Upper Tygh Creek and young birds

I took a look at weather radar at 5 am today and decided I would be dry if I went on a bird hike in the Badger Creek Wilderness.  I have birded the lower section of Tygh Creek up into the wilderness, I wanted to avoid a repeat of the brutal hike up the steep trail. so I drove up FR 2720 to the Jordan Cutoff Trail which gives you access to the upper sections of Tygh Creek and avoids the steep climb.  While this upper  trail goes up and down in spots, it is really rather flat and is an easy bird hike.  It is the purple section on my often posted map of the area (see below) the access trail is in red and starts at the red star.  My map is getting rather cluttered, you might need to zoom in to see the trails.

Early July is a great time to bird in these areas, the woods are full of birds. With all the recently fledged birds, I would say it is the busiest time of the year.

This clearing was right before you cross Tygh Creek on the trail.  I estimated over 50 birds were in the surrounding trees. It was birding madness trying to track them all.  Dark-eyed Juncos, Pine Siskins, Red-breasted Nuthatch,  Cassin's FInch. MacGillivray's Warbler and Yellow-rumped Warbler were the main varieties.

There was a young MacGillivray's hanging out in the brush. I could not get a photo, so I settled on what I thought was mom, no black lores.

Young Dark-eyed Juncos were the most common hatch-year (HY) birds I saw.

All along the trail adult juncos let me know I was an intruder. Lots of noisy complaints were filed.

Hatch-year Chipping Sparrow.

Thankfully there are volunteers that go out into these wilderness areas and clear the trails.

A good portion of the trail passes through old blow-down.  With all the flowers out, it is really very beautiful. I saw 9 Rufous Hummingbirds, most were in habitat like this.

A family of House Wrens were making a huge racket in this clearing.   Juveniles are supposed to not have strong barring on flanks, I figured this one was the best bet for a juvenile.

Another MacGillivray's was a nice treat.

Lots of young Yellow-rumps were in the trees, note heavily streaked below.

This one was also heavily streaked below, but had a yellow throat, so I went with hatch-year male.

Juvenile Western Tanagers have streaks to the underparts, so I do not think this is a hatch-year bird. I did see a few juveniles.  But they were very secretive.

Not a hatch-year tanager. Hatch-year birds have no red. A classic image from the western mountains.

Down at the crossing of Tygh Creek a juvenile Pacific Wren was in the dark brush.

Juvenile Townsend's Solitaires should still have scaly underparts, so this is not a hatch-year bird.

Groups of Evening Grosbeak were up in the dark tree tops.  I could not tell if this was a juvenile or not.  It seemed to be following an adult around.

Lots of birding activity, it took me almost seven hours to bird seven miles. I would urge folks to try this very nice birding area, or just get out in your local woods and enjoy all the youngsters!

Turkey Vulture  5
Rufous Hummingbird  9
Williamson's Sapsucker  1
Western Wood-Pewee  5
Hammond's Flycatcher  3
Dusky Flycatcher  7
Cassin's Vireo  1
Warbling Vireo  2
Mountain Chickadee  2
Chestnut-backed Chickadee  9
Red-breasted Nuthatch  13
Brown Creeper  9
House Wren  11
Pacific Wren  2
Golden-crowned Kinglet  17
Townsend's Solitaire  1
Hermit Thrush  7
MacGillivray's Warbler  5
Yellow-rumped Warbler  23
Hermit Warbler  2
Chipping Sparrow  26
Dark-eyed Junco  43
Western Tanager  15
Cassin's Finch  13
Red Crossbill  3
Pine Siskin  32
Evening Grosbeak  9

After a long, exciting hike, Huck was eager to get in the car and rest. Once he senses he is getting near the car, he races ahead and waits.

Thanks for the visit.

More Eastside of Mt Hood

The last few weekends I have birded some new trails in Wasco County. One was the Fifteenmile Creek Trail from FR 4421 up to the 457 trail interchange. Best access is to go out FR 44 to the turn-off for Fifteenmile Ck Campground (FR 4420), then stay on paved road all the way to edge of Mt Hood Nat Forest, then turn left.  The trail cuts through an oak forest up to the true firs.  It was very birdy and fun to explore.  





I was lazy and did not take any photos but here is a Hermit Warbler singing a typical song version heard on the eastern side of Hood.




My ebird list:

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
Spotted Towhee  4
Song Sparrow  3
Dark-eyed Junco  7
Western Tanager  4
Black-headed Grosbeak  2
Cassin's Finch  1


Last weekend I camped Saturday night along FR 27.  I was hoping to hear some Flammulated Owls, but turns out I pitched my tent in the backyard of a Barred Owl family. So no other owls heard.  Flammulated Owls have been found just north of where I camped.




The next morning I hiked into the White River Wildlife Management Area. My hope was to find some hatch-year birds to photograph.  I saw a number of them, had a hard time getting them to sit still.  My favorite was a young Nashville Warbler.  I also wanted to search for Ash-throated Flycatchers.  Some have been spotted in Wasco County during the summer. But ebird has no records of them along FR 27 in the summer. I was curious if I could find a breeding pair.  None found, the hunt continues.

I had concerns about snakes so I kept Huck on a leash while I was birding the oak forest. There is another reason in photo below.

I also saw numerous deer and a bobcat.  Striped Skunk, the other option would be Western Spotted Skunk according to mammal list for Mt Hood.

This is a typical view of a side of a canyon covered in oaks.

Going down the road to Tygh Creek was a wonderful strip of woods full of Nashville and MacGillivray's Warblers.

As I mentioned, I was trying to find hatch-year birds.  Most young birds were Chipping Sparrows and a few cowbirds hanging with Cassin's Finch flocks. 

 I thought this was a female MacGillivray's Warbler. After reading The Warbler Guide I am not sure if the dark throat mottling is dark enough to kick it out of being a female.   So maybe it is a hatch-year male?  The Nashville I saw was still molting out of its downy feathers,  this shows none of those feathers. So I am sticking with female Mac.

I heard a number of Gray Flycatchers calling in the oak forest.  I was thinking the very short primary projection might make this a young bird.  I had a hard time aging them.  Pyle says young birds should have a strong lemon wash on undersides. I did not see any wash on this bird.

House Wrens were common and out singing.

My eBird list:

Wild Turkey  3

Turkey Vulture  3
Red-tailed Hawk  2
Mourning Dove  4
Northern Pygmy-Owl  1
Vaux's Swift  9
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  1
Western Wood-Pewee  4
Hammond's Flycatcher  1
Gray Flycatcher  7
Empidonax sp.  2
Cassin's Vireo  3
Steller's Jay  2
American Crow  3
Common Raven  1
Mountain Chickadee  12
Red-breasted Nuthatch  13
Rock Wren  1
House Wren  4
Western Bluebird  8
Hermit Thrush  1
American Robin  4
Orange-crowned Warbler  2
Nashville Warbler  9
MacGillivray's Warbler  8
Yellow-rumped Warbler  3
Black-throated Gray Warbler  4
Spotted Towhee  4
Chipping Sparrow  21
White-crowned Sparrow  3
Dark-eyed Junco  12
Western Tanager  6
Black-headed Grosbeak  2
Brown-headed Cowbird  6
Cassin's Finch  12

My second stop was a dry pine forest, I hiked up a road to see what birds were out.  By then it was noon and hot.  All the birds were quiet except a few meadowlarks.  Huck had enough and turned around and went back to the car.  He was waiting for me upon my return.

On the way home I stopped off at Tygh Ridge Road to see the Grasshopper Sparrows.

Horned Lark were also sharing the fence posts.

Thanks for visiting!