Epic Summer Trip Part III: Elk Meadows

On day 3 I got greedy. I thought I should have seen more by this point. Where were the owls? Where were the Gray Catbirds? As I drove east and into the heat of the day, I stubbornly watched that small window of summer birding opportunity close. Nevertheless, I passed through gorgeous canyon scenery, laden with oaks and fir along the Klickitat River.

While driving along the Glenwood Hwy, I spotted a snake in the middle of the lane! It retracted like a slinky, while I cringed unable to avoid driving over it. Hoping it wasn’t flattened, I pulled over to check, as two more cars drove by also just barely missing it.

Luckily, it survived crossing the highway intact. The Western Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus) slithered along confidently (as it should) while my jaw dropped in awe of this impressive creature.

So cool. I’m happy I didn’t kill it (or find it while hiking or camping). It’s the first rattler I’ve seen in the wild in the Pacific NW. Or anywhere.

After this, with no solid plan in mind I called home to see how hot it was in the house. 92 degrees? Gross. I continued along, aiming for higher (cooler) elevation. Since it was a Sunday (so possibly less crowded), I decided on Elk Meadows, a 5-mile round trip hike in the SE shadow of Mt Hood and a backpacking destination I’ve been meaning to check out for a while now.

It was perfect except for one super sketchy stream crossing, where I managed to lose two (and recover one) water bottles.

Other than that unfortunate experience, it was a relatively tame and gorgeous hike to the camping spot.

Along the trail, there were some exciting birdy surprises. Like a flock of normally cute, now not-so-cute, scruffy, molting Golden Crowned Kinglets.

The best surprise, and winner for causing the highest spike in adrenaline while attempting to take a clear photograph, was this Nashville Warbler! Note the full eye-ring, gray hood, yellow throat, breast, and belly. So sweet and a cool find.

At the campsite, opportunistic Gray Jays visited with or without (“accidentally”) spilled and crumbled pretzels. Ethics, eh-hem.

A few youngins stopped by too.

One grey bird that puzzled me was this one.

That was until it turned around and showed me its yellow-rumped bum. Of course, Yellow-rumped Warbler.

While leaving the campsite, I finally got a photo of the sparrow I’d seen on an off in the meadow. Buffy eye-ring, breast streaks, small bill, it’s a Lincoln’s Sparrow! The setting fits too, as Cornell’s All About Birds states: “A drab, but handsome bird of boggy areas.” I’d say so.

Elk Meadow is positively serene. Babbling brooks and bird songs audible from camping spots, deer wandering out munching on grass in the meadow after sunset, oh yeah, and the sun sets behind Mt. Hood. Be still my emotions.

Wait for it. Then in the morning, the sun rises and the mountain lights up. Not a bad place to spend a night or two- and in the mean time watch the birds!

And on the way out? Plump huckleberries!

Epic. Thanks for reading!

Tweets and chirps,

Audrey

Cottonwood Canyon State Park

Original weekend plans for Indian Heaven Wilderness thwarted by rain, my boyfriend and I headed east instead to explore a new state park, celebrate our 50th monthiversary, and see what birds we could find!

The rugged, dry-side Cottonwood Canyon State Park, established recently in 2013, is rich in sagebrush, wildlife, stunning canyon views, and plenty of open space to explore at over 8,000 acres making it the second largest state park in Oregon (after Silver Falls). Only a 2-hour drive from Portland it’s equipped with primitive campsites, but we opted for backpacking and solitude from civilization.

With our packs suited up, we headed out. We chose a campsite along the John Day River with a large basalt canyon on one side, and sagebrush filled hills on the other. Sweet spot!

I considered changing this blog’s title to: “Chasing Meadowlarks.” Because that’s how I spent much of my time. They were everywhere! And nowhere…sneaky birds were easy to hear, hard to see. What bird?…Where?

Ohhhh….there it is.

The bird’s yellow markings blend in nicely with the flowers in bloom.

It was neat to wake up in camp listening to their captivating calls. More than meadowlarks, I caught glimpses of a few new birds too! I had a hard time wrapping my head around some of these, seeing new birds can be a stunning experience.

The Loggerhead Shrike! Not to be confused with the Northern Shrike. The loggerhead has a broader mask, stubby bill without obvious hook, and is darker grey on top than the Northern Shrike (my photo is a bit overexposed). Northern Shrike are also rarer in this region.

The Say’s Pheobe was a cool sighting, the bird hovered in the wind above the branch a couple of times before quickly flying away. Lacking confidence ID-ing this bird on my own, I conferred with WhatBird and folks weighed in noting the “coloration on the undersides of the bird – the uniformity and distribution of this rufousy-brown color is a very good field mark for Say’s Phoebe.” Field guides also mention it “wags its tail when perched” which I hadn’t known to look for before, but I do now!

I figured out the Townsend’s Solitaire on my own. A type of thrush, in the family Turdidae. The long and slim TOSO has a drab grey color overall, but a distinctive white eye-ring that really stands out. Also, Sibley mentions, “in winter almost always found among juniper trees.” Indeed, that’s precisely where it perched.

I watched it for a while as it swirled around the juniper catching insects in the air.

Another bird I braved to ID on my own was this little brown fella. The lack of belly streaks ruled out most of my guesses (Savannah Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow), not much stands out. Then I read on Cornell about the “bird without a field mark,” the Brewer’s Sparrow, and it seems to fit. Another clue is the habitat, “notable for their reliance on sagebrush breeding habitat” and “most abundant bird across the vast sagebrush steppe” sealed the deal for me. I’m curious about this bird’s bill, it seems to be a bit crossed.

Other cool bird sightings:

Killdeer- see the red eye-ring?

Killdeer

Red-winged Blackbird

Black-billed Magpie

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

How curious!

A goose nest in the cliff!

Canada Geese?

Bewick’s Wren

Umm…eagle?

Mourning Cloak Butterfly

I had hoped to possibly see a Golden Eagle, Prairie Falcon, or perhaps resident upland gamebirds, the Chukar Partridge or Ring-necked Pheasant, (or bighorn sheep!) but no such luck. According to Wiki, the Bullock’s Oriole and Lazuli Bunting are summer visitors to the park, but the searing summer heat will probably keep me away. All in all it was a great trip!

And wouldn’t you know it, I got the best view (and photos) of the Western Meadowlark on the drive back when we stopped by Marryhill Stonehenge, in Washington.

I’ve almost seen 100 bird species this year!

Tweets and chirps,

Audrey

Whitaker Ponds Nature Park II

I made a quick visit to Whitaker Ponds yesterday morning since it is so close to home. The park was foggy, but there were plenty of birds to see.

One in particular, with a lovely song, that I have only encountered by sound this year until now. Their classic conk-la-ree! song reminds me of summer days in the South though they are common all across North America. Walking around the pond, I finally laid eyes on the beautiful Red-winged Blackbird, perched as it was on a not-so-beautiful piece of industrial machinery:

I also came across an unfamiliar species swimming in the pond:

Thanks for standing still! (Ring-neck in the background)

These lovely ladies are Common Mergansers; large diving ducks with orange-red bills, chestnut-colored heads with a white chin and neck (which distinguishes them from the Red-breasted Merganser).

 Other cool sightings:

Brown Creeper

Puffed up Northern Flicker

Downy Woodpecker

Bald Eagle (fanning its wings?)

Common Goldeneye

Gadwall – I recognized this species from the Audubon outting!

Golden-crowned Kinglet; look at that fiery head!

Golden-crowned Kinglet rear

Hooded Merganser

Red-tailed Hawk

Anna’s Hummingbird

Anna’s Hummingbird

And just for fun, a video of an Anna’s Hummingbird:

Enjoy!

Audrey

 

Whitaker Ponds Nature Park

Barely 48 hours after my Smith and Bybee trip, I took the short trip to Whitaker Ponds Nature Park to see what kind of birds I could find there. The park is about 10 minutes from my house, so close that I may make regular visits to see what waterfowl are “diving” or “dabbling” there.

Map credits: http://columbiaslough.org/index.php/recreational_guides/maps/

I saw what I’m learning are the usual suspects for this region: Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Downy Woodpecker, Anna’s Hummingbird, Song Sparrow, Stellar’s Jay, and (my current favorite bird) the Golden-crowned Kinglet. Also seen: Bewick’s Wren, Great Egret, Canada Geese*, and Hooded Merganser – stunning!

*Canada Goose or Canadian Goose?
The correct term is Canada Goose, based on the Latin, Branta canadensis, “Goose of Canada,” but Canadian is sometimes used colloquially. I’ll stick to the more scientific Canada Goose/Geese. These birds were named as such since they were often seen flying towards Canada and residing there though they are common and widespread in North America (Sibley).

Canada Geese on a log

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Great Egret

Hooded Merganser

Hooded Merganser (male and female)

An exciting new species I can add to the list is this beauty:

A closer view

She has a dark head, mostly dark bill tipped with a dull yellow. I was perplexed and wasn’t confident of the species. I did some some research and found a great online resource, a forum called whatbird.com that will aid in the identification of a bird from the online community. So I signed up, posted, and it worked! My educated guess was confirmed, it’s a female Common Goldeneye!

Total species to add: 3

Hooded Merganser Common Goldeneye Canada Goose

Tweets and chirps,

Audrey

 

Smith and Bybee Wetlands

This past Saturday I visited Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area “the largest protected wetland within an American city.” It is a great spot for biking (40-mile loop!) or paddling a kayak or canoe when water levels are agreeable. This day I traveled by foot along the Interlakes Trail.

I took the chance of birding despite the rain and I’m glad I did. It cleared up some and I had  the park to myself in the wee early hours. I witnessed shy Black-Tailed Deer and plenty of birds. Upon entering I was immediately greeted by a Brown Creeper- which is a good thing! The Brown Creeper (Certhia americana) is the only member of the treecreeper family (Certhiidae) in North America.

This quote describes the bird’s marvelous camouflage, by Naturalist, W.M. Tyler:

“The Brown Creeper, as he hitches along the bole of a tree, looks like a fragment of detached bark that is defying the law of gravitation by moving upward over the trunk, and as he flies off to another tree he resembles a little dry leaf blown about by the wind.”

It’s true, they aren’t always easy to spot. Another unique moment occurred later that morning. All was quiet, then it turned “bird o’clock” and in the next minute scattered in front of me was a flock that included Black-capped Chickadees, a Bewick’s Wren, Varied Thrush, and (what I later figured out were) Golden-crowned Kinglets- it was a spectacular sight!

Golden-crowned Kinglets are adorable, if somewhat spazzy. My best shots:

On the ground

Facing away

The “golden crown” clearly visible here

Of all my blurry shots, this one turned out best

Other sightings: Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Mallards, Bald Eagle, Great Blue Heron, Northern Shovelers, Song Sparrows, and I caught a glimpse of both a male and female Downy Woodpecker (female lacks the “red head”):

Female Downy on the tree

Male Downy on the ground

And I can add two new species to my list thanks to these American Coots, and Ring-necked Ducks!

American Coots

American Coots

Ring-necked Ducks

Ring-necked Ducks

Though damp, all in all it was a very rewarding trip!

Side Note: Upon writing the “sightings list” above I realized I hadn’t considered whether I should capitalize bird names or not…so I Googled and came up with this useful blog post on the topic. After reading, I decided to capitalize, otherwise, as one commenter mentioned, “If you don’t capitalize common names, how are you going to tell a brown jay (a muddy Blue Jay) from a Brown Jay (a bird found in Mexico)?” Good point.

New species to add to my list: 2
American Coot
Ring-necked duck

Tweets and chirps,

Audrey