On Saturday 5-12-18 I wandered out to Wasco County to see what I could find in the Mt Hood Nat Forest. I was hoping to find some Fox Sparrows. I started out at Fivemile Butte. The shrubs on the top are great for the sparrows. This is a photo from last October just to give you an idea of the habitat.
I quickly found four Fox Sparrows, all singing from the top of their own pine tree. The large bills, no wing bars, spotted inverted Vs on the underside, head and back gray-brown and location all led to Thick-billed Fox Sparrow.
No wing bars
I have loaded Raven onto my computer (the free version) I took this spectrogram from the above bird, see video below. I can't figure out how, if possible , to load what I see play in Raven onto a blog. What I had to do was to go to a website that strips the video down to an audio file, then you load it into Raven and you can see the spectrogram. All rather cool, the website strips it for free, but then offers ads to you, I just closed the site every time I used it and ignored all the ads.
Here is the video from my camera. I know it wanders, just close your eyes.
Another Thick-billed, the associated spectrogram and original video.
Bird's song. BTW I heard zero call notes, just singing.
Just for comparison, here is a spectrogram of a singing Fox Sparrow, thought to be Thick-billed from the Steens, bird was in sagebrush.
And last two Fox Sparrows seen up on butte:
All sparrows dove for cover at one moment, I looked around and spied this Sharp-shinned Hawk approaching. Darn good eyes on these sparrows!
Mt Adams, right, and Mt Rainier, left, looking good.
And Mt Hood.
Lots of Dusky Flycatchers were seen all day.
Helping out were Mo,
Tess
And a shaved for the summer, Huck.
Singing Dusky Flycatcher, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Cassin's Finch and a typical Hermit Warbler.at bout 8 sec. Lots of Hermit were singing all day, found a few Townsend's when I tried to get out to a sparrow patch on Flag Point (too much snow).
Pine Siskins were dashing around at all sites visited.
Western Tanager
On the road out of Fivemile Butte, this MacGillivray's Warbler was singing away.
Last site visited was this partial clearcut I like to visit, late in day, so did not see a bunch of birds. But Western Bluebird, Cassin's Finch, and Dusky Flycatchers were still active.
Map of area.
Here are some links that have info on Fox Sparrows in Oregon:
On Wednesday and then again today (11/14/15) Huck and I went out to hunt through my favorite patch of winter passerine habitat in the Portland area. It is a patch of weeds, trees, and blackberries along the Columbia River at the Sandy River Delta. Here is a map I created a few years ago for the area. A link is available on the Birding Oregon web site under Multnomah County, Sandy River Delta. The area I like for winter passerines is the orange rectangle on the east side of meadows. If you go to the Sandy River, be sure to go all the way out to the east side.
I spotted a nice Merlin flying over the open meadows.
From a distance, Merlin might be confused with Sharp-shinned Hawks, but note the long wings coming down almost to the tail. Simply noting the short wings of an accipiter will eliminate most other raptors.
They have been redesigning the wetlands out on the east side of the delta. They also planted trees in some areas. This ditch was enlarged to provide better drainage.
This is the upriver end of my passerine hunt, I walk back down through this brush on an old trail, heading down river to the observation deck area. I cut out to the river across from Gary Island where I can to check for ducks and if any birds are in the willows. This little ditch was packed with Song Sparrows, Lincoln Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos and Golden-crowned Sparrows.
It is easy to pish out a few Fox Sparrows, actually I do not pish them I give a little click like their contact call and that brings them right out to the top of the brush.
A small flock of Lesser Goldfinch were in the area. I had some flyover American as well.
A noisy flock of Pine Siskins were feasting on the same seeds as the goldfinch.
First-winter White-crowned Sparrow (pugetensis)
Lots of Golden-crowned in area.
Hairy Woodpecker
Red-winged Blackbird
Very tough getting a shot of a Golden-crowned Kinglet out in the open.
This is the Red-tailed Hawk that posed for Sibley's book cover.
I'll find a good bird along this area sometime soon. Birds seen on Wednesday:
Cackling Goose 15 Canada Goose 5 Mallard 3 Hooded Merganser 3 Double-crested Cormorant 3 Great Blue Heron 1 Greater Yellowlegs 2 gull sp. 25 seen on bar far out in river, probably mix of Cals and Mews Belted Kingfisher 2 Downy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 2 Merlin 1 Black-capped Chickadee 6 Chestnut-backed Chickadee 3 Bushtit 8 White-breasted Nuthatch 2 Pacific Wren 2 Golden-crowned Kinglet 5 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3 Varied Thrush 1 European Starling 1000 Fox Sparrow 5 Dark-eyed Junco 25 White-crowned Sparrow 8 Golden-crowned Sparrow 8 Savannah Sparrow 2 Song Sparrow 9 Lincoln's Sparrow 3 Spotted Towhee 4 Red-winged Blackbird 3 Western Meadowlark 20 House Finch 7 Birds seen on Saturday: Cackling/Canada Goose 30 Green-winged Teal 3 Pied-billed Grebe 1 Horned Grebe 2 Double-crested Cormorant 50 Great Blue Heron 4 Great Egret 1 Red-tailed Hawk 1 American Coot 1 California Gull 3 Belted Kingfisher 2 Downy Woodpecker 3 Hairy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 2 Merlin 1 Black-capped Chickadee 30 Chestnut-backed Chickadee 5 Bushtit 25 White-breasted Nuthatch 3 Brown Creeper 10 Pacific Wren 3 Golden-crowned Kinglet 14 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 7 Varied Thrush 2 European Starling 25 Fox Sparrow 4 Dark-eyed Junco 35 White-crowned Sparrow 5 Golden-crowned Sparrow 29 Song Sparrow 20 Lincoln's Sparrow 5 Spotted Towhee 7 Red-winged Blackbird 4 House Finch 6 Pine Siskin 40 Lesser Goldfinch 20 Thanks for visiting and Vive la France.
On Sunday Sep 13, 2015, I went out to Fifteenmile Creek to see what migrants I could find. I have been to this area earlier in the year. I was curious to see what birds would still be there. Below is a map showing how to get to the lower portion of the creek. The gravel road to the trailhead is passable in any small SUV type car. A car with low ground clearance might not make it over a few bumps. This is a beautiful area of open oak woods that merge into a mixed fir forest as you climb in elevation.
Here is my bird list from earlier this summer (June 7th).
Lower Fifteenmile Ck from 4421 up to trail interchange., Wasco, Oregon, US Jun 7, 2015 9:00 AM - 1:30 PM Protocol: Traveling 6.0 mile(s) Comments: first .8 mi is oak woodland, then mixed evergreen forest 33 species
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 Red-tailed Hawk 2 Williamson's Sapsucker 1 Downy Woodpecker 1 Hairy Woodpecker 2 Northern Flicker 3 Western Wood-Pewee 11 Hammond's Flycatcher 3 Cassin's Vireo 1 Warbling Vireo 7 Gray Jay 2 Steller's Jay 2 Common Raven 1 Chestnut-backed Chickadee 11 Red-breasted Nuthatch 9 House Wren 2 Golden-crowned Kinglet 5 Hermit Thrush 6 American Robin 6 Nashville Warbler 5 MacGillivray's Warbler 3 Common Yellowthroat 4 Yellow Warbler 2 Yellow-rumped Warbler 3 Black-throated Gray Warbler 2 Hermit Warbler 7 Wilson's Warbler 1 Dark-eyed Junco 7 Song Sparrow 3 Spotted Towhee 4 Western Tanager 4 Black-headed Grosbeak 2 Cassin's Finch 1
Here is what I found on Sunday. I was bummed I did not see more migrant warblers. There are a few springs along the trail. Fox Sparrows were the only migrant at these spots.
Lower Fifteenmile Ck from 4421 up to trail interchange., Wasco, Oregon, US Sep 13, 2015 9:15 AM - 2:15 PM Protocol: Traveling 7.0 mile(s) Comments: 75 degrees, slight breeze in canyon, partly cloudy 18 species
Turkey Vulture 1 Bald Eagle 1 Northern Flicker 7 Pileated Woodpecker 1 Steller's Jay 4 Common Raven 2 Chestnut-backed Chickadee 9 Red-breasted Nuthatch 17 Golden-crowned Kinglet 34 Swainson's Thrush 1 Hermit Thrush 3 American Robin 6 Black-throated Gray Warbler 1 Fox Sparrow 10 Dark-eyed Junco 12 Golden-crowned Sparrow 4 Song Sparrow 2 House Finch 3
I have been to this are before, Here is link for a report on the upper portion of creek from the campground down to the trail interchange. Fifteenmile Creek Hikes
The view along the final stretch of road to the trailhead. A very pleasant day. I was hoping for some migrants here as well, all quiet on this day.
The main wildlife seen. Lots of lizards in the oak woods. Numerous deer in canyon as well.
These stretches of the trail were where the Fox Sparrows were hanging out.
Fox Sparrow
I thought this was a Swainson's Thrush when I first saw it, no bright tail. But after I looked at it with binoculars I thought it was a first-year Hermit Thrush. It looked very two-toned, with gray upperparts and brown wings, very gray flanks, lacking a strong facial pattern. Breast lacks a buffy background, black spots and black throat stripe. Base of bill looked more pinkish than yellow as an adult would show.
That pale spot in the lores is what made me think Swainson's. But note it is not continuous with the eyering. I wonder if these photos show the emarginated primaries mentioned here: Thrushes
The emargination proves it to be Swainson's or Hermit. The P6 emargination is on Hermit not Swainson's. I could see this with my binoculars. Would love to know if these are numbered correctly.
Any comments welcomed.
The bridge where the trails meet, about 3.2 miles from parking spot on lower trail. It is about 5 miles from here to the Fifteenmile Ck Campground (all up hill, some steep areas).
The beautiful Fifteenmile Creek, it drains off the east side of Lookout Mt.
With the lack of birds, I decided to start trying to document all the non bird calls that can have you scratching your head in Mt Hood Nat Forest.. When I first started documenting areas of Mt Hood, this beast had me wondering what bird I was hearing. When these are calling slowly, they can be tricky.
I went on my annual trip to Harney county this year from May 27th to the 31st. I have tried for the past 4 years to reach Ten Cent Meadows in the Pueblo Mountains. One can access this area from three different watersheds: Cottonwood Creek, Arizona Creek and Van Horn Creek. My previous attempts were not successful for a variety of reasons, running out of time on the hikes, distractions from getting an early start and wrong directions. I was determined to reach this area this year. I camped out at my chosen entry point , Arizona Creek. It was mentioned to me that Cottonwood Creek shows as Little Cottonwood Creek on maps, I looked and sure enough it is Little Cottonwood Creek. In any case, it is the creek right above Whitehorse Ranch Road. When birders mention Cottonwood, they are talking about this creek. Below is a map of my route. This area is well worth exploring for the bird life. The aspen groves were full of singing birds.
A picture of the early morning start. Looking up Arizona Creek's canyon. And the shadow of a birder with his hat! Coming back through this area in the afternoon I saw on White-throated Swift.
You need an early start and an ample water supply to beat the heat. The road might appear safe for cars, but not so, there are areas of very sharp rock. I would not recommend exposing ones tires to that abuse. If you get in trouble up there , you are in serious trouble. This is the upper reaches of Little Cottonwood Creek.
Next to Yellow Warblers, the next most common warbler heard or seen was probably Orange-crowned. MacGillivray's were a very close third.
Green-tailed Towhee's, Brewer's Sparrows, Rock Wrens, and Vesper Sparrows like this one were common.
After about 3 or so miles you get to your first aspen grove. This is where it helps to have several sets of eyes and ears. I was only able to cover a fraction of the area. Dusky Flycatcher, Yellow Warbler, Warbling Vireo, Western Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, White-crowned Sparrow, and Song Sparrow ruled the woods. But who knows what I missed that was not singing. Fields on this day was very quiet compared to these woods.
The big, fun highlight was finding the Dark-eyed Junco up there. It is about 3.8 miles into the hike when you get to another aspen grove in a small canyon. Along the edges of the canyon in the Mountain Mahogany was the junco. The Gray-headed subspecies is from the southern Rockies. Below is photo and video of a singing bird, Dark-eyed Junco subspecies "caniceps".
Here is the song of the junco.
View back towards the north up near the junco. Long-eared Owls were in area, one was down by the entrance to creek, two others were up here. Lewis's Woodpecker were in area. Lots of fun birds. An exciting hunt.
A few yards beyond last photo looking southwest into basin and Ten Cent Meadow. It is the green area, I searched those Mountain Mahogany trees for Virginia's Warbler, gray Bushtits and House Wrens were everywhere.
Down the trail to the meadow I saw Horned Lark. Vesper Sparrows flushed off nests, Sage Thrasher were singing. Meadowlarks were around as well of course.
This is a Horned Lark from Steens Mtn two days later. I show you this to point out the very black tail of a lark. Helpful if you are trying to find the odd bird in a large flock of long-black-tailed lark.
Reptile break: yellow legged lizard creature.. Great Basin Collared Lizard
After a long day in the Pueblo Mountains I hit Fields in the afternoon for a milkshake. I found a Black-throated Blue Warbler in the oasis. It was not being very helpful as to photos. After a night at Little Cottonwood Creek I hit Fields again and was welcomed to the oasis by a singing Catbird. I headed up to P-ranch to see the Least Flycatcher and din din at Frenchglen. Best photo of Least is below:
While visiting HQ a few times, I tried to get photos of Black-chinned Hummingbird to prove they were indeed Black-chinned and not Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Black-chinned are supposed to have R3 longest, Ruby-throated have R4 longest. R3 and R4 are the tail feathers as counted from the center. You can see the very short R1 , a bit longer R2 , R3 with a bit of white etc out to R5 on this bird. Also R4 and R5 are supposed to be more nipple shaped on Black-chinned than Ruby-throated. Black-chinned tend to wag tail more than Ruby-throated while feeding. Both molt in winter so all feathers should be grown out now. This bird wagged its tail, I suppose R5 looks nipple shaped, and R3 looks long but R4 is certainly not the longest looking feather.Top of head is not green enough for a Ruby. So it is a Black-chinned. The red is a reflection from the feeder.
Wing shape is very important on hummingbirds.
The Archilochus ( Black-chinned and Ruby-throated) have narrow inner primaries. The Ruby-throated females and immatures are supposed to have a bit of a notch on the inner web of the inner primaries. Black-chinned are supposed to be more blunt. I think I can count down from P10, the longest primary tucked a bit under tail to P7, then an obvious step to a narrower P6. And the tips of inner primaries look straight I guess, not notch, not really rounded to me. I am not sure, but I do not think I see P1 just tip of P2 under the secondaries? Not easy!
So much for HQ, next night I went to Jackman Park, could have stayed at Lily Lake or Fish Lake as well, I wanted to hike up the Steens Road to see if there were aspen up there or Rosy-Finch. I had high hopes in these snow fields. But every bare patch was full of Horned Lark fighting and chasing each other.
White-crowned Sparrow "oriantha" were singing everywhere. If you have not seen the Gray-headed version of a junco or the "oriantha" version of a White-crowned, you have not seen these birds. Well worth the effort. Dark morning kept the bright red bill from being seen well.
Song of the White-crowned Sparrow "oriantha".
Made it all the way to Kiger Gorge, I saw a swift/swallow type bird fly up over this edge when I got there, just a quick view from off to side. So not sure which, I scanned cliffs for swifts or raptors etc. None seen.
I am not sure if this is Slate-colored Fox Sparrow or Thick-billed. I saw a few Fox Sparrow up in Pueblos and on the Steens, all looked about like this one.
Same bird singing. The chip note was very sharp, which I think is Thick-billed type of call. But that difference was hard to detect in the high mountain air.
Spectrogram of song.
Last morning at HQ was a Tennessee Warbler, Tim and I plus others worked hard together to get a photo. Not sure how well he did, at least on this you can see the more obvious bright under-tail coverts of the bird. Warbling Vireos in same tree showed long tail and an even coloring below. Tennessee have the brightest white under the tail and a very short tail. So it is easy to spot even if that is all you see.
A nice Swainson's Hawk was flying around HQ through-out the weekend. Dark flight feathers and light coverts is an easy spot, just the opposite of a vulture.
