Central Oregon Birding

July 16-20, 2003



Barbara's meeting for her high-achieving sales reps was a two-day conference
at the ranch of her company's owner near Sisters, OR. The event included
spouses, so it was an opportunity to get in some birding along the nearby
east slope of the Oregon Cascades northeast of Bend. The event did require
socializing during some of the best birding hours, however. After the
conference we planned go further afield, to the Cascade Crest and the Ochoco
Mountains east of Prineville. We especially wanted woodpeckers and
sapsuckers, and we weren't disappointed.



We reached the Peter Skene Ogden Wayside a few miles north of Redmond at
about 2:30 p.m. Despite the hour this small area was a worthwhile stop, as
US 97 bridge here is 300 feet above the Crooked River. Most interesting for
us here was watching Common Mergansers diving for fish far below us:



Common Merganser - 8 females
Western Kingbird - perched near US 97

Turkey Vulture - three over the gorge
Western Scrub Jay - near parking area

Osprey - flew over the river below us
Bushtit

Red-tailed Hawk - 2 above the cliffs
Violet-green Swallow - c 2 dozen

Rock Dove - five flying along the cliffs
Cliff Swallow - several flying below us

White-throated Swift - c 2 dozen
American Robin

Belted Kingfisher - heard below us
European Starling


Song Sparrow




Willows Ranch is around one hundred acres of open fields with a small stream
and mixed pine, juniper, and aspen forest surrounding the house and stables.
Birding here was decent and I spent about an hour each morning before
breakfast walking about the grounds:



Turkey Vulture - flew close to ranch visitors
Pygmy Nuthatch - c. four birds seen daily

Red-tailed Hawk - feeding big eyass atop a pine
White-breasted Nuthatch - one noisy family of four

American Kestrel
House Wren - several in mahonia near house

California Quail - two or three seen daily
Violet-green Swallow

Killdeer - seen & heard almost constantly
Barn Swallow - everywhere over the fields

Mourning Dove - up to four seen daily
Black-capped Chickadee

Calliope Hummingbird - at feeder
Mountain Chickadee

Rufous Hummingbird - two seen at feeder
House Sparrow

Lewis's Woodpecker - hawking insects above pines
Pine Siskin

Western Wood-Pewee - seen & heard daily
House Finch

Say's Phoebe - one or two seen daily
Red Crossbill - several in ponderosas

Steller's Jay
Song Sparrow

Common Raven
Western Tanager

Western Bluebird - c 12 at ranch
Black-headed Grosbeak

American Robin
Red-winged Blackbird

European Starling
Brewer's Blackbird


Brown-headed Cowbird




>From two previous trips to this area I remembered the woodpeckers and
warblers at Indian Ford Campground [IF] several miles from the ranch, and I
discovered the much quieter Cold Spring Campground [CS] a few miles
southwest of Sisters. Woodpeckers and flycatchers were good, though
warblers weren't singing much and proved hard to find. After Barbara's
conference we spent part of Friday afternoon near Santiam Pass, where we
found Big Lake overrun by campers: 4-wheelers, 3-wheelers, and dirt bikes
suggested a competition or mass ride was about to happen. The meadows in
this beautiful area are already severely scarred by bikers, so we followed
the birds' example and left for Lost Lake [LL], about five miles west of
Santiam Pass, a peaceful, pleasant place despite the nearby highway:



Canada Goose - adults and ducklings [LL]
Warbling Vireo [IF] and [CS]

Mallard - two with fuzzy ducklings [LL]
Townsend's Solitaire - a solitary juvenile at [CS]

Barrow's Goldeneye - adults and cute ducklings [LL]
American Robin

Turkey Vulture
Pygmy Nuthatch - [IF]

Osprey - family of 4; noisy juveniles catch a fish [LL]
Red-breasted Nuthatch

Bald Eagle - adult perched on large fir [LL]
White-breasted Nuthatch - family of four at [CS]

Belted-Kingfisher [LL]
Brown Creeper [IF]

Red-naped Sapsucker - adult male [IF]
Northern Rough-winged Swallow [LL]

Williamson's Sapsucker - female [IF]
Mountain Chickadee [IF] and [CS]

White-headed Woodpecker - [IF] and [CS]
Yellow-rumped Warbler [CS]

Olive-sided Flycatcher [CS]
Song Sparrow [IF]

Western Wood-Pewee - all sites
Dark-eyed Junco [CS]

Empidonax sp - a silent Hammond's or Dusky [CS]
Chipping Sparrow [CS]

Steller's Jay
Western Tanager [CS]

Cassin's Vireo [IF]
Black-headed Grosbeak [IF]




Saturday morning we headed into the Ochoco Mountains (the accent falls on
the first syllable of 'O-choco), beautiful and uncrowded despite the clear,
warm weekend weather. We took Ranger Station Road off of US 26 and birded
the lush grasslands and surrounding pines, then around the Ochoco Ranger
Station, the nearby residences, and the campground next door. Here we met a
group of a dozen birders from Portland who were staring at a smallish hawk
well above us. Someone said "Sharpie!" but the bird showed a white rump
patch: it was a Harrier, and not so misplaced, given the nearby grasslands
and the prairies that dot the Ochoco Mountains. Then we looped through the
area on Forest Service roads along the edge of the huge Summit Prairie and
past Walton Lake:



Turkey Vulture
Common Raven

Osprey
Warbling Vireo

Northern Harrier
American Robin

Red-tailed Hawk
European Starling

American Kestrel
Red-breasted Nuthatch

California Quail
White-breasted Nuthatch

Mourning Dove
Bushtit

Rufous Hummingbird
Violet-green Swallow

Belted Kingfisher
Cliff Swallow

Williamson's Sapsucker - male & female
Black-capped Chickadee

Downy Woodpecker
House Sparrow

Hairy Woodpecker - 2 seen
American Goldfinch

White-headed Woodpecker - family of four!
Cassin's Finch

Northern Flicker
Red Crossbill

Western Wood-Pewee
Nashville Warbler

Willow Flycatcher
Wilson's Warbler

Western Kingbird
Dark-eyed Junco

Steller's Jay
Western Meadowlark

Black-billed Magpie
Brown-headed Cowbird




The car's outside thermometer showed 104 degrees as we pulled into Rimrock
Springs Wildlife Management Area on US 26 between Prineville and Madras just
before 5 pm. We took water and walked out to the observation deck about ?
mile away. It seemed unlikely that anything could be out there, but in the
marsh we saw Pied-billed and Eared Grebes, Mallards, Northern Shovelers,
Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, American Coot (with fuzzy,
red-headed chicks), Western Kingbird, and Yellow-headed Blackbird.



The final Oregon stop was Sunday morning at Deschutes River State Park,
chockfull of weekenders. Here we added Prairie Falcon, Spotted Sandpiper,
Ring-billed and California Gulls, lots of young Western Kingbirds, American
Crow, Purple Finch, Yellow Warbler, and Bullock's Oriole.



Our time was nearly gone, so we picked up a few birds as we drove through
Washington: Eastern Kingbird near the Toppenish NWR, American White Pelican
north of Toppenish, Paririe Falcon and Common Nighthawk in Yakima Canyon.



Arriving home our list for the trip - we covered just under 1,000 miles -
totalled 87 species.



Paul Webster

Seattle

paul.webster at comcast.net