Howdy, I just got back from four days in the Ashland area of southern
Oregon. Didn't see many new birds but had a lot of fun exploring this
region. We climbed the TNC Lower Table Rock in mid afternoon, so we missed
many birds due to the late-day heat. Still saw:
Anna's Hummingbird
Acorn Woodpecker (on the outskirts of Ashland)
Western Kingbird
Cassin's Vireo (fun to see this species in dry Oak, I'm used to them in dry
pine up here)
Scrub-Jay
3 pairs of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers
Spotted Towhee (these birds were very white below and had heavy spotting,
more like E. WA towhees)
2 CALIFORNIA TOWHEE (one bird was vocalizing, both were found in the
buckbrush)
Lark Sparrow (right next to my head, we were too close to a nest I guess)
Lazuli Bunting
W. Meadowlark
Lesser Goldfinch (common here and in the Ashland city limits, I had to go to
California for American)
Missed out on Oak Titmouse, I blame it on the late start.

Plants:
California Black Oak
Oregon White Oak
Buckbrush
Hairy Manzanita
Farewell-to-Spring wildflowers were covering the plateau, very impressive
Bicolored Lupine
Fitch's Tarweed (I know you flower people don't use common names!)
Common Goldfields
tons more that I couldn't find in my Pojar book!

Also saw a couple of Western Gray Squirrels which were life mammals for me.
I was amazed at their size! I noticed in the paper this morning that my
chances of seeing them in W. WA are dwindling. There were also many lizards
here that all looked like the same species, the signs were calling them
Common Ground-Lizards, not sure if that's correct or not...haven't had a
chance to look them up.

We also traveled down to Fern Canyon in Humboldt County (at the turn for Elk
Meadows). Saw many Elk, some less then 30 feet away (don't worry, we
weren't trying to approach them). Unfortunately in the parking lot I
noticed that my tire was flat, so I spent three hours getting that fixed
further south near Arcata (too bad that Greenshank isn't still there). So
birding was very limited that day:
Brown Pelican
Osprey
Heerman's Gull
1 Caspian Tern (I got the feeling that this bird was out of place, was the
only one I saw on the beach)
3 (assumed) ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRD (one male that I feel safe calling Allen's.
Was with a female and patrolling around a flowering shrub. Had a green back
and I'm assuming that this wasn't one of the 5% that Sibley mentions...my
day was bad enough, don't take this one measly bird away from me!)
Varied Thrush
16 Red Crossbills (with a pitch in the song that I've never heard
before...as soon as those rumors are acted upon I'll count that one too!)

The scenery here was downright mind-blowing. Just watch out for those
hippies on acid!! Almost stepped on a couple of them as I assumed the
traditional birding pose (nose up), they seemed to be communicating with the
fallen trees...there was face paint involved.

Also saw a Western Skink in the hills above the city park in Ashland! My
overall impressions of the trip were: Turkey Vultures are as common as
crows all along I-5 from OR south; I need to get a reptile field guide; it's
hard to ditch friends and get up early for birds as drab as Cali Towhee and
Oak Titmouse; I can't wait to get back and explore that region (not enough
time for searching out G/T Towhee, Oak Titmouse, Mountain Quail, etc...).
That's it

Jason Paulios
JPaulios at hotmail.com
Olympia, WA

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