Grand Island - Yamhill County

July 05, 2021  •  Leave a Comment
Stirred into action to visit Grand Island in Yamhill count by recent reports of uncommon birds there now and rarities discovered in the past; Jill, Remy, and I made our inaugural visit late this morning. If you want to develop your ability to bird by ear, you will be delighted by a visit to Grand Island. The only ambient noise is birds - which is...
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Deschutes River State Recreation Area

January 19, 2021  •  2 Comments
My search for the Northern Saw-whet Owl (NSWO) at the Deschutes River State Recreation Area ended well because of information provided by a park ranger and then later by two other birders who ultimately spotted the little guy while I was hiking the canyon trails with Remy. But for the text message I received from them, I may have dipped on this spe...
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Polk County GYRFALCON

November 23, 2020  •  1 Comment
On 6 November 2020, Roy Gerig spotted a GRYFALCON at the top of a fir tree next to a country road in Polk County, Oregon. Being a species known to flush as a result of human activity as far away as a thousand yards, my guess is few people who chased this bird dreamed it would present multiple opportunities for close observation. Many folks had view...
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Central Oregon Hotspot - Whiskey Springs Then and Now

October 26, 2020  •  1 Comment
Whiskey Springs was an enchanting birding hotspot in c. Oregon that attracted birders seasonally from far and wide. The foliage was so dense that photography was actually challenging regardless of the time of day or cloud cover. It was one of the few places I could sit for hours to wait and see what might show up to drink from the trough that was o...
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Suttle Lake - Easy to Enjoy - Often Overlooked

October 26, 2020  •  4 Comments
At one and a half miles long and half a mile wide, the lake's well-maintained lakeshore trail makes for an easy and interesting four-mile walk just about any time of year. With an average depth of about 50 feet, [it] regularly attracts a nice variety of vagrant sea-birds which always impress whenever present. The lake is located five miles east of...
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Black Butte Swamp Veery

July 17, 2020  •  Leave a Comment
I believe Stephan Schlick was the first to report a Veery singing and calling in the area known as Black Butte Swamp in Deschutes county, Oregon on June 11th. Shortly after that, a lot of people were able to get great views and photographs of one or more Veery. I located a pair of Veery along the edge of the swamp on June 19th; then, on July 9th, I...
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River Island Natural Area Bank Swallow Colony - Take 2

May 29, 2020  •  Leave a Comment
Recent online discussions about swallows got me thinking I should go back and check on a colony of Bank Swallows that I was introduced to in 2014 by Bill Evans. Bill conducted point-counts for Metro along the Clackamas River for many years before his untimely death in 2018. He urged me to learn to bird by ear and used the Willow Flycatcher as a nat...
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Western Meadowlark: Habitat - How Much is Enough

November 10, 2019  •  Leave a Comment
A persistent flock of eight to ten Western Meadowlark along the Clackamette Cove and River Access Trail in Oregon City recently sparked my curiosity about the habitat needs of this species. I usually find meadowlarks there in an area just three acres in size and less frequently in an adjacent sparsely covered site of about five acres. It wasn't unt...
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Fryrear Canyon - A Protected Nesting Area for Birds of Prey

November 05, 2019  •  Leave a Comment
KTZV.com reported on 24 January 2017 that the Bureau of Land Management Prineville District started implementing a series of annual wildlife closures to protect several species of birds of prey during sensitive nesting periods. Included among the closures is Fryrear Canyon located 6 miles southeast of Sisters Oregon which we first visited on new ye...
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Lincoln Sparrow Lost Lake Linn Co. Oregon

July 05, 2019  •  Leave a Comment
Lost Lake is located in closed-basin on the western slope of the Cascade mountain range at an elevation of 3,983 feet. The closed-basin is approximately 100 acres in size, the lake itself occupies about half of that area during peak seasonal water levels. The lake empties in the summer when stream inflows slow and no longer keep up with or ahead of...
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Big Meadow Black Butte Ranch

May 25, 2019  •  Leave a Comment
There was a wonderful assortment of birds this morning on Black Butte Ranch. WILSON'S SNIPE, WILSON'S PHALAROPE, WILSON'S WARBLER, YELLOW WARBLER, WILLOW FLYCATCHER and another EMPIDONAX sp. were among the most cooperative. BARN SWALLOW: YELLOW WARBLER: FEMALE YELLOW WARBLER: WILSON'S WARBLER: WILSON'S PHALAROPE: WILSON'S SNIPE: Th...
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A Walk Through Camassia Natural Area

May 03, 2019  •  3 Comments
The Nature Conservancy's first purchase in Oregon in 1963 speaks to the unique nature of this rocky plateau in West Linn, Oregon. The site's namesake, the common camas lily, blooms here abundantly for a few weeks each spring, and if you are lucky - the peak bloom will coincide with the arrival of a large variety of breeding songbirds. The headli...
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Eastern Bluebirds - Multnomah County, Oregon

December 09, 2018  •  1 Comment
On 25 November 2018, Eric Carlson found a pair of Eastern Bluebirds in the middle of a now long-defunct golf driving range that my younger brother and I used in the late 80's to practice our swings. This was the first record of the species on the West Coast of the United States according to the eBird database, and if we are going to split hairs, i...
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Fernhill Park - Great Horned Owl

November 16, 2018  •  1 Comment
I canceled lunch with a friend this morning after waking up with a nasty cold, then I scanned the online forum for birders in Oregon (OBOL) and was jolted into action by what I interpreted as a report of a Long-Eared Owl in a park just twenty miles from home. I struck out or dipped as birders say on what would have been my first encounter with a L...
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A Great Day on the Ranch

October 20, 2018  •  1 Comment
I caught a glimpse of what I thought might be a Great Gray Owl while we were on one of our favorite walks at Black Butte Ranch on 4 October 2018. Today we repeated that walk but kept our border collie, Remy, close as we approached the area where I thought she flushed a large gray bird sixteen days earlier. It was a strategy that paid off! This has...
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