Subject: [Tweeters] Lake Co, Oregon, day 1, 6/16/08
Date: Jun 24 08:43:00 2008
From: Mark Vernon - ma_vern at yahoo.com











I have recently returned from a trip to Lake County, Oregon, primarily to Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge. I would like to share some of my observations. As I am no expert on the birds or wildlife of this part of Oregon I may have missed some things.
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Most of my first day was spent traveling to Hart Mountain, so many great locations were bypassed. Toppenish....Satus Pass....Goldendale....the lava lands around Bend....but I did get to stop at Fort Rock, in Lake County, Oregon. Here I saw my first Ferruginous Hawk, a very spectacular raptor. White-throated Swifts and Cliff Swallows were very active around the cliffs of Fort Rock. There were a number of Black-tailed Hares that hopped about nearby.?
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Summer Lake and the Chewaucan Valley were really active, though I didn't get a chance to stop. I did see a Golden Eagle, Wilson's Snipe, Willet and Long-billed Curlew. It turned dark before we got to the little town of Plush. There was a full moon, so all of the mountains and the escarpment of Hart Mountain looked a bit surreal. Crossing the Warner Lakes was messy because of all of the insects. As they hit the windshield the sound was like soft rain. Some made splats of blood, and indeed most of them turned out to be mosquitoes. The next day the front of the car was covered with them. We arrived at the?main camping site in the Hart Mountain Refuge. This is called Hot Springs Camp.
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To be continued....
Mark Vernon
Renton, WA
mailto ma_vern at yahoo.com