Birding – Page 3

August 14, 2022August 13, 2022

Take a Seat

A mourning dove flutters from tree to tree

“Hurry-up” is programmed into our lives … but what’s the rush? At this point, we’re in a reset, rather than retirement.

No longer in a rush, it’s possible to see details once missed, overlooked, even forgotten … details that make a difference.

The flow of a stream stirs the surroundings. Walk up to the river and you’ll find an abundance of green growth at the base of a hill or canyon. Beautiful sights, but just a facade.

Take a seat on the edge of that river and a whole world will emerge. The river isn’t just motion, it’s a life force. Just a few quiet moments will reveal the extent of life being supported by this high desert waterway.

The fisherman will run a hand over tall grasses at river’s edge, or turn a submerged stone to coax insects out of hiding. Before stepping into the current, a scan will reveal where fish are holding and feeding. A few steps off the bank, and you’re engulfed in water sounds.

Camera in hand, a chair tucked behind a row of tall thistle, you’re in a perfect blind to watch as blossoms come alive with butterflies. The foliage also obscures you from the birds hopping about in the juniper branches or feeding from the water’s edge.

A Canada Goose acts as sentinel over this year’s goslings.

There are waterfowl as well, and today a flock of Canada Geese are spending their day foraging underwater plants.

An osprey plucks a fish from the water and alights at the top of a snag to enjoy her lunch.

When we first pull up to the river there is a burst of activity. Cooler and camp chairs are set out and fly rods strung.

However, the bulk of our time is spent quietly watching as the river unveils a wealth of life. You just need to take a seat and observe.

May 29, 2022May 28, 2022

Fledgelings

Red-winged blackbird coming in for a landing

This week we headed back out to Summer Lake Wildlife Refuge. There are always some birds that use the refuge as a nesting site. We were hoping to catch images of some babies.

American White Pelican

Summer Lake didn’t disappoint. A trip to the refuge always presents something new. The seasonal changes alone are worth the drive. This visit was no exception.

A Great Horned Owl family, nesting in a willow, seemed as curious about us, as we were them. This owl starts nesting early with both parents sharing in the rearing.

Perched throughout the tree, we sighted four baby Great Horned Owls.

The fledgelings are climbing trees in 5 weeks and fly by the 10th, but are still being fed by parents for several months. Their body is covered in a downy white fluff and lack the pronounced ear tuffs, but have the darker facial disc and yellow eyes.

Great Horned Owls vary in color by region with PNW species having a dusty gray brown tone.

We also happened across a flock of American White Pelicans. Breeding adults have a yellow plate sticking up on the front of their massive bill.

This group included some fledgelings, as southern Oregon is one of the few breeding sites along the migration route.

Several babies were snuggled in amongst this group

These are one of the largest birds in North America. The American White Pelican has white plumage with black flight feathers and has a nine foot wing span.

We also caught sightings of yellow-headed blackbirds staking out breeding territory and foraging. The Stilts were still around in great numbers, though we didn’t see any chicks. As well as the usual pairs of ducks in a variety of species and Canada geese.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

There was also a White-faced Ibis wading and feeding in the short grasses on the edge of a shallow pond.

April 30, 2022May 1, 2022

May Day

Black-necked Stilt at Summer Lake Refuge

It’s the first of May and aside from Maypoles or the Wobblies, we’re hoping it really does mark the start of spring.

Ancient Brits, the Celts actually, celebrated ‘Beltane’ as the return to life and fertility. These festivals didn’t imigrate to the new world, as they were discouraged by the Puritans. However, May Basket Day did, to some degree, and I’ve a faint childhood memory of handformed paper cones filled with flowers, candies and treats, as something my mother did.

April was a record breaking wet month. Good for the rivers, but not so much for our excursions. Weather aside, we have managed a couple of road trips.

A return visit to Summer Lake allowed us to catch up on migrating flocks.

Sandhill Crane

These regular visits have provided us with a wealth of bird pix’s and a much better understanding of what to expect in the lakes. reeds and marsh lands. This trip we made an effort to collect a larger library of sounds to lay under videos.

As always we spent some time on the Crooked River. Levels are coming up which bodes well for better fishing in the future.

However, at the moment, the birds and wildflowers hold most of our attention. At one of our favorite parking sites there was an osprey.

An osprey, perched on an isolated tree, patrols high above the water.

Looking forward to increases in temperatures and more sunny days coming up. The Middle and Lower Deschutes, above Maupin officially opened and the stoneflies are starting to hatch. We also have to make a swing by Spring Basin to check on wildflowers. In all, the summer calendar is filling up.

April 17, 2022April 16, 2022

Winter Redux

We watched this belted kingfisher plunge headfirst into the river, catch a fish, then eat his catch. Brilliant!

It was 79 degrees and sunny at one point last week. We spent a relaxing day sitting on the banks of the Crooked River getting berated by a pair of Canada Geese.

Then this week … it snowed.

Every morning we woke to a couple of inches of fresh snow. We had to break out the snow shovels and they even plowed streets again.

On the bright side, snowpack in the mountains is closer to normal. However, we didn’t attempt any road trips all week. These morning snows would mostly melt away by late afternoon, at least on the roadways. But it brought our adventures to a standstill.

Central Oregon didn’t have as many problems as some western parts of the state … we didn’t lose power or have a bunch of downed trees. I’m sure the skiers were glad to have the season extended.

We are SO ready to shake off winter and jump into spring.

But still, we are ready for spring to come back. Right now, the forecasted week of rain is actually looking good.

March 27, 2022March 26, 2022

The Equinox

This week we marked the first day of spring. The earth has started it’s annual tilt toward our galaxy’s brightest star, making the light part of our day slowly get longer.

The seasonal shift also means there will be increased activity at Summer Lake Wildlife Refuge. That is where we headed on the first of what will be a couple of spring drives to this excellent birding spot.

Fremont Point (right), located west of Summer Lake and Abert Rim (upper left) is south

Over the course of a few months the population at Summer Lake ebbs and flows. various groups of migratory flocks move in, stay a few days, then move on. From late March to May. northern movement is at its peak.

Coots are residents of Summer Lake year round.

Early in the morning you can find a wide variety of birds resting up for their next journey. By midday the migration starts. Conversely, at the end of the day you catch new arrivals settling in.

Trumpeter swans and Canada Geese at Summer Lake Wildlife Refuge

There was enough wind to push clouds of mosquitoes out of our way. A light cloud cover allowed the sun to warm the day to shirtsleeve weather. Perfect conditions for a birding expedition.

These reeds offer good cover for nesting birds.

It’s still early in the season, but Red-winged Blackkbirds have started staking claim to patches of reeds and cat tails along the canals. Trumpeter Swan numbers have grown since January.

We also caught sight of a pair of Sand Hill Cranes and watched flocks of Red-billed Gulls perform aerial acrobatics in the sky overhead.

There are still a large variety of ducks paddling and diving in the ponds. Though this close to the end of hunting season means they’re still rather skittish.

There are a couple of camp sites where you can scan groves of willow and poplar trees for a variety of small birds. This trip we didn’t take the time to do much of that type of counting. Did catch sight of some flickers and followed the flight of some raptors. By the time we headed home we’d noted a couple dozen different bird species.