After an early dinner our Napa-Solano Audubon group headed back up into the Cascades. Around 4000′ elevation we pulled off the road to let local speedsters drive past. Right where we pulled off was a pair of Mountain Quail. Not a bird we had seen earlier, and not one I had expected right along the highway. We spent some time admiring Green-tailed Towhee at one of their selected meadows. Then we got to watch a Great Gray at the same meadow where we’d seen one last night. It was our third GGO encounter in 25 hours.
Howard Prairie Circuit, Jackson, Oregon, US May 11, 2024 16 species
Canada Goose X Mountain Quail 2 Cooper’s Hawk 1 Great Gray Owl 1 Red-breasted Sapsucker X Hairy Woodpecker X Common Raven X Townsend’s Solitaire X Hermit Thrush X American Robin X House Sparrow X Chipping Sparrow X Dark-eyed Junco X Vesper Sparrow X Green-tailed Towhee X Yellow-rumped Warbler x
Our Napa-Solano Audubon field trip saw a few migratory birds on IMBD: cranes, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Yellow Warbler, Hammond’s Flycatcher, various swallows, Vesper Sparrow, Hermit Warbler, yellow-rump, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Sora, Western Kingbird, Western Tanager, Bullock’s Oriole, Cassin’s and Warbling Vireo.
We saw nesting actitivity by White-headed Woodpecker, both bluebird species, juncos, Mountain Chickadee, Cliff Swallows, Osprey, Tree Swallows, Red-breasted Nuthatch. These we saw actually hauling mouthfuls of sawdust from their cavity and spitting it onto the ground. No sign of cormorants trying to nest at Hyatt Lake, whence they were expugned by the fishless drought. Fish are back but few cormorants to harvest them. Many hominid fishers, however.
Mammals so far: small bat, least chipmunk, Cal. ground squirrel, deer. Also: fence lizards and chorus frogs. It is morrel season in the forest, and we found trillium, violets and buttercups in bloom.
Howard Prairie Circuit, Jackson, Oregon, US May 11, 2024 71 species
Canada Goose X Mallard X Ring-necked Duck 1 Common Merganser X Western Grebe X Clark’s Grebe X Virginia Rail X Sora X Sandhill Crane 4 Spotted Sandpiper 2 Ring-billed Gull 10 Caspian Tern 1 Double-crested Cormorant 2 Great Blue Heron 2 Turkey Vulture X Osprey X Bald Eagle 1 Red-tailed Hawk X Great Gray Owl 1 Red-breasted Sapsucker 3 Lewis’s Woodpecker 4 Acorn Woodpecker X Hairy Woodpecker X White-headed Woodpecker 2 Pileated Woodpecker X Northern Flicker X Hammond’s Flycatcher X Western Kingbird X Cassin’s Vireo X Warbling Vireo X Steller’s Jay X California Scrub-Jay X American Crow X Common Raven X Mountain Chickadee X Tree Swallow X Northern Rough-winged Swallow X Cliff Swallow X Golden-crowned Kinglet X Red-breasted Nuthatch X House Wren 1 European Starling X Western Bluebird X Mountain Bluebird X Townsend’s Solitaire X American Robin X House Sparrow X Evening Grosbeak X Purple Finch X Cassin’s Finch X Pine Siskin X American Goldfinch X Chipping Sparrow X Dark-eyed Junco X Vesper Sparrow X Song Sparrow X Lincoln’s Sparrow X Western Meadowlark X Red-winged Blackbird X Brown-headed Cowbird X Brewer’s Blackbird X Bullock’s Oriole X Common Yellowthroat X Yellow Warbler X Yellow-rumped Warbler X Black-throated Gray Warbler X Townsend’s Warbler X Hermit Warbler X Western Tanager X Black-headed Grosbeak X Lazuli Bunting X
Aurora borealis, Sequim, WA, courtesy of Peter Thiemann:
This day began at a building outside Ashland where the owner had installed a Barn Owl box…and the owls responded by using it. There were five juvenile owlets. A state Fish & Widlife biologist was going to band at leasst the larger ones.
Later today I had dinner with the group of birders from Napa-Solano Audubon. They had arrived for a two-day Great Gray Owl expedition. During dinner I explained evening was often the best time. Can we go up after dinner? One asked. Sure, I said, this is you trip. About half the group came along. We arrived at the right meadow about five minutes before sunset. A Great Gray was already atop a post, hunting. The bird flew from one post to another to another perch. Then, to the ground, and back up with a vole in its beak. Then it flew into the dense forest nearby.
Howard Prairie Circuit, Jackson, Oregon, US May 10, 2024 Checklist Comments: 2 visits–morning and evening 35 species
Canada Goose X Mallard X Common Merganser 2 Mourning Dove X Sandhill Crane 2 Great Blue Heron 1 Turkey Vulture X Bald Eagle X Red-tailed Hawk X Great Gray Owl 1 around 815PM Northern Flicker X Warbling Vireo 1 Steller’s Jay X California Scrub-Jay X American Crow X Common Raven X Mountain Chickadee X Tree Swallow X White-breasted Nuthatch X Red-breasted Nuthatch X House Wren 1 European Starling X Western Bluebird X Hermit Thrush X American Robin X Chipping Sparrow X Dark-eyed Junco X Song Sparrow X Green-tailed Towhee 4 Western Meadowlark X Red-winged Blackbird X Brewer’s Blackbird X Orange-crowned Warbler X Nashville Warbler X Yellow Warbler X
This morning I got to lead a field trip for KSWild. We went up into the Cascades hoping for a glance at a Great Gray Owl. They refused to appear but there was bird action aplenty. Acorn Woodpeckers in the oaks at lower elevation before the conifers take out. Nashville Warbler at MP13 along Dead Indian Memorial Road (Latzawa Road). Sandhill Crane couple at north end of Keno Access Road. Vesper Sparrow at Lily Glen. Osprey over Vesper Meadow, and meadowlarks singing thetre, unseen. Tree Swallows sruising the grasslands. Bald Eagles over the south end of Howard Prairie Lake, accosted by an indignent ravern. A Caspian Tern fishing the lakeshore. A cormorant afloat mid-lake.
Vesper Meadow coyote:
Howard Prairie Circuit, Jackson, Oregon, US May 9, 2024 28 species
Canada Goose X Mallard X Sandhill Crane 2 Killdeer 1 Caspian Tern 1 Double-crested Cormorant 1 Turkey Vulture X Osprey 1 Bald Eagle 2 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Acorn Woodpecker X Northern Flicker X California Scrub-Jay X American Crow X Common Raven X Mountain Chickadee X Tree Swallow X Barn Swallow X Red-breasted Nuthatch X European Starling X American Robin X Purple Finch X Dark-eyed Junco X Vesper Sparrow X Western Meadowlark X Red-winged Blackbird X Brewer’s Blackbird X Nashville Warbler X
BEAR CREEK VALLEY
The cowbird at the feeder was in Ashland’s North Mountain Park. So were deer and bunny The male red-wing was one of many making noise and displaying at Ashland Pond. Also there, a pair of Green Heron, and ducklings of the Mallard and Wood Duck flavor…plus goslings.
Ashland Pond, Jackson, Oregon, US May 9, 2024 21 species
Canada Goose 8 6 goslingz Wood Duck 11 6 ducklings Mallard 10 5 ducklings Band-tailed Pigeon 4 Mourning Dove 2 Anna’s Hummingbird 1 Green Heron 2 Great Blue Heron 1 Turkey Vulture X Acorn Woodpecker 5 California Scrub-Jay 8 American Crow 2 Common Raven 1 Tree Swallow X Violet-green Swallow X Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1 Cliff Swallow X European Starling X American Goldfinch 3 Song Sparrow 4 Red-winged Blackbird 20
It was an ordinary May day to drive from Salem to Ashland. Lots of trucks, no trouble. Good lunch from SOCO in Myrtle Creek. Then when I got to Jackson County, the birds got in my face…my eyes…my lens…my ears. My, oh my.
The Pioneer cemetery at Emigrant Lake was alive. Western Bluebirds in their two-door nest box. WB Nuthatches constantly at work, ditto the yellow-rumps. A flock of Lesser Goldfinch eating weed seed. Canada Geese along the lakeshore with at least 22 goslings of various ages. A dozen Clark’s Grebes and one Ring-billed Gull on the water. Just north of the cemetery is an ordinary-looking hillside facing the lake. Unmowed grass, topped by the blooms of purple vetch. Scattered, mature white oaks, some shrubs. Looks ordinary. This afternoon it was fly-catching and flycatchers–four species to be exact. Each was first-of-the-year for me. Wood-pewee and Ash-throated will nest nearby. Pacific-Slope and Willow were just there for the food. A gazillion tiny insects seemed to be there for the vetch blooms. To add to the aerial activities: at least five Wilson’s Warblers and uncoun table numbers of yellow-rumps also grabbing insects in flight. The Wilson’s stayed near gound and on lower branches. The yellow-rumps and wood-pewee opted for top perches before flying another sortie.
The two flycatchers that posed: ash-throated, wood-pewee.
Two Wilson’s Warblers returning to their bush after a fly-catching sortie:
Amidst all this predation, along came a Lark Sparrow, another first for me in 2024:
Up Hwy 66, at Milepost 10, the over-wintering Lewis’s Woodpeckers are still there (leaving soon):
Emigrant Lake, Jackson, Oregon, US May 8, 2024 29 species
Canada Goose 40 at least 22 goslings Mallard X Clark’s Grebe 12 Anna’s Hummingbird 1 Ring-billed Gull 1 Turkey Vulture 10 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Great Horned Owl 1 Acorn Woodpecker X Northern Flicker X Western Wood-Pewee 1 Willow Flycatcher 1 Western Flycatcher 1 Ash-throated Flycatcher 1 California Scrub-Jay 4 American Crow 1 Common Raven 1 Tree Swallow X Barn Swallow X Cliff Swallow X White-breasted Nuthatch 2 European Starling X Western Bluebird 2 nesting in Pioneer Cemetery Lesser Goldfinch 25 Lark Sparrow 1 Bullock’s Oriole 3 Brewer’s Blackbird X Yellow-rumped Warbler 10 Wilson’s Warbler 4
Between rains today the birds were very busy in our garden. At one point four BH Grosbeaks gathered on or near a hanging feeder. They were not sedate, nor still, so I could not get all of them in a single frame. The female was my first of her gender this year. Some species seem to migrate in segregated flocks, mostly one gender or even one age (adults OR juvies). It could be she’s a new arrival. The guys have been hangin’ around all this month.
Those last two shots compare her size with that of a House Finch, the latter already being 50% more than the bulk of the persisting siskins. In past years–when there are siskins–they have lingered through May, with even sporadic sightings here in June. Here’s the only shot I could muster of a fluttering, flighty OC Warbler:
Today was our birdiest in some time, more species than we’ve been getting since several of our wintering birds departed (sparrows, Varied Thrush, Townsend’s Warbler). On this towhee notice how worn the ends of the tail feathers:
These gorbeaks are in the cardinal family, found around the globe. Some gross beaking:
954 Ratcliff Drive SE, Marion, Oregon, US May 7, 2024 15 species
Wild Turkey X heard only Mourning Dove 6 Downy Woodpecker 1 Steller’s Jay X California Scrub-Jay X American Crow X Chestnut-backed Chickadee 1 Bushtit X Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 House Finch X Pine Siskin X American Goldfinch X Spotted Towhee 1 Orange-crowned Warbler 1 Black-headed Grosbeak 4
Just after 5PM today a quartet of turkeys showed up to dine. Two young males, two females, perhaps 4 siblings. Been weeks since we had more than 3 turkeys here at one time.
When the sun came out, so did the grosbeak, first year male says that orange line beneath his crown of black.
A few words from Marty: “We thought the trip was very successful though we were a little early for migrating warblers and shorebirds. Our stops included Summer Lake, Malheur, and Sylvie’s Valley on the way to the Wallowas. My daughter lives near[by]. We stayed there for a few days and then went to John Day, Fort Rock, Cabin Lake, and Summer Lake on the way home. We probably saw 80 or more species. In general in Malheur the Patrol Rd was quiet, but Ruh Red Rd and the wetlands out there made up for it. The flooded fields around Burns were also good. Sylvie’s had a scattering of birds and Poison Reservoir had some ducks. A few raptors were around and a Kingbird at the school pullout. Lots of raptors, some nesting GHOs (3 nests), RTHA, SWHA and a bunch of passerines on the Zumwalt. Summer Lake has plenty of water and a very good collection and assortment of birds (ducks, sora, rail, raptors, Forster’s and Caspian terns. Fort Rock is reliable for Rock and Canyon Wrens, thrasher, White-throated Swifts, a tussle between a Golden Eagle and Prairie Falcon (we found the Golden Eagle nest), and more. Cabin Lake with its Clarks Nutcrackers, Pinyon Jays, Woodpeckers, Pygmy Nuthatch, Loggerhead Shrike, and more is always a treat, though a very dusty drive. We made a few other stops along the way.”
The finches and flowers ignore the rain, so do the crows. There is a single White-crowned Sparrow in our garden for the second straight day. Not here for long, I’m sure.
Bushtit nest, perhaps one from last year refurbished. Killdeer. Tree Swallow seemingly gathering nest material. All at Minto-Brown:
BIG BIRDS ALOFT: Osprey, kettle of TVs
My friend and former colleague, John Moczulski, took this photo out his window in Nipomo, California. Young baldy:
Al;bert Ryckman’s brilliant photo of airborne bittern, Talking Waters:
SOME BOTANY:
Bright green leaves of spring. Dark leaves are the ones that overr-wintered and now being shed. Guess that means the madrone is a deciduous evergreen, right?
Towheeblog 