The Maury Mountains and a BBS

Last summer I decided to sign up for a BBS, a Breeding Bird Survey, organized by the USGS. 

I found two that were open, both of them a long way from home but in a very interesting area.  Below is a screen shot of all eBird reports of Brewer's Sparrow, a rather common summer bird in the sagebrush of Eastern Oregon.

Please note the larger blank area in the center, above Hwy 20, the popular road to Malheur and below Hwy 380, the road from Prineville to Paulina.  No eBird reports means to me an area that is not often visited. My kind of birding.

The map below marks my various wanderings.

The Clover Creek BBS run is in red, the Crooked River BBS run is in blue. I bit off more than I can chew on the BBS's. The time and effort  makes it so I cannot do two in one year, I will need either to drop one or do them every-other year, if that is allowed.  I did the Clover Creek run on Saturday morning and had a great time.  What a beautiful part of Oregon.

After that I birded the Maury Mtns, the green blob of the Ochoco Nat Forest that sits below the Crooked River. 

Before the BBS, I spent the night at Elk Horn CG in the Maury Mtns, I left the CG and got to the start point late by 30 minutes,   I followed the route backwards until I figured out where the start was, I did not get off to a very organized start.

No time to take bird pics on a BBS, I had to keep moving to get caught up with my time frame. The route passes through juniper and pine groves, open plains, canyons and small ranches.

My eBird summaries, I grouped them into 10 survey points each, one-fifth of the survey per entry.

The route had not been run in 19 years. I think I should try to do the BBS earlier in the year, I am at the end of the time frame the surveys are allowed to be run (May 27 to July 7). 

Clover Ck BBS Pts 1-10, Crook, Oregon, US
Jun 25, 2016 5:20 AM - 6:20 AM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
13 species

Red-tailed Hawk  1
Mourning Dove  3
Northern Flicker  2
Gray Flycatcher  11     based on calls, very common
Dusky Flycatcher  1
Black-billed Magpie  5
Common Raven  12
House Wren  5
Mountain Bluebird  3
Chipping Sparrow  9
Brewer's Sparrow  16
Lark Sparrow  5     singing in early dawn over 5 miles of road
Dark-eyed Junco  3

Clover Ck BBS (pts 11-20), Crook, Oregon, US
Jun 25, 2016 6:20 AM - 7:20 AM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
13 species

Red-tailed Hawk  1
Killdeer  2
Eurasian Collared-Dove  1
Mourning Dove  3
Prairie Falcon  1
Gray Flycatcher  1
Dusky Flycatcher  1
Ash-throated Flycatcher  3
Barn Swallow  3
Mountain Bluebird  5
American Robin  3
Brewer's Sparrow  9
House Finch  5

Clover Ck BBS (pts 21-30), Crook, Oregon, US
Jun 25, 2016 7:20 AM - 8:20 AM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
23 species

Red-tailed Hawk  1
Killdeer  4
Eurasian Collared-Dove  1
Mourning Dove  2
Northern Flicker  1
American Kestrel  3
Gray Flycatcher  2
Ash-throated Flycatcher  1
Black-billed Magpie  2
Common Raven  2
Violet-green Swallow  6
Barn Swallow  7
House Wren  4
Mountain Bluebird  10
American Robin  2
Sage Thrasher  5
European Starling  5
Brewer's Sparrow  8
Dark-eyed Junco  10
Vesper Sparrow  3
Western Tanager  1
Red-winged Blackbird  4
Brewer's Blackbird  11

Clover Ck BBS (pts 31-40), Crook, Oregon, US
Jun 25, 2016 8:20 AM - 9:20 AM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
13 species

Turkey Vulture  1
Swainson's Hawk  1
Red-tailed Hawk  2
Northern Flicker  1
American Kestrel  5
Gray Flycatcher  1
Ash-throated Flycatcher  1
Mountain Bluebird  10
Sage Thrasher  5
Brewer's Sparrow  7
Vesper Sparrow  1
Western Meadowlark  9
Brewer's Blackbird  3

Clover Ck BBS (pts 41-50), Crook, Oregon, US
Jun 25, 2016 9:20 AM - 10:20 AM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
18 species

Gadwall  2
Mallard  4
Turkey Vulture  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Killdeer  2
Western Wood-Pewee  3
Common Raven  3
Barn Swallow  9
House Wren  5
Mountain Bluebird  7
American Robin  3
Sage Thrasher  2
Brewer's Sparrow  6
Dark-eyed Junco  8
Western Tanager  7
Red-winged Blackbird  20
Western Meadowlark  4
Brewer's Blackbird  10

After the BBS I went back up into the Maury's to wander the roads.  FR 16 loops through the forest with two entry points (yellow road on my map), FR 17 cuts through to Antelope Reservoir ( light blue on map) all three are well marked turns off Hwy 380.  Getting out of area to the south is the issue.  I did not try any other roads except the one that got me to the BBS route (the purple one, a bit rough in spots but okay). 

My idea was to hit all the springs in the forest to see what birds were in the areas of water.

Meyer Spring is to the east, it was dry.  Most of the springs had these basins that water fed in and out of, for cattle I suppose.  

Birds at Meyer Spring:

Meyer Spring, Crook, Oregon, US
Jun 25, 2016 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
Comments:     spring was dry
8 species

Williamson's Sapsucker  2
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Dusky Flycatcher  4
Mountain Chickadee  7
Mountain Bluebird  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  7
Chipping Sparrow  3
Western Tanager  3

This young Red-tailed Hawk was near Meyer Spring, it is growing in its red tail.

I also explored the entry roads on the north side of the mountains, along Hwy 380.  Cliff Swallows own all the bridges across the Crooked River

A Bank Swallow colony can be seen on the way in FR 17.

At the end of the day, I hit Double Cabin CG.  It is small, I saw  two camp sites, but I had it to myself.  I visited it in the morning then came back to spend Saturday night. It was a great bird spot.

Birds seen here (eBird list from that evening when I returned):

Double Creek CG, Crook, Oregon, US
Jun 25, 2016 4:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments:     stayed night
22 species

Wild Turkey  3
Northern Goshawk  1
Common Nighthawk  2
Common Poorwill  3
Williamson's Sapsucker  3
Hairy Woodpecker  2
Western Wood-Pewee  4
Dusky Flycatcher  3
Cassin's Vireo  1
Common Raven  1
Mountain Chickadee  5
Red-breasted Nuthatch  4
Brown Creeper  3
House Wren  2
Golden-crowned Kinglet  2
Western Bluebird  5
Hermit Thrush  2
Yellow-rumped Warbler  6
Chipping Sparrow  9
Dark-eyed Junco  5
Western Tanager  4
Cassin's Finch  7

The goshawk seemed to be playing a deadly cat-and-mouse game with the sapsuckers, at dusk it gave its alarm call and flew right over me  as it was chased by what I thought was a sapsucker.  The next morning I was tracking sapsuckers for a photo, I found them by their calls, as I approached the goshawk flew out of a tree and back into the woods, the sapsuckers left the same tree in opposite direction.  I wandered for some time trying to get photo of the hawk, no luck.

The Huckster relaxing on a picnic table at Double Cabin.  Yes, he has a face that can launch a thousand ships.

The next morning some of his distant relatives were in the woods:

Williamson's Sapsuckers were the common woodpecker.

I found this female feeding young above Antelope Spring on Sunday morning.

Up above Antelope Spring I found a campsite not on any maps.  I will camp here next time.  If I get here earlier in the year, maybe I will hear owls. I was bummed I heard none in two nights.

Antelope Spring, Crook, Oregon, US
Jun 26, 2016 6:45 AM - 8:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
Comments:     Walked up FR 16 to spring, on up to top of ridge then back down to car
18 species

Turkey Vulture  1
Red-tailed Hawk  2
Williamson's Sapsucker  3
Hairy Woodpecker  2
Western Wood-Pewee  3
Dusky Flycatcher  2
Common Raven  1
Mountain Chickadee  7
Red-breasted Nuthatch  3
White-breasted Nuthatch  2
Brown Creeper  1
House Wren  2
Mountain Bluebird  5
American Robin  2
Yellow-rumped Warbler  3
Chipping Sparrow  5
Western Tanager  4
Cassin's Finch  3

I tried to find a Purple Finch among all the Cassin's. This sounded smooth like a Purple , but the end I decided was all Cassin's Finch.

Cassin's Finch.  

The wetlands below dam at Antelope Flat Reservoir.

Antelope Flat Reservoir. 

A view north from the Maury's looking across the Crooked River into the main body of the Ochoco National Forest.

No rare birds found, lots of Dusky Flycatchers, Mountain Bluebirds, Chipping Sparrows, and Western Tanagers.

I had fun birding this remote area right in the center of Oregon. Thanks for the visit.

Early winter in the White River WMA

On Saturday, Nov. 28,  I decided to go back to the east side of Mt Hood for one last trip this year before the forest roads are closed. There has been snow out there already, but the past few days have been nice and sunny.  Forest Road 48 will be closed anytime now, it is not plowed.  The drive out FR 48 had its share of icy stretches and frozen clumps of slush.  It was 14 degrees when I arrived at my parking area.  I doubt it got much above 20.  My purpose was to see if I could detect any Pine Grosbeak in the woods that line the creeks in the Wildlife Management Area.  

I decided to try to find a nice loop through the western side of the WMA.  I found just that by starting off on a road I went down in June (June Trip)  and simply kept turning left when I had the option.  I started off at the lower star on the map and went counter-clockwise.  I found myself back on the paved FR 27 at the top star.  From there back to the car down the left side of my loop is all paved.  7 miles in all.

There is a lack of variety of birds in these woods this time of year, but the birds you do see are in groups that are fun to discover and hunt through. The birds all seem to be in fresh plumage.





For a more general map of the White River WMA, try this one.  I have updated it with other bird hikes I have done on area.

Woodpeckers were a common species seen.  This Williamson's Sapsucker triggered a rare bird alert in eBird, I found it right before I returned to my car along FR 27.  I would assume only due to lack of effort, but eBird has only two records of this species in this area of the  county between Sept-Mar, 8 records for the entire county during this period.

Hairy Woodpeckers were the most common woodpecker found.

This Black-backed Woodpecker was up near where the dirt road I hiked hooked up with FR 27.

Not all Mountain Chickadees are in Western Oregon now.  Beautiful birds.

I have tried to pay more attention to the subspecies of White-breasted Nuthatch. These were all chattering with a rapid call.  A feature of the tenuissima subspecies (lumped with nelsoni in Sibley's  Interior West bird), the subspecies which should be found in Eastern Oregon. 

More info:  White-breasted Nuthatch

Interior West birds have narrower black crowns than the Pacific group,  and they lack a black mark behind the eye which can sometimes be found on the Pacific group.

Compared to the Pacific group the Interior West birds have darker but not black centers to the greater coverts, they are shown here as the dark dashes on the gray background.  The Pacific group supposedly has paler, less contrasting centers on the greater coverts.

The flanks are supposedly darker gray, rarely suffused with buff, the Pacific birds are paler on the flanks and can be suffused with buff.

Taken with my iphone, most of the hike was on bare ground or patchy snow.  This dark canyon is where Tygh Creek crosses FR 27. It was 2 pm, the area was still dark and cold, no winter sun reaches this area.

This is Tygh Creek down in the WMA, just as dark and cold.  I spent some time searching the grove for owls.  

This Mule Deer ( I think)  was on FR 27, it was a beautiful beast, it just stood there and watched me walk towards it. Black-tailed Deer are subspecies of the Mule Deer.  Mule Deer are larger and have big mule-like ears. They also have a larger white rump and a smaller black tipped tail compared to smaller white rumped and larger, solid black (dorsal surface) tail on the Black-tailed.   Black-tailed Deer are a western Oregon species but I understand they do occur on eastside of Mt Hood.

This print in the snow was the size of my hand.  Tons of animal tracks were seen, of all sizes and shapes.

Gobble gobble

Mt Hood glowing in the late afternoon sun.

eBird list:

White River WMA Loop, Wasco, Oregon, US
Nov 28, 2015 9:15 AM - 1:15 PM
Protocol: Traveling
7.0 mile(s)
Comments:     temps 14-22 degrees F, no wind clear skies.  Went to see if any Pine Grosbeak or Redpolls had shown up in area.  No juncos.
16 species

Wild Turkey  1
Red-tailed Hawk  2
Williamson's Sapsucker  1
Hairy Woodpecker  5
Black-backed Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  4
Steller's Jay  8
Common Raven  4
Mountain Chickadee  23
Chestnut-backed Chickadee  14
Red-breasted Nuthatch  6
White-breasted Nuthatch  6
Pacific Wren  4
Golden-crowned Kinglet  30
Varied Thrush  5
Red Crossbill  9

Thanks for the visit