Fellow Birders,

It gives me great pleasure to invite birders form all over the Pacific North West to attend the annual meeting of the Western Field Ornithologists, Western Bird Banding Association and Oregon Field Ornithologists. Hosted by the Klamath Bird Observatory in Ashland the meeting is set to be a lot of fun. Birding until lunch is the norm and great paper sessions follow in the afternoon. Definitely one for the birders I have attached the recently updated Field Trip Description List.

Full details at

http://www.klamathbird.org/wbbareg.pdf or

http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/wfo04reg.doc

See you there,

Yours, Rob


Robert W. Hewitt
Director, LBJ Enterprises www.birdjobs.com
1707 E Street #5, Eureka, CA 95501

(707) 442-0339, fax (707) 260-0632, cell (707) 845-3189
lbjent at humboldt1.com

Godwit Days Steering Committee www.godwitdays.com
April 15-18, 2005 10th Annual, 236 species cumulative.

20040821rh
FIELD TRIP DETAILS AND GENERAL INFORMATION
WFO/WBBA/OFO Joint Meetings Sept 9-12, Ashland Oregon



GENERAL INFORMATION


All trips will be by carpool, please have your spare seats ready to share as the groups assemble in the morning. Fewer vehicles are always a benefit to all, especially the leader. Only the Klamath Basin Trip will be by van (up to two vehicles may follow). Full day trips will have a lunch stop for a bagged lunch (sign up with registration or provide your own), half-day trips will not. Hotels will provide early morning continental breakfasts. A "shade grown" coffee stop and several restroom breaks will be planned. The trips are rated in four categories: Easy-Going, Fine, Tougher, and Hard Going. These terms reflect relative difficulty and are based on chances to see the target species, length of the drive, as well as the off-road and trail conditions. However, as "car-birding" is the mode most trips would be quite suitable for the average birder. For the half day trips we shall have at least two leaders on each, selected from the best Oregon and California have to offer. Group size is limited from 10 to 15 participants. Three's a crowd, and with two leaders that will fill a good sized SUV all trips have already reached their minimum sign up. The car pool to Crater Lake leaves the nice option of the return home to Oregon and beyond.



There will be some vending and exhibits with Birding optics, bird books and gear, which will include the Field Trip table with a lot of additional self-guided information. Pablo Herrera (Redwood Sciences Lab, Arcata) will direct the trips each morning and assist at the table.Any questions on the day should be directed towards Pablo. He will not be leading those mornings. There will be two departure areas Parking Lot A, and Parking Lot B, trips will have a staggered departure with two leaving each 15 minutes. We will also have a detailed handout for self-guided birding around Ashland.



Full day trips offered before and after meetings on Thursday 9th and Sunday 12th with return a time to Ashland around 4:00 p.m.


TRIP 1 and 20 Departs: 6:15 a.m. Lot A


The Klamath Basin Refuges Trip. This all day trip around the Klamath Basin will use vans. A series of longer stops will be made at the following refuges: Upper and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, Tule Lake NWR, Lava Beds National Monument, Klamath State Wildlife Area and Bear Valley NWR. Three visitor centers, the Petrocliffs, Captain Jack's, Miller Island the Tule Sump, White Lake, and the Lava tubes will all be visited. Waterfowl should be in and inland open water can attract anything at this time of year, add a little wet mud and things could go great. Refuge staff will be on hand to assist with the interpretation of refuge activities. Rating: Fine Leaders: Noah Strycker, Rob Hewitt.



TRIP 2 and 21 Departs: 6:30 a.m. Lot B
Crater Lake/Upper Klamath Lake. This all day trip has a fair amount of driving, offered Thursday and Sunday will take the car pool east over the Cascade Crest then north past Upper Klamath Lake and onto the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway. Climbing to the high elevation caldera, forest birds will be looked for and open meadow areas will be checked. At almost 8000' the scenery along the rim will be spectacular. If the right snag areas can be found both Three-toed and Black-backed Woodpeckers are an option on the slopes down to Upper Klamath Lake. After using the morning for birding the lake for waterbirds, ducks, gulls, terns and raptors we will climb up to Crater Lake. The return to Ashland will follow the river along the Rogue-Umpqua National Scenic Byway. Once at I5 between Medford and Grants Pass on Sunday afternoon, participants could head north to get home if desired.

Rating: Drive Fine, Birds Tougher. Leaders: Joel Wientraub, Kevin Spencer, Noah Strycker.



Thursday Night Trip Only.



TRIP 3 (SOLD OUT) Departs: 8:00 p.m. Lot A

Owl Trip. This nighttime trip will traverse local forest roads looking for owl species. Hooting Spotted and Barred or whistling smaller owls will be listened for. Dusk visuals for Barn Owl and Great-horned will be looked for around Ashland as the trip takes off. There are no guarantees on this trip; perhaps some nighttime mammals will be seen as well. Check in with the field trip table to see what has been scouted out. Bring a headlamp or flashlight. Rain will cancel trip. Rating: Tougher. Leaders: Bruce Webb, Keith Slauson.



Morning half-day trips in conjunction with paper sessions after lunch and will return prior to 11:30.



TRIP 4 Departs 6:30 a.m. Lot A
Bird Banding at Upper Klamath Lake. (Friday) The KBO field station will host a banding group during the morning, which will be adjacent to good birding around the Lake and surrounding marshlands. Close to the lake, this special site includes mist nets suspended over water within the lakeside vegetation. Great basin fall migrants, among others, are monitored at this site. At Upper Klamath Lake will look for waterbirds and raptors on the East side of the Cascade Crest. Mosquito repellant is encouraged. Rating: Fine.


TRIP 5 and 14 Departs: 6:45 a.m. Lot A
Birding Transect East. East of Ashland the Dead Indian Memorial Highway climbs over the lower forested hills and up to the sagebrush Plateau that acts as the divide between the Klamath Basin and the Cascade Mountains. This conifer-dominated area should provide siskins, nuthatches, chickadees and corvids. Grey Jays and woodpeckers will be looked for in the early morning. The return drive on Hwy 66 will pass Howard Prairie and Hyatt Lakes. Rating: Fine. Leaders: Kevin Spencer, Rich Hoyer.



TRIP 6 and 15 Departs: 7:00 a.m. Lot A

Birding Ashland - Ashland Ponds, Emigrant Lake, Lithia Park. This easy-going trip is designed to provide a relaxed morning of birding. Emigrant Lake will be checked for waterbirds, and Lithia Park, the North Mountain Park Nature Center, and Ashland Ponds for landbirds. The riparian habitat should have some lingering residents, and migrant passerines will be passing through. Finish off the morning on the Ashland Loop road in the Siskiyou foothills for higher elevation birding. This trip will allow those participants wishing to, to break away and attend a late morning workshop (10:30 and 10:45). Leaders: Barbara Massey, Noah Strycker.



TRIP 7 and 16 Departs: 6:30 a.m. Lot B

Birding the Rogue Valley. The Kirtland Sewage Ponds, Denman Wildlife Area, Whetstone Pond and Agate Lake will be visited as we bird the hotspots north of Medford along I5. The easy-going rating is based on the four easy stops with plenty of car birding in between (FRS Radios are encouraged). Leaders: Kimball Garrett, Denis Vroman.



TRIP 8 and 12 (SOLD OUT) Departs 7.00 a.m. Lot A
Great-gray Owl. Join local BLM wildlife biologists who study Great-gray Owls in the Ashland area. It will be a 45-minute drive to the study area where they have several individual owls radio tagged. They will use telemetry to locate the birds so that everyone can try a get a glimpse. Vocalizations and other lures may be used to get better views. With time they will visit historical nest sites and possibly wintering areas. The terrain will be mostly gentle with good road access and short cross-country hikes. Rating: Fine. Leaders: Steve Godwin, Rich Hoyer, Dave Krueper.



TRIP 9 and 13
Siskiyou County Loop Departs: 6:15 a.m. Lot B

Siskiyou County, California with the Klamath Refuge System and square miles of U.S. Forest Service land has some great birding locations. We will loop down I5 to Yreka and then Grenada we will bird the Shasta Valley State Wildlife Area on our way to Lake Shastina and then up to Uncle Tom Lake or the Butte Valley depending on the scouting report. The return drive will loop back through the Shasta Valley (Tri-colored Blackbird) and Montague. The rating is tougher based on the distance that has to be covered and back, but if you're a Siskiyou County birder this trip's for you. Leaders: Gjon Hazard, Tristan McKee.



TRIP 10 and 17 Departs: 6:15 a.m. Lot A
High Elevation Siskiyou Crest. This trip will be to high elevation forest and sub-alpine meadows. Mount Ashland, and the Siskiyou Crest will be traversed as we wind our way into the local mountains looking for White-headed Woodpecker, Cassin's Finch and Green-tailed Towhee. >From this border crest Mount Shasta looms as a sentinel to the south. The tougher rating is based on the fact that forested hills can be hit or miss and ear birding will be a big part of the species tally. However, the county annotated checklist states that "This is an especially good drive to take in August-September when young of the year and migrants throng the mountain meadows." A pickup or SUV would be recommended and the carpool will be strictly enforced to reduce congestion and dust on the narrow gravel portion of the Siskiyou Crest to Dutchman Peak. Forest Service Hwy 20 then drops down to the Little Applegate River and the lower wooded slopes and valleys around Jacksonville. Leaders: Kimball Garrett, Noah Strycker.



TRIP 11 and 18 Departs: 6:00 a.m. Lot B

California Birding.This trip is just that, a visit "south of the border" to see what there is to offer. Both days will have the benefit of previous birding and scouting to know where some good sightings can be had. Don't forget to fuel up and be prepared to be flexible. This trip will chase any rarities that have been found to the south during the meetings Rating: Hard-Going. Leaders:Rob Hewitt.



TRIP 19 Departs: 6:45 a.m. Lot B
Bird Banding on the Rogue. (Sunday only) The Klamath Bird Observatory banding station at Wildlife Images will be visited for this trip. After the banding session there will be a tour of this well run and quite substantial Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. Be sure to pick up a Wildlife Images brochure at the field trips table. Rating: Easy Going



WORKSHOP 9 Departs: 6:00 a.m. Lot A

Banding Techniques. (Saturday only) The Klamath Bird Observatory will be hosting a workshop to improve your banding technique. Experienced banders will go over the basics and demonstrate some more advanced techniques. John Alexander, director at KBO heads this one up. Rating: Fine


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