Here is a directly-copied email I sent out to the Oregon listserve a minute ago. It contains the fun sightings I had this past weekend as I explored the Cascade Mountains for the first time, as well as the desert in eastern Oregon (camped out 3 nights straight). I had many lifers, and really just got to soak up the sights/sounds. I hope to see you up at Hawk Ridge in just under two months :) Enjoy the photos.
This first gallery is a sampler of photos I took this weekend in the *Cascade Mountains* and *sage desert* of Oregon. 10 photos in this gallery. Prairie Falcon, Pygmy Nuthatch, American Avocet, Golden Eagle, Black-necked stilt, unknown flycatcher, and more.... http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/mountains_desert_and_more Two weekends ago I visited Fern Ridge (Eugene) and Dorris Ranch (Springfield). The Dorris Ranch Gallery is completely new, and the recent Fern Ridge photos were added to the older gallery. *Dorris Ranch* http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/dorris_ranch Spotted Towhee photo in gallery (favorite of mine) http://www.pbase.com/image/126332870 Violet-green Swallow photo in gallery http://www.pbase.com/image/126332817 *Fern Ridge* (click this first link to view this weekend's first photo, and click "next" to see my most recently added photos, which are always added in the order they were taken) http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/126332764 Immature Pied-billed Grebe, 1/2 submersed http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/126332767<http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/126332764> Gorgeous Red-tailed Hawk http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/126332800 Now for the Weekend sightings! This past weekend I explored the Cascade Mountain range, as well as the desert immediately east of the mountains. To say I was wow-ed is an understatement. The mountains are gorgeous as can be, and the desert is just teeming with beautiful yet subtle colors, and bird life that is just amazing... as with the colors in the sage desert where I was, there were some really stunning colors too! The lime-green moss that grows on trees just glows in the daytime, and the flowers of deep violet and bright yellow are almost like gems. I couldn't help but get a little wordy and poetic for a sec, because of the beauty out there. On friday afternoon I camped out at Waldo Lake, east of Eugene in the Cascades. Beautiful place! After the Gray Jays stole some cheerios that next morning, and having a few land on my hand * Waldo Lake* Spotted Sandpiper 3 Common Nighthawk 1 Gray Jay 6 Common Raven 3 Red-breasted Nuthatch 2 Brown Creeper 1 Swainson's Thrush 2 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 1 Townsend's Warbler 2 I then headed for Fort Rock. This place is amazing! I was hoping to catch a glimpse of a Mountain Lion at one point, since the last one seen there was a few days before I arrived. I saw my first PRAIRIE FALCON, SAGE SPARROW and SAGE THRASHER here!! *Fort Rock* California Quail 1 Turkey Vulture 3 Red-tailed Hawk 2 Ferruginous Hawk 1 Golden Eagle 1 American Kestrel 2 Prairie Falcon 2 Eurasian Collared-Dove 1 White-throated Swift 30 Common Raven 4 Rock Wren 1 Sage Thrasher 1 Brewer's Sparrow 1 Sage Sparrow 1 I arrived at Eastbay Campsite that afternoon (due east of Thompson's Campground. This campsite is also straight south of Silver Lake (just east of the Cascade Mountains, actually on the edge of the sage/scrub desert). This list is of the next morning, birdwatching for 2 hours around the campsite premises and short adjacent paths. I saw my first GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE, MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE and PYGMY NUTHATCH that morning! *Eastbay Campsite* Gadwall 2 American Wigeon 6 Mallard 5 Bufflehead 5 Western Grebe 15 American White Pelican 20 Double-crested Cormorant 1 Great Blue Heron 1 Turkey Vulture 2 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Spotted Sandpiper 3 Ring-billed Gull 3 Caspian Tern 2 Forster's Tern 2 Mourning Dove 2 Common Nighthawk 1 Red-breasted Sapsucker 1 Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 1 Steller's Jay 2 American Crow 2 Common Raven 2 Mountain Chickadee 5 White-breasted Nuthatch 2 Pygmy Nuthatch 8 Brown Creeper 1 American Robin 5 European Starling 2 Cedar Waxwing 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 1 Green-tailed Towhee 1 Spotted Towhee 1 Song Sparrow 1 Red-winged Blackbird 2 Brewer's Blackbird 2 Later that day I went to Summer Lake and drove the wildlife loop. That place is incredible! I took so many photos throughout the loop, and saw my first SNOWY PLOVER (four total)! Also there were handfulls of AMERICAN AVOCETS and BLACK-NECKED STILTS. Many Avocets were sitting on eggs! *Summer Lake* Wood Duck 2 Mallard 10 Cinnamon Teal 6 Pied-billed Grebe 6 Western Grebe 5 American White Pelican 15 Great Blue Heron 2 Great Egret 3 Black-crowned Night-Heron 2 Turkey Vulture 2 Osprey 1 Northern Harrier 1 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Golden Eagle 1 Prairie Falcon 2 Snowy Plover 4 Killdeer 1 Black-necked Stilt 25 American Avocet 20 Greater Yellowlegs 1 Western Sandpiper 1 Least Sandpiper 6 Ring-billed Gull 30 California Gull 100 Caspian Tern 3 Black Tern 12 Forster's Tern 3 Mourning Dove 2 Common Nighthawk 1 Common Raven 2 Tree Swallow 3 Marsh Wren 6 American Robin 3 Cedar Waxwing 1 Common Yellowthroat 8 Red-winged Blackbird 25 Western Meadowlark 1 My last day (monday) I left the campsite by 5:30am, and headed to Kalamath Marsh NWR (only birdwatched a little bit, as the mosquitoes were just overwhelming at times). *Kalamath Marsh NWR* Wood Duck 1 Mallard 6 Cinnamon Teal 2 Ruddy Duck 1 Pied-billed Grebe 4 Great Blue Heron 1 American Robin 4 Cedar Waxwing 2 Common Yellowthroat 2 Song Sparrow 3 Red-winged Blackbird 15 Western Meadowlark 1 Yellow-headed Blackbird 10 I then traveled to the stunning Crater Lake. CLARK'S NUTCRACKERS, STELLAR'S JAYS and GRAY JAYS were all over. I spotted a really unique and sharp, partial albino DARK-EYED JUNCO (Oregon race). I saw my first MARMOT around 8000ft up at Crater Lake too! * Crater Lake* Gray Jay 3 Steller's Jay 4 Black-billed Magpie 2 Clark's Nutcracker 4 Common Raven 4 Mountain Chickadee 3 Brown Creeper 1 Townsend's Solitaire 1 American Robin 2 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 1 Purple Finch 4 Red Crossbill 10 Pine Siskin 35 American Goldfinch 5 Good birding, Erik Bruhnke Cottage Grove, OR NATURALLY AVIAN - Bird photography and guided bird hikes www.pbase.com/birdfedr birdf...@gmail.com ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
