Monday, June 15, 2015
Crook and Wheeler
6/15/15
Hi All,
In light of my present circumstances, it appears to be a good time to put forth more effort toward the goal of finding 100 species in each of Oregon's 36 counties, a goal I have wanted to pursue for quite
some time, but never really had the time. I plan on posting a series of write ups called “The Quest” in my pursuit of reaching the 100 species per county goal. Hopefully I will be adding pictures of some interesting birds and places along the way. I am/was already half way there, and have a reasonable start in other counties. This past weekend I headed over to finish up in Crook and Wheeler counties, leaving the Willamette Valley Saturday afternoon.
First stop was at Santiam Pass where Roy Gerig had showed me a quarry where he thought ROCK WREN was more or less consistent, and I was able to
add it to my Linn Co list (Thanks Roy). Next stop was at Indian Fjord campground where the CHEST-NUT SIDED WARBLER responded nicely to playback (Thanks Doug). Going 2 for 2 was a good way to start off and I figured might be a good omen for the rest of the trip.
When I reached Prineville the wind was quite stiff, so birding was slow, and Prineville reservoir was pretty dead, so I made my way over to Post and the Crooked River area, picking up SNIPE, CINNAMON TEAL,
CHAT, SPOTTED TOWHEE, ROCK WREN and other common stuff. I was planning on camping in the Maury Mts, so went south on Newsome Creek
Rd and headed to higher elevations, finding a side road at dusk. Playing pygmy owl toots immediately brought in a pair of GREAT-HORNED OWLS who seemed to want to have a staring contest with me. It was great to hear both COMMON NIGHT-HAWKS and POORWILLS as well.
There was no wind on Sunday morning, and adding HAIRY WOODPECKER, HERMIT THRUSH, HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, WESTERN TANAGER were more or less expected. On my way down to lower elevations, the best birds were a pair of WILD TURKEYS, which are listed as rare on the Crook County bird list by Chuck Gates. Other birds of interest to beef up the Crook list were WW PEWEE, RUFOUS HUMMER, WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER, BUSHTIT, RING-NECKED DUCK, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, HOUSE WREN. When I got back to the river there was a COMMON YELLOWTHROAT at the bridge and C QUAIL calling at the nearby farm. Not far east of there were a flock of some 15 MAGPIES, the most I have ever seen together.
Prior to starting the trip my Crook list was almost 70, and it was now over 100, so I thought I'd pad it a little when heading to Wheeler County as I headed toward Paulina. Since I did not sleep very well (I never do when camping) I decided to stop for coffee at the general store in Paulina. I asked the man behind the counter if all those squirrel-like animals I had been noticing were “Prairie dogs.” He said emphatically they were “sage rats!” I could not argue with the label and vowed to not complain too much about the few
gophers that pop up in my garden. Just east of Paulina a pair of SANDHILL CRANES off in a grassy field with the Ochoco Mountains in the background was truly scenic, and made me wonder if I really needed the coffee. A GOLDEN EAGLE soon after was a lift as well. I headed north on Beaver Creek Rd, and
then I came across a Pronghorn who wanted to drag race with me, and I clocked him at 35 MPH and then decided to slow down and let him cross over in front of me, something he was intent on doing anyway. Just prior to entering the Ochoco Mts I picked up my county HORNED LARKS and BREWER'S SPARROW.
Once I figured I was in Wheeler County I pulled over here and there, but birds for the list were coming quite slow due to the fact that I was in the north part of the county 2 weeks ago, and my list was somewhere in the high 80s. At a basic campground I heard a “Western” type flycatcher that had a different accent than the Pacific Slopes in the valley, and since he perked up quite a bit when I did
playback, which matched his very well, I labelled him a CORDILLARIN FLYCATCHER.
The gravel roads really were not too bad, but after a while I noticed that a “check engine” light had come on. I suspected the minor washboardy roads had something to do with it. As I did not want to get stuck out in the middle of nowhere, I figured I had better fix it. So when I was done chewing some gum, I put the wad over the light, and never had to worry about it again.
I determined I should get to lower elevations where there would certainly be more potential for adding species to the list, so headed for Rt 26 and the waterway adjacent to it. Upon reaching the sage brush and valley, I slowed down and opened the windows, listening for any singing birds I might need. Then I happened upon one of those free-range steers on the shoulder of the other side of the road. He did not appear to want to drag race, more into the demo derby as he lowered his head and started after my little red Nissan truck. I guess some bulls really don't like the color red? Naturally I sped up and in the mirror saw him trucking after me wagging his head, rip-snorting and doing some kind of side-ways gallup, and I concluded that this must be what “running with the bulls” is all about.
With the BS in the rear, there was about a mile left before the bridge/river, and my Wheeler list was sitting at 94. My idea to bird the lowlands paid off as in the next 10 minutes I listed: SAGE THRASHER, BREWER'S SPARROW, HORNED LARK, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, WILSON'S WARBLER, SAVANNAH SPARROW and BANK SWALLOW. This gave me 101.
I have always had high respect for the intelligence of Covids as I rarely ever see them as road kill. But just down the road from here I saw my 3rd dead magpie of the trip. Since they are so smart, maybe they like to
play roulette with the on-coming cars as they fill their beaks with mammilean road kill, waiting to the last second before taking off.
I figured I could try and pad my Wheeler list some, but my laziness got the better of me and I headed home, not making many more stops. I did decide to stop in Mitchell and reward myself with an ice-cream
sandwich. Since I needed house finch and American goldfinch, I figured I would walk around town looking for them as I ate it. But about 100 feet along on Main St a mid-size mutt decided to impress me
with his canines. I suspected he was not after the ice cream, but I tossed him a piece of the ice-cream sandwich to divert him and walked briskly back to my car, figuring the finches could wait till next time.
The trip back to the valley was uneventful. The rodeo in Sisters made the slog through town even slower (Hey Steve, will they ever make a bi-pass around town?) and it took about 10 minutes to go 1 mile. When I got home I glanced at my grill and noticed it was quite colorful due to all the suicidal insects I hit on the trip. If you are headed to Central Oregon there should be a few less mosquitos to bother you now.
I have to admit that there is beautiful scenery in Central Oregon, something I was reminded of everywhere. I kind of envy you who are “over the hill,” from Bend to Burns and beyond.
Next
up: Hood River and Wasco Counties. Any must see places to check outover there please feel free to let me know.
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