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.

Sandy River Winter Passerines

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.

Ochoco National Forest

I had never been to the Ochoco National Forest, it is east of Prineville , OR.    I fixed that serious omission this past weekend.  The Ochoco is easy to spot on the map, it is the large green rectangle shaped forest with a distinct white spot in the middle, that is the Big Summit Prairie, a large cattle ranch that reminds me of the Catlow Valley.

Here is a google map of my trip.  My basic route was a  jaunt up Mill Creek Road, then over to the Ochoco Ranger Station, then a big loop up around Mt Pisgah,  down to Big Summit Prairie, then a trip out to the eastern portion of forest to the Bear Mountain area and then back to the ranger station and home.  My original plan was to do a two-night trip but it turned into a one-night trip.


.


The purpose of my trip was to track down a Dusky Grouse and make my 4th attempt for Boreal Owl in 2015.  A Dusky Grouse was reported from this forest the week before I went, rather than relocate that bird, I wanted to wander areas in hopes of finding more.

This dark shot is of Slide Mountain, I wandered many open areas looking for sites good for owls.  I was searching for areas with lots of rodents. The papers I have read say Boreal Owls prefer dry meadows  and hunt rodents.  Most of the areas I found seemed to be very rocky with no rodent holes though lots of small chipmunks were in the forest edges. So I had high hopes of owls.  In the higher elevations singing Ruby-crowned Kinglets were the loudest birds.  Lots of Chipping Sparrows at all spots.

Another open prairie on north side of Mt Pisgah.  Mallards and Lincoln Sparrows were here. 

I decided to spend the first night on the only non-rocky spot I could find on west side of Mt Pisgah.  (by the way, there is a Mt Pisgah down near Eugene, not the same).  I was near a spot called Indian Prairie (below).  It is a beautiful prairie, lots of singing Hermit Thrush in the area.  Picture taken just before dark.

My camp spot in the trees near the prairie.  As I was resting at about 8 pm, I heard a very short snipe like winnow call, I was very excited.  It was so brief and I never heard it again, I decided it was a Hermit Thrush making a short burst of sound, but it sure sounded owlish, I also heard one short very deep hoot  sound, maybe Great Gray or Flammulated?  In any case I never heard any other owl except one Great Horned in the very early morning. 

Sunset on western flank of Mt Pisgah.

Early the next day I was up trying to hear some owls.  This MacGillivray's Warbler was singing  away next to the road.  When I heard it up the road  I thought it sounded very Mourning Warblerish.  I think a Mourning would be a bit lower pitched, but they can come very close in song. I have tried to use Raven to get a spectrograph of this bird, no success.  Maybe an old Windows computer just doesn't work.  Anyone know how to get a spectrograph from a Youtube video?  Seems to me there would be some program available on the cloud for that.






Another one with songster closer to me.





The forest is home to some wild horses.  This trough was near my camp, the water must be from an artesian well.  This picture was taken at dusk, some critter must have recently visited the water hole, Huck had caught its scent.

The road that cuts across the north side of Mt Pisgah can be a challenge.  I did notice most of the roads on the forest are in great shape. FR 2630 from where it touches the Bridge Creek Wilderness heading east to FR 22 is not one of them.  My Subaru did fine, but some areas were rocky and others were ice slick with mud.  There is a burned area on the north eastern portion of Mt Pisgah, maybe I drove through there too early but all I saw were Hairy Woodpeckers.  The trees look good for Black-backed based on my experience on Mt Hood.

Burn on Mt Pisgah.

The prior evening I had driven half the rough road to search for owl spots, too much water I decided.  But I decided to return in the morning to look for woodpeckers and also to get to the top of the mountain, I was thinking it would be a blast to discover some Rosy-Finch up there .  None there but nice views of butter-butts, Brewer Sparrows and Mountain Bluebirds.

Sunrise while I worked my way along a rough muddy road.

Lookout on top of Mt Pisgah at sunrise, Wheeler County.  No Rosy-Finch.  Mt Pisgah is 6,816 feet in elevation.

Big Summit Prairie from top of Mt Pisgah.

Heading down the eastern flank of Mt Pisgah I would stop and search for Dusky Grouse, I was thinking being on the road this early would improve my chances of seeing one on the road itself, no luck.  I read Dusky Grouse's call travels a very short distance, unlike the Sooty which can boom across an entire canyon.  You need to be as close as 100 yds to hear the Dusky.

After getting back to a descent road  I headed down to Big Summit Prairie. 

Once you hit the eastern, drier side of Ochoco National Forest, Cassin's Finch and Chipping Sparrows rule the day.

Typical view of a Cassin's.

And your typical Chipping Sparrow buried in a pine tree just a few feet off the ground.

Mountain Bluebird were not hard to find.

View of Big Summit Prairie.  I heard snipe and curlew calling out in this field, darned if I could spot them.  Lots of birds were in this area, Tree Swallows, Yellow-rumped Warblers, WIlson's Warbler.  White-headed Woodpeckers.  Looked for Red-naped Sapsuckers , struck out.  At most of the spots I stopped for grouse, woodpeckers were in area, some drumming in the distance, some calling but they proved elusive as to the seeing.

Heading east it gets drier and looks much like the Steen's Mountain to me: juniper, sage , a few more pines perhaps.  Lots of cattle.

Below is a typical spot I stopped and walked hoping to find grouse.

Dusky Flycatcher were everywhere on eastern side.  Their chip note says duh - SKI  to my ear.

Of course with all the Chipping Sparrows and  Cassin's Finch,  Mountain Chickadees are all around you as well.  No bird really wanted to have its picture taken except that Dusky Flycatcher...  

I finally made it all the way past Bear Mountain to a spot that needs a new name , Squaw Prairie.  I thought this place looked great for owls, dry meadow with lots of rodents.


A Mountain Quail was calling at far end of this prairie.  I can tell there are rodents here, Huck quickly found many holes to sniff.

So what is this little fellow trying to drive off a Red-tailed Hawk over Squaw Prairie?

The longer tail and large head made me decide it was a Cooper's Hawk

Growing thunder storms, a tired dog that I was afraid had some bad water (he is fine) and me being burned out and wanting to be rested for Malheur next weekend caused me to stop my trip a day short. 

I managed to get confused between Townsend's Warblers and Hermit Warbler songs, they sure do vary by region's in Oregon.  I thought I was hearing mostly Hermit in the far eastern reaches?

Birds seen in forest ( I might have had a larger list, just spent most time listening for grouse):

Canada Goose  
Mallard  
Mountain Quail  
Cooper's Hawk  
Bald Eagle  
Red-tailed Hawk  
Long-billed Curlew  
Wilson's Snipe  
Mourning Dove  
Great Horned Owl  
Black-chinned Hummingbird       
Williamson's Sapsucker  
Hairy Woodpecker  
White-headed Woodpecker  
Northern Flicker  
Pileated Woodpecker  
Hammond's Flycatcher  
Gray Flycatcher  
Dusky Flycatcher  
Cassin's Vireo  
Warbling Vireo  
Gray Jay  
Steller's Jay  
Black-billed Magpie  
American Crow  
Common Raven  
Tree Swallow  
Cliff Swallow  
Mountain Chickadee  
Red-breasted Nuthatch  
Golden-crowned Kinglet  
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  
Mountain Bluebird  
Townsend's Solitaire  
Hermit Thrush  
American Robin  
MacGillivray's Warbler  
Common Yellowthroat  
Yellow Warbler  
Yellow-rumped Warbler 
Townsend's Warbler 
Hermit Warbler  
Wilson's Warbler  
Chipping Sparrow  
Brewer's Sparrow  
Vesper Sparrow  
Song Sparrow  
Lincoln's Sparrow  
Dark-eyed Junco  
Western Tanager  
Black-headed Grosbeak  
Lazuli Bunting  
Red-winged Blackbird  
Western Meadowlark  
Brewer's Blackbird  
Brown-headed Cowbird  
Cassin's Finch  

North Fork of Crooked River along FR 42.  Lots of campers kept me from looking for American Dipper. 

 This is a beautiful forest, I'll be back and will try the eastern side for owls.  Thanks to Joel, Russ and Chuck for suggestions and info.

Thanks for visiting.

For a few more Huck pictures, try this.