’s Nutcracker, Western Bluebird. Seeing flocks of 50 + Chipping Sparrows was interesting. We later understood that we were on McIntyre Road, and the scenery was simply marvelous as the pines thinned out into
prairie. We started seeing more and more kestrels the lower we got.
One snag held 8 of them and across the road in another were 4 more,
both adults and immature birds. A little farther on I counted 11 in
a field, and in another mile counted 20! These were undoubtedly family groups.




When we reached Hwy 244 we turned left toward LaGrande with plans to stop
at Red Bridge State Wayside. Prior to getting there we pulled over
where Willow Creek enters the Grande Ronde River. Here I added
Yellow Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, American Dipper and Spotted Sandpiper. The sandpiper was an albino, the first I have ever seen of this species. 

Albino Spotted Sandpiper

At the Red Bridge State Wayside a lone Bushtit was apparently a nice
find. He must have gotten separated from his clan. It was a birdy
place and we also added Western Tanager, Dusky Flycatcher , Red Crossbill, Black-capped Chickadee. Further down the road were an Eastern Kingbird and Cliff Swallow.

After reaching LaGrande we stopped at Hot Lake and added Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, Marsh Wren, Wood and Ring-necked Duck, Yellow-headed Blackbird. Ladd Marsh was quite dry but were still able to add Black-necked Stilt, Redhead, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, Northern Harrier, Savannah Sparrow, Great Egret, Snipe and Cowbird. The LaGrande Sewage Lagoons had staff there, so we were able to enter and saw a few Eared Grebes, one Horned Grebe, Bank Swallows, Shovelers, Cinnamon Teal, Herring and Ring-billed Gulls and one Lesser Scaup.

While eating next at Subway, I did a tally and found I was now at 93 in
Union, only needing 7 more to cross the threshold, so we headed toward
Wallowa County. Due to seeing Osprey north of town, my wife got into
it, hoping we'd reach 100 before getting to Wallowa County and kept her eyes peeled. We found 2 Black-crowned Night Herons at a small farm pond just before reaching Elgin, and in scoping the Elgin Sewage Lagoons I added Red-necked Phalarope, Double-crested Cormorant and Gadwall. A long overdue Western Kingbird was next, making the list 99, falling one short before entering Wallowa County.

As far as I knew, my Wallowa County list was at 95 from 2 fairly recent
backpacking trips to the Eagle Cap Wilderness, and a winter trip
there in January 2012, so was not too worried about reaching 100.
However, we both agreed that we were wasting a lot of time stopping
to look for dippers along the Wallowa River, so left that off for
greener pastures. Along the way we saw Kingfisher, Snipe, and Vaux
Swift. Pete's Pond in Enterprise had common stuff, so nothing new
was added. We planned on camping at the State Campground at the far
end of Wallowa Lake, and a White-headed Woodpecker was a nice find a
the last pullout overlook before the bridge.

The campground is quite modern with all the amenities one needs away from
home. And this is one of the compromises I felt I needed to make by
bringing my wife along. (After she read this post to OBOL, she let me know she would have been just fine if we had camped off the grid somewhere.)  If I were alone, I'd be finding some vacant forest service road to camp for the night. We stopped at the check in and had to pay $20 for a campsite which was chosen for us. I am sure it is better than the refugee camps I read about, but just not
my cup of tea with everyone camping side by side with the usual accompanying noise.

After camp was set up, we walked down to the lake and I added Herring Gull
to the list. When back at camp when I did my tally, I found I was at
84, a huge let down. But closer examination showed something amiss
(again!). I could see glaring holes of birds I knew I had seen in
the county like Rosy Finch, Grey Partridge, Prairie Falcon and etc.
Then I figured out that a few months ago when I transferred my old
county lists to the new print-outs, I must have neglected to get them
all on there, but felt somewhat confident that I did have 95. I think I figured out that I transferred birds from my old list which was on the old Miller/Summers booklet, which was not updated recently, but since I knew my total was 95 I simply wrote that number on the new list without transferring everything nor recounting.  So I really was not sure where I was in the county, so figured I'd get  it all straightened out when I got back home.

That night, since we were tired, we went to bed early and used ear plugs
to quell the noise. About 10 minutes later I heard a GH Owl even
with the ear plugs! (Guess my ears are not so bad after all! My
wife may not agree with that though.  She did not hear it though......). I slept well until about 12:00 when I woke up to head to the rest room and could still hear the owl. (I was secretly hoping he would make a meal of someone's yappy
chihauhau a few tents over).

I next woke about 5:30 and headed out. The owl was still hooting.
A walk to the lake and up the road toward the trailheads yielded 2 Golden Eagles, Caspian Terns, California Gulls, Pileated Woodpecker, Black-capped
Chickadee, MacGilvray's and Yellow Warblers, Red-breasted Nuthatch, American Dipper, California Quail, Western Wood Pewee, Steller’s Jay, some of which would be new to the county list. While looking for Dipper on the river there, I watched a deer cross the  bridge rather than walk through the water. I guess he did not want to get his  tootsies wet in the cold water. Just before leaving I washed the dust off my  car at the sewage disposal area. When heading out we nailed a Common Loon on the water on the drive to the Joseph Sewage Lagoons. The lagoons had Bank and NRW Swallows plus the common dabbling ducks, coots and killdeer.

We next headed to the McCully Creek Trail where I hoped to find my state
Spruce Grouse. We did not see any grouse species, but here is a shot of the area.
One let down was that the last mile was on a dusty gravel road, so my car
was filthy again! At the trailhead were some Grey Jays. The 1.5
hours of hiking only added RC Kinglets and Hermit Thrush to the other
species already on my county list. We hoped for any grouse species, but came
up empty. We did note that many rocks on the trail had purple
stained bird turds, and assumed most were deposited by grouse. Before
getting back to Joseph we added long overdue W Kingbird and Tree
Swallow, and near the town of Wallowa added Double-crested Cormorant. Now that I am home and straightening out the lists, I count 114 for Wallowa.



Back into Union County, and needing one more to reach the 100 threshold, I
stopped at plowed fields looking for Horned Lark, watched over grassy
fields for Vesper or Lark Sparrows, scoped the Elgin Sewage Lagoons
for anything new, play rail tapes at the small farm pond south of
Elgin, played pygmy owl songs at the next bridge, all to no avail.

In Imbler, needing Ferruginous Hawk, we took a left turn toward some
promising looking fields. I stopped at a creek where there were 3
young Pheasants. Ka-ching! These were new, so we halted everything
and did a tally. I did not want to miscount and get home with only
99. So, as always,  it is best to have my wife do that kind of task,
since she is more detailed than I, and the results are more accurate.
She came up with 103....eh hem!



A few miles before reaching LaGrande, we noticed what looked like an
old fashioned, TV western dust storm coming in from the west. This
was undoubtedly the same one Trent Brey referred to in his Black
Swift post. The sky was getting darkened and the wind started howling, and there were even tumbleweeds rolling across the road in front of us.  I halfway expected to see John Wayne and a few cowboys come riding up on horses wearing bandanas to shield their faces, but I guess I have watched to many westerns.



The rest of the trip was mostly uneventful, except for one item I should
describe. Now I know some of you have non-birding spouses who
support you and occasionally tag along for the ride. They often
wonder how you can spot birds and drive 65 mph at the same time. And when
the car veers off to the side you have probably heard something like,
“Will you keep your eyes on the road!” And if it was a near
missed accident, the conversation probably gets a little heated.
Well, I am happy to report that none of those happened, this time.
However, since it was easier for me to reach the water bottles in the
back seat, she asked me to do so, and in the process, the car started
heading for the shoulder, which resulted in her grabbing the wheel to
avoid the car kissing the guard rail.

Along the drive, one of our conversations centered around a certain prickly
animal. Somewhere between Boardman and Arlington, where there is
only sagebrush, was a dead porcupine on the side of the road. Since
they eat bark, one has to wonder where he was going. And can their quills really give someone a flat tire?  And those tree farms which can be seen from outer space, does anyone know where these end up? Chips for paper? And those wind turbines were turning faithful as usual, which begs the question: with dams and wind turbines making electricity, why does our electric bill keep going
up?



One last sighting of a Common Loon within sight of the Sherman/Wasco
county line was a nice addition for Sherman County. So my Umatilla
list ended up at 107, Union 103 and Wallowa 114, and now I have 29/36
of Oregon's counties done. Not sure what's next with these hot
summer doldrums of August, so am probably going to delay things until
September.

McCully Creek Trail

The Quest: Union, Umatilla and Wallowa Counties

• August 11, 2015

Hi All,
What follows is another account of weekend birding toward county listing,
My wife and I left mid morning on Saturday toward NW Oregon, with plans
to work on my Umatilla, Union, and Wallowa County lists. Having her
with me would be different than going it alone, both advantages and
disadvantages. The food would be better, tent cleaner, someone to
talk with along the way to discuss by birding strategies, but there
would be delays here and there that would be expected as well. I
should add at the beginning that I probably should label this trip,
“The weekend of the mis-construed check-lists,” which will become
clearer later on.

The first (of many) pit stops was the rest area just south of Wilsonville
where I noticed that the urinals were stamped with a “Falcon”
label. I wonder how long I had missed such, but took it as a good
omen for the upcoming weekend. After gas, the next stop was at the
Deschutes River State Park, just into Sherman Co for lunch. There
was a group of gulls flying around over the river and I added
Western, Herring and GW'd to my Sherman and Wasco list. Heading east on I-84 I was able to add Caspian Tern, Cormorant and Great Egret to Gilliam
and egret to Morrow.

Upon entering Umatilla County we began listing everything we saw since I
did not really remember what all I already had, but understood that
my list was sitting at about 50 species from former jaunts here. We
saw our first of many Swainson's Hawks, a species that seems very
common now that young birds have fledged and were seemingly everywhere that
suitable habitat existed. Another nice find was a Northern Oriole
which flew across the hwy in front of us.



Our first birding destination was the Cold Springs NWR east of Hermiston.
It must have been >90 degrees and windy, but I figured the
shorebirds would not be so affected. At the small farm pond just
before the entrance we added Lesser Yellowlegs, Snipe and Spotted
Sandpiper. The lake was filled with peeps, many Western and Least
Sandpipers, as well as many Spotted Sandpipers. I ran into local
birder Neil Hines who thought that the Spotted's have 2 broods, and
judging from the numbers, he is probably right. Other birds added
here were American White Pelican, Common Yellowthroat, Black-capped Chickadee,Pied-billed, Western and Clark's Grebe, Pewee, Cormorant, Gadwall, Caspian Tern, A Goldfinch, and 5 species of swallows. I missed the Solitary
Sandpiper which Mike Denny relayed he had found earlier in the day.

I ran into Neil on the way out who suggested camping in the Tollgate
area for forest type birds, but I worried it would be too crowded
with campers from the Walla Walla area. I had my sights on a place
named “Indian Lake” in the SE part of the county as having more
or less the same birds as the Tollgate area, and I'd be close to
Union County for the next day, so headed that way. Birding did not
really start to pick up until we reached the final road out of Pilot
Rock and headed up Birch Creek Road along the creek of the same name.
Pheasant, Turkey, Calfornia Quail, Spotted Towhee, Western Tanager, Cedar Waxwing were all additions to the list, as well as some elk, both mothers with fawns.  The fawns were larger than the mule deer we were also seeing. 

Female Elk With Young

Upon entering the campground was a sign that said, “If you don't stop at
the checkin area, you will be charged double for your campsite.” I
have camped at many campgrounds in the past but have never seen such
a sign. I guess it would end up being double or nothing here – if
you did not want to pay double you would not stay. The host had
hummer feeders so I guess he was not such a bad dude after all. We
paid our dues and set up camp. I did see one hummer fly off from the feeders
the next day, but not sure to species.

On the lake were Shovelers, Wood Ducks, and Western and Pied-billed Grebes. As dusk arrived I counted 12 Common Nighthawks feeding. We ate dinner under a lantern and I did a tally for the day. That was when I realized something was
amiss. I finally figured out that my Umatilla and Union lists were
somewhat switched, the second page of each with the other county.
(When you print off the lists from the East Cascades Audubon Society the
first page has the non passerine birds and the 2nd
page has the passerines) It took me a few minutes to realize I was
filling in passerines on the Union list, so had to draw a line
through those and use the Umatilla page for the appropriate birds.
This is also when I realized that I had started the day with about 70
species in that county from previous jaunts, and not 50 as I had
thought. (The 50 was for Union Co.) Nevertheless, when it was all
straightened out, I was at 99 for Umatilla when we hit the sack. 

Then it dawned on me, “Wouldn't it be nice to hear an owl for #
100?” But in all my efforts in the last 3 months of county
listing, I had dipped on hearing owls after dark, so the hopes for
such were not too great, especially now that it was August. I don't
sleep very well when camping, especially the first night, so when a
Saw-whet piped up, I was elated. Matter of fact, he was vocal the
whole night, which means I did not sleep well either.  I was now dreading  that I was now hearing this owl, as it more or less helped keep me awake.


When I looked at the time on my I-phone when I woke up, it was 5:27.  No sense laying around when it was getting light and the birds started singing.  So I got up and walked back down the road we came in on.  My list got padded with some of the following: Chipping Sparrow, Cassin's Finch, Grey Jay, Goshawk, Pileated WP, Lincoln's Sparrow, Kingfisher, Creeper, Red Crossbill, Mt Chickadee and Bluebird and Red-breasted Nuthatch. The goshawk was an imm bird, quite vocal and I finally viewed him high in a pine tree. During the walk I saw a young elk
with spots. Having read that mother elk can be aggressive toward
people when you are between them and their young, I looked all
around, hoping I was not going to be the brunt of her anger, but she
never showed up.

The county line was probably less than a mile to the east and when I left Umatilla County my list was 107.

Union County would take some work with only 50 therein to start with, but
little by little as we stopped along the forest service roads, the
list got enlarged with more of the common stuff. Some better birds
were Olive-sided Flycatcher, Williamson's Sapsucker, Common Nighthawk, Rock Wren, Clark’s Nutcracker, Western Bluebird. Seeing flocks of 50 + Chipping Sparrows was interesting. We later understood that we were on McIntyre Road, and the scenery was simply marvelous as the pines thinned out into
prairie. We started seeing more and more kestrels the lower we got.
One snag held 8 of them and across the road in another were 4 more,
both adults and immature birds. A little farther on I counted 11 in
a field, and in another mile counted 20! These were undoubtedly family groups.




When we reached Hwy 244 we turned left toward LaGrande with plans to stop
at Red Bridge State Wayside. Prior to getting there we pulled over
where Willow Creek enters the Grande Ronde River. Here I added
Yellow Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, American Dipper and Spotted Sandpiper. The sandpiper was an albino, the first I have ever seen of this species. 

Albino Spotted Sandpiper

At the Red Bridge State Wayside a lone Bushtit was apparently a nice
find. He must have gotten separated from his clan. It was a birdy
place and we also added Western Tanager, Dusky Flycatcher , Red Crossbill, Black-capped Chickadee. Further down the road were an Eastern Kingbird and Cliff Swallow.

After reaching LaGrande we stopped at Hot Lake and added Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, Marsh Wren, Wood and Ring-necked Duck, Yellow-headed Blackbird. Ladd Marsh was quite dry but were still able to add Black-necked Stilt, Redhead, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, Northern Harrier, Savannah Sparrow, Great Egret, Snipe and Cowbird. The LaGrande Sewage Lagoons had staff there, so we were able to enter and saw a few Eared Grebes, one Horned Grebe, Bank Swallows, Shovelers, Cinnamon Teal, Herring and Ring-billed Gulls and one Lesser Scaup.

While eating next at Subway, I did a tally and found I was now at 93 in
Union, only needing 7 more to cross the threshold, so we headed toward
Wallowa County. Due to seeing Osprey north of town, my wife got into
it, hoping we'd reach 100 before getting to Wallowa County and kept her eyes peeled. We found 2 Black-crowned Night Herons at a small farm pond just before reaching Elgin, and in scoping the Elgin Sewage Lagoons I added Red-necked Phalarope, Double-crested Cormorant and Gadwall. A long overdue Western Kingbird was next, making the list 99, falling one short before entering Wallowa County.

As far as I knew, my Wallowa County list was at 95 from 2 fairly recent
backpacking trips to the Eagle Cap Wilderness, and a winter trip
there in January 2012, so was not too worried about reaching 100.
However, we both agreed that we were wasting a lot of time stopping
to look for dippers along the Wallowa River, so left that off for
greener pastures. Along the way we saw Kingfisher, Snipe, and Vaux
Swift. Pete's Pond in Enterprise had common stuff, so nothing new
was added. We planned on camping at the State Campground at the far
end of Wallowa Lake, and a White-headed Woodpecker was a nice find a
the last pullout overlook before the bridge.

The campground is quite modern with all the amenities one needs away from
home. And this is one of the compromises I felt I needed to make by
bringing my wife along. (After she read this post to OBOL, she let me know she would have been just fine if we had camped off the grid somewhere.)  If I were alone, I'd be finding some vacant forest service road to camp for the night. We stopped at the check in and had to pay $20 for a campsite which was chosen for us. I am sure it is better than the refugee camps I read about, but just not
my cup of tea with everyone camping side by side with the usual accompanying noise.

After camp was set up, we walked down to the lake and I added Herring Gull
to the list. When back at camp when I did my tally, I found I was at
84, a huge let down. But closer examination showed something amiss
(again!). I could see glaring holes of birds I knew I had seen in
the county like Rosy Finch, Grey Partridge, Prairie Falcon and etc.
Then I figured out that a few months ago when I transferred my old
county lists to the new print-outs, I must have neglected to get them
all on there, but felt somewhat confident that I did have 95. I think I figured out that I transferred birds from my old list which was on the old Miller/Summers booklet, which was not updated recently, but since I knew my total was 95 I simply wrote that number on the new list without transferring everything nor recounting.  So I really was not sure where I was in the county, so figured I'd get  it all straightened out when I got back home.

That night, since we were tired, we went to bed early and used ear plugs
to quell the noise. About 10 minutes later I heard a GH Owl even
with the ear plugs! (Guess my ears are not so bad after all! My
wife may not agree with that though.  She did not hear it though......). I slept well until about 12:00 when I woke up to head to the rest room and could still hear the owl. (I was secretly hoping he would make a meal of someone's yappy
chihauhau a few tents over).

I next woke about 5:30 and headed out. The owl was still hooting.
A walk to the lake and up the road toward the trailheads yielded 2 Golden Eagles, Caspian Terns, California Gulls, Pileated Woodpecker, Black-capped
Chickadee, MacGilvray's and Yellow Warblers, Red-breasted Nuthatch, American Dipper, California Quail, Western Wood Pewee, Steller’s Jay, some of which would be new to the county list. While looking for Dipper on the river there, I watched a deer cross the  bridge rather than walk through the water. I guess he did not want to get his  tootsies wet in the cold water. Just before leaving I washed the dust off my  car at the sewage disposal area. When heading out we nailed a Common Loon on the water on the drive to the Joseph Sewage Lagoons. The lagoons had Bank and NRW Swallows plus the common dabbling ducks, coots and killdeer.

We next headed to the McCully Creek Trail where I hoped to find my state
Spruce Grouse. We did not see any grouse species, but here is a shot of the area.
One let down was that the last mile was on a dusty gravel road, so my car
was filthy again! At the trailhead were some Grey Jays. The 1.5
hours of hiking only added RC Kinglets and Hermit Thrush to the other
species already on my county list. We hoped for any grouse species, but came
up empty. We did note that many rocks on the trail had purple
stained bird turds, and assumed most were deposited by grouse. Before
getting back to Joseph we added long overdue W Kingbird and Tree
Swallow, and near the town of Wallowa added Double-crested Cormorant. Now that I am home and straightening out the lists, I count 114 for Wallowa.



Back into Union County, and needing one more to reach the 100 threshold, I
stopped at plowed fields looking for Horned Lark, watched over grassy
fields for Vesper or Lark Sparrows, scoped the Elgin Sewage Lagoons
for anything new, play rail tapes at the small farm pond south of
Elgin, played pygmy owl songs at the next bridge, all to no avail.

In Imbler, needing Ferruginous Hawk, we took a left turn toward some
promising looking fields. I stopped at a creek where there were 3
young Pheasants. Ka-ching! These were new, so we halted everything
and did a tally. I did not want to miscount and get home with only
99. So, as always,  it is best to have my wife do that kind of task,
since she is more detailed than I, and the results are more accurate.
She came up with 103....eh hem!



A few miles before reaching LaGrande, we noticed what looked like an
old fashioned, TV western dust storm coming in from the west. This
was undoubtedly the same one Trent Brey referred to in his Black
Swift post. The sky was getting darkened and the wind started howling, and there were even tumbleweeds rolling across the road in front of us.  I halfway expected to see John Wayne and a few cowboys come riding up on horses wearing bandanas to shield their faces, but I guess I have watched to many westerns.



The rest of the trip was mostly uneventful, except for one item I should
describe. Now I know some of you have non-birding spouses who
support you and occasionally tag along for the ride. They often
wonder how you can spot birds and drive 65 mph at the same time. And when
the car veers off to the side you have probably heard something like,
“Will you keep your eyes on the road!” And if it was a near
missed accident, the conversation probably gets a little heated.
Well, I am happy to report that none of those happened, this time.
However, since it was easier for me to reach the water bottles in the
back seat, she asked me to do so, and in the process, the car started
heading for the shoulder, which resulted in her grabbing the wheel to
avoid the car kissing the guard rail.

Along the drive, one of our conversations centered around a certain prickly
animal. Somewhere between Boardman and Arlington, where there is
only sagebrush, was a dead porcupine on the side of the road. Since
they eat bark, one has to wonder where he was going. And can their quills really give someone a flat tire?  And those tree farms which can be seen from outer space, does anyone know where these end up? Chips for paper? And those wind turbines were turning faithful as usual, which begs the question: with dams and wind turbines making electricity, why does our electric bill keep going
up?



One last sighting of a Common Loon within sight of the Sherman/Wasco
county line was a nice addition for Sherman County. So my Umatilla
list ended up at 107, Union 103 and Wallowa 114, and now I have 29/36
of Oregon's counties done. Not sure what's next with these hot
summer doldrums of August, so am probably going to delay things until
September.

McCully Creek Trail

The Quest: Umatilla Union and Wallowa Counties

• August 11, 2015

Hi All,
What follows is another account of weekend birding toward county listing,
My wife and I left mid morning on Saturday toward NW Oregon, with plans
to work on my Umatilla, Union, and Wallowa County lists. Having her
with me would be different than going it alone, both advantages and
disadvantages. The food would be better, tent cleaner, someone to
talk with along the way to discuss by birding strategies, but there
would be delays here and there that would be expected as well. I
should add at the beginning that I probably should label this trip,
“The weekend of the mis-construed check-lists,” which will become
clearer later on.

The first (of many) pit stops was the rest area just south of Wilsonville
where I noticed that the urinals were stamped with a “Falcon”
label. I wonder how long I had missed such, but took it as a good
omen for the upcoming weekend. After gas, the next stop was at the
Deschutes River State Park, just into Sherman Co for lunch. There
was a group of gulls flying around over the river and I added
Western, Herring and GW'd to my Sherman and Wasco list. Heading east on I-84 I was able to add Caspian Tern, Cormorant and Great Egret to Gilliam
and egret to Morrow.

Upon entering Umatilla County we began listing everything we saw since I
did not really remember what all I already had, but understood that
my list was sitting at about 50 species from former jaunts here. We
saw our first of many Swainson's Hawks, a species that seems very
common now that young birds have fledged and were seemingly everywhere that
suitable habitat existed. Another nice find was a Northern Oriole
which flew across the hwy in front of us.



Our first birding destination was the Cold Springs NWR east of Hermiston.
It must have been >90 degrees and windy, but I figured the
shorebirds would not be so affected. At the small farm pond just
before the entrance we added Lesser Yellowlegs, Snipe and Spotted
Sandpiper. The lake was filled with peeps, many Western and Least
Sandpipers, as well as many Spotted Sandpipers. I ran into local
birder Neil Hines who thought that the Spotted's have 2 broods, and
judging from the numbers, he is probably right. Other birds added
here were American White Pelican, Common Yellowthroat, Black-capped Chickadee,Pied-billed, Western and Clark's Grebe, Pewee, Cormorant, Gadwall, Caspian Tern, A Goldfinch, and 5 species of swallows. I missed the Solitary
Sandpiper which Mike Denny relayed he had found earlier in the day.

I ran into Neil on the way out who suggested camping in the Tollgate
area for forest type birds, but I worried it would be too crowded
with campers from the Walla Walla area. I had my sights on a place
named “Indian Lake” in the SE part of the county as having more
or less the same birds as the Tollgate area, and I'd be close to
Union County for the next day, so headed that way. Birding did not
really start to pick up until we reached the final road out of Pilot
Rock and headed up Birch Creek Road along the creek of the same name.
Pheasant, Turkey, Calfornia Quail, Spotted Towhee, Western Tanager, Cedar Waxwing were all additions to the list, as well as some elk, both mothers with fawns.  The fawns were larger than the mule deer we were also seeing. 

Female Elk With Young

Upon entering the campground was a sign that said, “If you don't stop at
the checkin area, you will be charged double for your campsite.” I
have camped at many campgrounds in the past but have never seen such
a sign. I guess it would end up being double or nothing here – if
you did not want to pay double you would not stay. The host had
hummer feeders so I guess he was not such a bad dude after all. We
paid our dues and set up camp. I did see one hummer fly off from the feeders
the next day, but not sure to species.

On the lake were Shovelers, Wood Ducks, and Western and Pied-billed Grebes. As dusk arrived I counted 12 Common Nighthawks feeding. We ate dinner under a lantern and I did a tally for the day. That was when I realized something was
amiss. I finally figured out that my Umatilla and Union lists were
somewhat switched, the second page of each with the other county.
(When you print off the lists from the East Cascades Audubon Society the
first page has the non passerine birds and the 2nd
page has the passerines) It took me a few minutes to realize I was
filling in passerines on the Union list, so had to draw a line
through those and use the Umatilla page for the appropriate birds.
This is also when I realized that I had started the day with about 70
species in that county from previous jaunts, and not 50 as I had
thought. (The 50 was for Union Co.) Nevertheless, when it was all
straightened out, I was at 99 for Umatilla when we hit the sack. 

Then it dawned on me, “Wouldn't it be nice to hear an owl for #
100?” But in all my efforts in the last 3 months of county
listing, I had dipped on hearing owls after dark, so the hopes for
such were not too great, especially now that it was August. I don't
sleep very well when camping, especially the first night, so when a
Saw-whet piped up, I was elated. Matter of fact, he was vocal the
whole night, which means I did not sleep well either.  I was now dreading  that I was now hearing this owl, as it more or less helped keep me awake.


When I looked at the time on my I-phone when I woke up, it was 5:27.  No sense laying around when it was getting light and the birds started singing.  So I got up and walked back down the road we came in on.  My list got padded with some of the following: Chipping Sparrow, Cassin's Finch, Grey Jay, Goshawk, Pileated WP, Lincoln's Sparrow, Kingfisher, Creeper, Red Crossbill, Mt Chickadee and Bluebird and Red-breasted Nuthatch. The goshawk was an imm bird, quite vocal and I finally viewed him high in a pine tree. During the walk I saw a young elk
with spots. Having read that mother elk can be aggressive toward
people when you are between them and their young, I looked all
around, hoping I was not going to be the brunt of her anger, but she
never showed up.

The county line was probably less than a mile to the east and when I left Umatilla County my list was 107.

Union County would take some work with only 50 therein to start with, but
little by little as we stopped along the forest service roads, the
list got enlarged with more of the common stuff. Some better birds
were Olive-sided Flycatcher, Williamson's Sapsucker, Common Nighthawk, Rock Wren, Clark’s Nutcracker, Western Bluebird. Seeing flocks of 50 + Chipping Sparrows was interesting. We later understood that we were on McIntyre Road, and the scenery was simply marvelous as the pines thinned out into
prairie. We started seeing more and more kestrels the lower we got.
One snag held 8 of them and across the road in another were 4 more,
both adults and immature birds. A little farther on I counted 11 in
a field, and in another mile counted 20! These were undoubtedly family groups.




When we reached Hwy 244 we turned left toward LaGrande with plans to stop
at Red Bridge State Wayside. Prior to getting there we pulled over
where Willow Creek enters the Grande Ronde River. Here I added
Yellow Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, American Dipper and Spotted Sandpiper. The sandpiper was an albino, the first I have ever seen of this species. 

Albino Spotted Sandpiper

At the Red Bridge State Wayside a lone Bushtit was apparently a nice
find. He must have gotten separated from his clan. It was a birdy
place and we also added Western Tanager, Dusky Flycatcher , Red Crossbill, Black-capped Chickadee. Further down the road were an Eastern Kingbird and Cliff Swallow.

After reaching LaGrande we stopped at Hot Lake and added Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, Marsh Wren, Wood and Ring-necked Duck, Yellow-headed Blackbird. Ladd Marsh was quite dry but were still able to add Black-necked Stilt, Redhead, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, Northern Harrier, Savannah Sparrow, Great Egret, Snipe and Cowbird. The LaGrande Sewage Lagoons had staff there, so we were able to enter and saw a few Eared Grebes, one Horned Grebe, Bank Swallows, Shovelers, Cinnamon Teal, Herring and Ring-billed Gulls and one Lesser Scaup.

While eating next at Subway, I did a tally and found I was now at 93 in
Union, only needing 7 more to cross the threshold, so we headed toward
Wallowa County. Due to seeing Osprey north of town, my wife got into
it, hoping we'd reach 100 before getting to Wallowa County and kept her eyes peeled. We found 2 Black-crowned Night Herons at a small farm pond just before reaching Elgin, and in scoping the Elgin Sewage Lagoons I added Red-necked Phalarope, Double-crested Cormorant and Gadwall. A long overdue Western Kingbird was next, making the list 99, falling one short before entering Wallowa County.

As far as I knew, my Wallowa County list was at 95 from 2 fairly recent
backpacking trips to the Eagle Cap Wilderness, and a winter trip
there in January 2012, so was not too worried about reaching 100.
However, we both agreed that we were wasting a lot of time stopping
to look for dippers along the Wallowa River, so left that off for
greener pastures. Along the way we saw Kingfisher, Snipe, and Vaux
Swift. Pete's Pond in Enterprise had common stuff, so nothing new
was added. We planned on camping at the State Campground at the far
end of Wallowa Lake, and a White-headed Woodpecker was a nice find a
the last pullout overlook before the bridge.

The campground is quite modern with all the amenities one needs away from
home. And this is one of the compromises I felt I needed to make by
bringing my wife along. (After she read this post to OBOL, she let me know she would have been just fine if we had camped off the grid somewhere.)  If I were alone, I'd be finding some vacant forest service road to camp for the night. We stopped at the check in and had to pay $20 for a campsite which was chosen for us. I am sure it is better than the refugee camps I read about, but just not
my cup of tea with everyone camping side by side with the usual accompanying noise.

After camp was set up, we walked down to the lake and I added Herring Gull
to the list. When back at camp when I did my tally, I found I was at
84, a huge let down. But closer examination showed something amiss
(again!). I could see glaring holes of birds I knew I had seen in
the county like Rosy Finch, Grey Partridge, Prairie Falcon and etc.
Then I figured out that a few months ago when I transferred my old
county lists to the new print-outs, I must have neglected to get them
all on there, but felt somewhat confident that I did have 95. I think I figured out that I transferred birds from my old list which was on the old Miller/Summers booklet, which was not updated recently, but since I knew my total was 95 I simply wrote that number on the new list without transferring everything nor recounting.  So I really was not sure where I was in the county, so figured I'd get  it all straightened out when I got back home.

That night, since we were tired, we went to bed early and used ear plugs
to quell the noise. About 10 minutes later I heard a GH Owl even
with the ear plugs! (Guess my ears are not so bad after all! My
wife may not agree with that though.  She did not hear it though......). I slept well until about 12:00 when I woke up to head to the rest room and could still hear the owl. (I was secretly hoping he would make a meal of someone's yappy
chihauhau a few tents over).

I next woke about 5:30 and headed out. The owl was still hooting.
A walk to the lake and up the road toward the trailheads yielded 2 Golden Eagles, Caspian Terns, California Gulls, Pileated Woodpecker, Black-capped
Chickadee, MacGilvray's and Yellow Warblers, Red-breasted Nuthatch, American Dipper, California Quail, Western Wood Pewee, Steller’s Jay, some of which would be new to the county list. While looking for Dipper on the river there, I watched a deer cross the  bridge rather than walk through the water. I guess he did not want to get his  tootsies wet in the cold water. Just before leaving I washed the dust off my  car at the sewage disposal area. When heading out we nailed a Common Loon on the water on the drive to the Joseph Sewage Lagoons. The lagoons had Bank and NRW Swallows plus the common dabbling ducks, coots and killdeer.

We next headed to the McCully Creek Trail where I hoped to find my state
Spruce Grouse. We did not see any grouse species, but here is a shot of the area.
One let down was that the last mile was on a dusty gravel road, so my car
was filthy again! At the trailhead were some Grey Jays. The 1.5
hours of hiking only added RC Kinglets and Hermit Thrush to the other
species already on my county list. We hoped for any grouse species, but came
up empty. We did note that many rocks on the trail had purple
stained bird turds, and assumed most were deposited by grouse. Before
getting back to Joseph we added long overdue W Kingbird and Tree
Swallow, and near the town of Wallowa added Double-crested Cormorant. Now that I am home and straightening out the lists, I count 114 for Wallowa.



Back into Union County, and needing one more to reach the 100 threshold, I
stopped at plowed fields looking for Horned Lark, watched over grassy
fields for Vesper or Lark Sparrows, scoped the Elgin Sewage Lagoons
for anything new, play rail tapes at the small farm pond south of
Elgin, played pygmy owl songs at the next bridge, all to no avail.

In Imbler, needing Ferruginous Hawk, we took a left turn toward some
promising looking fields. I stopped at a creek where there were 3
young Pheasants. Ka-ching! These were new, so we halted everything
and did a tally. I did not want to miscount and get home with only
99. So, as always,  it is best to have my wife do that kind of task,
since she is more detailed than I, and the results are more accurate.
She came up with 103....eh hem!



A few miles before reaching LaGrande, we noticed what looked like an
old fashioned, TV western dust storm coming in from the west. This
was undoubtedly the same one Trent Brey referred to in his Black
Swift post. The sky was getting darkened and the wind started howling, and there were even tumbleweeds rolling across the road in front of us.  I halfway expected to see John Wayne and a few cowboys come riding up on horses wearing bandanas to shield their faces, but I guess I have watched to many westerns.



The rest of the trip was mostly uneventful, except for one item I should
describe. Now I know some of you have non-birding spouses who
support you and occasionally tag along for the ride. They often
wonder how you can spot birds and drive 65 mph at the same time. And when
the car veers off to the side you have probably heard something like,
“Will you keep your eyes on the road!” And if it was a near
missed accident, the conversation probably gets a little heated.
Well, I am happy to report that none of those happened, this time.
However, since it was easier for me to reach the water bottles in the
back seat, she asked me to do so, and in the process, the car started
heading for the shoulder, which resulted in her grabbing the wheel to
avoid the car kissing the guard rail.

Along the drive, one of our conversations centered around a certain prickly
animal. Somewhere between Boardman and Arlington, where there is
only sagebrush, was a dead porcupine on the side of the road. Since
they eat bark, one has to wonder where he was going. And can their quills really give someone a flat tire?  And those tree farms which can be seen from outer space, does anyone know where these end up? Chips for paper? And those wind turbines were turning faithful as usual, which begs the question: with dams and wind turbines making electricity, why does our electric bill keep going
up?



One last sighting of a Common Loon within sight of the Sherman/Wasco
county line was a nice addition for Sherman County. So my Umatilla
list ended up at 107, Union 103 and Wallowa 114, and now I have 29/36
of Oregon's counties done. Not sure what's next with these hot
summer doldrums of August, so am probably going to delay things until
September.

McCully Creek Trail

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Bill Tice

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