Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Wasco and Hood River Counties

  • Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2015 21:35:17 +0000

Hi All,
Continuing my effort toward 100 species in each county, I headed over toward
Wasco Co late Saturday. I reached the western part of the county at
Frog Lake just SE of Mt Hood where I listed HERMIT WARBLER, STELLAR'S
JAY, BALD EAGLE, JUNCO and SPOTTED SANDPIPER. My plan was to bird my
way to Tygh Valley and find a place to camp, re-work Wasco back up
into Mt Hood County for the rest of Sunday.
When I came out of the mountains onto the prairie in Wasco County, I started filling out the list
with species along the road that I needed (I was just over 70 for the
county before resuming efforts) and so added stuff like: SAY'S
PHOEBE, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, BULLOCKS ORIOLE. It was hot and windy making birding slow, so I headed north toward Tygh Valley, but stopped
first along Juniper Flat Rd for some curlews Chuck Gates told me of,
but they were a no show. Upon reaching Tygh Valley I took a Right on
certain road, the name of which I cannot remember,  and found an EASTERN KINGBIRD, which may be among the better birds of the trip. Then I headed along the White River west stopping here and there adding: DOWNY WP, WESTERN TANAGER, PEWEE, TREE SWALLOW, CLIFF SWALLOW, LEWIS WP. I then headed west into the Mt Hood Nat Forest to camp for the night, adding CHIPPING SPARROW along the way.  A few nighthawks were more or less expected.

In the morning the chipping sparrows were all over, as well as one DUSKY
FC. On the way back to Tygh valley I found a PYGMY OWL, ROCK WREN,
PRAIRIE FALCON. Around town I found KINGFISHER, BANK SWALLOW,
PHEASANT, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, WOOD DUCK (with young), ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, and SNIPE.

Back at Juniper Flat Rd 2 LONG-BILLED CURLEWS put in a nice show, as well as did a
HORNED LARK. Around the corner from there were a pair of PRAIRIE
FALCONS, and just after that was a canyon off to the right where I
found CANYON WREN, LAZULI BUNTING AND ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER. Further along I
came to a (the?) TRI-COLORERED BLACKBIRD colony. Not being familiar with their call/song, I found it to be more like a Yellow-headed Blackbird than a Red-winged Blackbird.
Then in Pine Grove I took a side street Chuck mentioned and found CALLIOPE,
RUFOUS and BLACK-CHINNED HUMMER all at one feeder, and in the general area were  WESTERN BLUEBIRD, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, CASSIN'S VIREO, PURPLE FINCH and PINE SISKIN. Since I was now just over 100, I headed back into the
mountains toward Hood River County.
I had more work to do there only having 50 on my Hood River County list (but that
list includes smew and black duck from that distant past). Starting
near Bennet Pass I found HAIRY WOODPECKER, HERMIT and TOWNSENDS WABLERS,
and on a side road maybe a mile from the summit found: VAUX SWIFT, OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, GRAY JAY, JUNCO,
CHESTNUT-SIDED CHICKADEE, VG SWALLOW, AND A WARBLING VIREO which
seemed kind of high up for them. At Mt Hood Meadows parking lot
were: CEDAR WAXING, LAZULI BUNTINGS, a pair of WILLIAMSON'S
SAPSUCKERS nesting, LINCOLN'S SPARROW, RUFOUS HUMMER, CHIPPING
SPARROW, SPOTTED TOWHEE, VAUX SWIFT, TREE SWALLOW, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, RED TAILED HAWK, EVENING GROSBEAK, SISKIN. I slowly worked my way lower in elevation, stopping at Nottingham Campground where I found MACGILVRAY'S WARBLER, SPOTTED SANDPIPER, STELLAR'S JAY, and probably the best find for the day was a female HARLEQUIN DUCK with 5 young.
In and around Parkdale I located RB SAPSUCKER, BULLOCKS ORIOLE, AMERICAN
GOLDFINCH, WILLOW FLYCATCHER, CALIFORNIA QUAIL. I decided to go to Lost Lake and
listed COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, HOUSE WREN, HERMIT THRUSH, and WILSON'S WARBLER along the way. 

When I reached the town of Hood River I had 94, and figured it might not be too hard to find some ducks and and other water associated birds along the waterfront, but it turned out there were far more people there than birds, even
starlings. A bit of advice: don't go to the Hood River waterfront
looking for birds on a windy Sunday afternoon as there will be
multitudes of wind surfers, kayakers, paddle boarders and the like.
I figured picking up a few more would be easy stopping there en route
to the other eastern Oregon counties while coming or going, so headed
west on I-84. About a half mile before reaching Multnomah County a
PILEATED WOODPECKER flew across the road right in front of me, so
that was a nice way to leave the county.

Next up: I hear next weekend is supposed to be a scorcher, so I might
head to Curry where it won't be so bad.


  • Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2015 21:35:17 +0000

Hi All,
Continuing my effort toward 100 species in each county, I headed over toward
Wasco Co late Saturday. I reached the western part of the county at
Frog Lake just SE of Mt Hood where I listed HERMIT WARBLER, STELLAR'S
JAY, BALD EAGLE, JUNCO and SPOTTED SANDPIPER. My plan was to bird my
way to Tygh Valley and find a place to camp, re-work Wasco back up
into Mt Hood County for the rest of Sunday.
When I came out of the mountains onto the prairie in Wasco County, I started filling out the list
with species along the road that I needed (I was just over 70 for the
county before resuming efforts) and so added stuff like: SAY'S
PHOEBE, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, BULLOCKS ORIOLE. It was hot and windy making birding slow, so I headed north toward Tygh Valley, but stopped
first along Juniper Flat Rd for some curlews Chuck Gates told me of,
but they were a no show. Upon reaching Tygh Valley I took a Right on
certain road, the name of which I cannot remember,  and found an EASTERN KINGBIRD, which may be among the better birds of the trip. Then I headed along the White River west stopping here and there adding: DOWNY WP, WESTERN TANAGER, PEWEE, TREE SWALLOW, CLIFF SWALLOW, LEWIS WP. I then headed west into the Mt Hood Nat Forest to camp for the night, adding CHIPPING SPARROW along the way.  A few nighthawks were more or less expected.

In the morning the chipping sparrows were all over, as well as one DUSKY
FC. On the way back to Tygh valley I found a PYGMY OWL, ROCK WREN,
PRAIRIE FALCON. Around town I found KINGFISHER, BANK SWALLOW,
PHEASANT, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, WOOD DUCK (with young), ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, and SNIPE.

Back at Juniper Flat Rd 2 LONG-BILLED CURLEWS put in a nice show, as well as did a
HORNED LARK. Around the corner from there were a pair of PRAIRIE
FALCONS, and just after that was a canyon off to the right where I
found CANYON WREN, LAZULI BUNTING AND ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER. Further along I
came to a (the?) TRI-COLORERED BLACKBIRD colony. Not being familiar with their call/song, I found it to be more like a Yellow-headed Blackbird than a Red-winged Blackbird.
Then in Pine Grove I took a side street Chuck mentioned and found CALLIOPE,
RUFOUS and BLACK-CHINNED HUMMER all at one feeder, and in the general area were  WESTERN BLUEBIRD, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, CASSIN'S VIREO, PURPLE FINCH and PINE SISKIN. Since I was now just over 100, I headed back into the
mountains toward Hood River County.
I had more work to do there only having 50 on my Hood River County list (but that
list includes smew and black duck from that distant past). Starting
near Bennet Pass I found HAIRY WOODPECKER, HERMIT and TOWNSENDS WABLERS,
and on a side road maybe a mile from the summit found: VAUX SWIFT, OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, GRAY JAY, JUNCO,
CHESTNUT-SIDED CHICKADEE, VG SWALLOW, AND A WARBLING VIREO which
seemed kind of high up for them. At Mt Hood Meadows parking lot
were: CEDAR WAXING, LAZULI BUNTINGS, a pair of WILLIAMSON'S
SAPSUCKERS nesting, LINCOLN'S SPARROW, RUFOUS HUMMER, CHIPPING
SPARROW, SPOTTED TOWHEE, VAUX SWIFT, TREE SWALLOW, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, RED TAILED HAWK, EVENING GROSBEAK, SISKIN. I slowly worked my way lower in elevation, stopping at Nottingham Campground where I found MACGILVRAY'S WARBLER, SPOTTED SANDPIPER, STELLAR'S JAY, and probably the best find for the day was a female HARLEQUIN DUCK with 5 young.
In and around Parkdale I located RB SAPSUCKER, BULLOCKS ORIOLE, AMERICAN
GOLDFINCH, WILLOW FLYCATCHER, CALIFORNIA QUAIL. I decided to go to Lost Lake and
listed COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, HOUSE WREN, HERMIT THRUSH, and WILSON'S WARBLER along the way. 

When I reached the town of Hood River I had 94, and figured it might not be too hard to find some ducks and and other water associated birds along the waterfront, but it turned out there were far more people there than birds, even
starlings. A bit of advice: don't go to the Hood River waterfront
looking for birds on a windy Sunday afternoon as there will be
multitudes of wind surfers, kayakers, paddle boarders and the like.
I figured picking up a few more would be easy stopping there en route
to the other eastern Oregon counties while coming or going, so headed
west on I-84. About a half mile before reaching Multnomah County a
PILEATED WOODPECKER flew across the road right in front of me, so
that was a nice way to leave the county.
Next up: I hear next weekend is supposed to be a scorcher, so I might
head to Curry where it won't be so bad.

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