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July 9, 2023July 8, 2023

The Ochoco and Wildflowers

The Ochoco National Forest runs from the Crooked River Grasslands and west of Prineville to the John Day Fossil Beds, bisected by Highway 26.

In the middle of this beautiful forest is Big Summit Prairie with it’s abundance of wildflower species.

Heavy winter snows and a wetter than normal spring have provided an especially lush understory.

The added moisture likely enhanced this year’s crop of wildflowers scattered throughout numerous open meadows .

We drove a loop; out of Prineville on 26 to USFS 42 and then up into the Ochoco National Forest.

The headwaters of the Crooked River’s North Fork are in these hills.

We don’t get quite that far south, instead we turned east at Walton Lake, around Lookout Mountain and along one side of Big Summit Prairie.

We stopped to picnic at the edge of the prairie and shot more flower pictures.

The forest on this side of 26 (south) is a mix of meadows and second growth pines.

Later in the summer the understory will dry out and the grasses will brown, but today it’s all a lush green.

The Ochoco north of 26 is rock hounding country, still pine trees, but more juniper and the understory is lava outcrops, and cinder cones. That trip involves a very different type of hunt, maybe next week.

We meet back up with 26 near Ochoco Pass and head back down into Prineville. This network of forest roads will require more exploring, but for today we’ve enjoyed the drive and gotten lots of good images.

July 2, 2023July 1, 2023

Summer Time

We’ve officially moved into summer and Central Oregon weather outlook is sunny and warm. This week we were back on the Crooked River.

Found a nice patch of shade to set up chairs and enjoy the day. The Osprey paid a brief visit, but didn’t pull any fish out of the river.

A Kingfisher dropped by for a bit. Again, obviously hunting, but moved on before pulling any prey out of the water.

American Kestrel, one of the smallest falcons in North America

The highlight of our day was watching American Kestrels soar against the canyon walls . . . occasionally stopping in the tree directly across from us.

Even with all those predators in the sky, I still managed to catch a few fish . . . between malt beverages.

June 25, 2023July 1, 2023

Being Outside

This week we are back on the Crooked River.

We do this a lot . . . visit a location repeatedly throughout the year. For us, it is often the destination, not necessarily the journey.

There are times when exploring a space, looking for something unique, new or just different is the mission.

But that is not this week. This week we’re trying to just get outside.

There are few places as relaxing as a spot next to moving water. It’s still early summer and the days are warm and the camp sites are still relatively empty. Neither of those will be true in a couple of weeks.

The Osprey caught fish . . . I did not.

We spotted an Oriole, which is actually pretty rare around here.

These song birds forage in riparian corridors and mainly eat insects, berries and nectar.

The canyon is painted with yellow balsamroot and wild iris. June is peak wildflower season in the high desert.

Mostly, we sat in camp chairs on the edge of the stream just enjoying being outside.

June 18, 2023June 18, 2023

Along the Marshes

This week we headed over to Summer Lake and birding. The sage plain and hay fields along Route 31 were dressed in a lush green hue. Small patches of snow still clung to the upper edges of Winter Ridge, but the refuge was in full summer regalia.

May and June are great months to be at Summer Lake. You’ll still encounter some migrating birds, but the majority are nesting residents.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Redwinged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds have taken up stations in the cattails lining the canals. offering up a chorus of calls as we drive the dirt roads marking the Marsh’s edge.

This trip never disappoints. There is always some visitor or resident to pose for a picture. Most of the large migratory species have moved north, but a squadron of pelicans is still here.

Most of JQ’s subjects were small residents, some hanging in reeds others dancing along branches.

We’re not expert at this, which is reinforced when a windowed mini-van with birders pulls up to chat.

Occupants are six bespectacaled folk with narrow brimmed boaters. We observed more than one set of Swarovski binoculars on lanyards around their necks. The question … have you seen any Snowy Plovers?

Tip is tucked into the Subaru’s shadow, I’ve got Nikon bios on a Sony camera strap and push the bill of a stained ball cap back to exchange information.

Attempting my most knowledgable voice I name a few sightings, ones I can actually pronounce correctly, then deny seeing a Snowy Plover.

Only …

After the van is gone and we consult the Field Guide, we then realize that wasn’t true.

We HAD actually . . . we had chased a Plover along the road for a few hundred yards.

I was saying something to the effect “stupid little bird… move” as a Snowy Plover (as best as we can tell) was actually hopping off the roadway in front of our car.

In our defense there are a dozen Plover varieties in Sibley’s book, and to that, one really should include Killdeer. Though twice a Plover’s size the Killdeer exhibits similar colors and markings.

Had we known . . . there would be an image of a Snowy Plover.

Alas, we didn’t, but JQ got a lot of great frames and Plovers are now on the list.

June 11, 2023June 16, 2023

Wildflowers

High Desert summers get hot, dry and eventually smokey. We try to take advantage of the days before the sun has beaten the green down to just the river’s edge. This year that seems to be extending into June.

This week’s excursion was full of blossoms and bird song as we were back on the Crooked River. Water levels are down to summer flows, fishing is getting better and the riparian was full of wild flowers and wild life.

There are always field guides for Bird, Wildflower and High Desert Plant identification in the car. We’ve found it’s better to have a printed copy than rely on an internet connection when you’re trying to figure out what that brownish bird is.

JQ discovered an excellent resource when you’re trying to find where the flowers might be blooming. NorthWest Wildflowers (duh!) . . . no, it’s actually a web site that has color coded dots on a map showing when and where flowers are in bloom. From this ‘bloom map’ you’ll see points in Washington, Oregon, Southern BC and Northern California where wildflowers are.

Click on a location and you’ll be presented with a set of directions, an Oregon hikers guide, and a link for plant identification tools starting with the most likely flowers at that spot. All from this one web page . . . very cool.

We don’t plan to leave the field guides at home, but when you’re looking for a spot to explore this is a great site. It takes the guess work out of planning where and when the blooms are. There are still a lot of “early bloom” locations to check out, so we’ve been updating the calendar.