Oregon Portion of the Northwest Sagebrush Country Trip, Part 2 of 2, May-June 2023

This post summarizes the second half of the Oregon portion of my sagebrush country trip starting on Day 5 of the trip.  The previous blog post summarized the first half of the OR part of the trip on Days 2-4.  See my next post for the Washington part of the trip.

Day 5 – May 28 - Idlewild Campground and La Grande

Our plan for Day 5 was to start our day a short distance north at the Idlewild Campground in the Malheur National Forest, starting pre-dawn and then birding there through much of the morning.  The campground and surrounding area were at an elevation of about 5,000 feet in forest dominated by Ponderosa pines.  Needless to say our targets here were quite different from those at the refuge, most notably including 3 woodpecker species – Black-backed and White-headed Woodpeckers and Red-naped Sapsucker.  

But perhaps even more exciting were the nocturnal species often heard near the campground.  This spot was seemingly reliable for Flammulated Owl and Poorwill.  Plus apparently Long-eared Owl was a possibility.  Although sightings of this sensitive species are not detailed in eBird, I noticed a couple nocturnal checklists from the site in previous years mentioning in the details that they heard Flammulateds near where the Long-eareds were heard.  Plus there were occasional Pygmy Owl reports here too.  Certainly a target-rich environment.

We arrived near the entrance to the Idlewild Campground at 4:10 AM, more than an hour before sunrise.  We got out of the car and listened for a while, hearing a Poorwill calling in the distance.  Then we started playing tape for Flammulated Owl, and shortly thereafter had one call in response (OR statebird #26).  That’s only the 4th time I’ve heard this species, following single observations in CA, NV, and UT.  Then we played recordings of the hoots of the Long-eared Owl, and got an almost immediate response of a series of higher-pitched nasal calls that neither of us recognized.  I checked other Long-eared calls on the Sibley app and realized that what we were hearing was a match to the “Harsh hoots (female)” call (OR statebird #27).  I didn’t even know that Long-ears made that call.  My statebird map for this species is a bit unusual.  Although I’ve seen or heard this species in all 5 of the western-most Lower 48 states, and a couple states on the East Coast, I’ve yet to observe it across the vast majority of its range throughout much of the country.

While we were listening to the Owls several Dusky Flycatchers started calling nearby (OR statebird #28).  That was an expected species at this spot, but not necessarily expected to be calling still 45 minutes before sunrise.

We then drove a short distance down NF 2820 on the north side of the campground and came upon a large parking lot for snowmobilers.  We thought this large “clearing” in the forest might be a good location from which to listen for other calling nocturnal birds, so we pulled in to check it out.  We had been out of the car just a short time when I heard what at first I thought was a Snipe winnowing.  But we it was odd to hear a Snipe before dawn, and especially one in the middle of a pine forest.  And then I said “unless it’s a Boreal Owl”.  The bird continued to call every 45 seconds or so, giving a series of short hoots that started soft and got louder, and lacked the metallic quality of a Snipe.  We were shocked to have found a Boreal Owl! (OR statebird #29).  Per “Handbook of Oregon Birds” by Herlyn and Contreras (2009), this species nests near the northeast corner of OR, but is not known to breed this far south in the state.  That’s only my 3rd Boreal Owl, the first 2 being in MA and AK.  What an amazing start to the morning – 4 new statebirds before sunrise!

It was now daylight and time to switch gears to start looking for diurnal birds.  We drove into the campground and started making a slow walk around the campground loop.  The Ponderosa pine habitat is one of my favorites.

We had only walked a short distance when we heard woodpecker tapping sounds up ahead.  As we approached closer a woodpecker flew by – it was a White-headed Woodpecker (OR statebird #30).  It joined a second bird, and we watched these gorgeous birds for quite a while as they foraged nearby.  Here’s a heavily cropped photo of one of the birds.

We continued our walk around the campground and started to hear a harsh call in the distance that I didn’t recognize.  I played some tape and realized it was a Clark’s Nutcracker (OR statebird #31).  And Merlin confirmed it as well.  I just need this species in 2 more states in its regular range.

We were now walking along the western access road of the campground in just about the only patch of deciduous trees in the area.  I mentioned that this could be a good spot for our Sapsucker target since they prefer aspens.  And just then I noticed some movement in some low trees nearby and spotted a Red-naped Sapsucker (OR statebird #32).  It’s nice when your targets cooperate.

Our next target was Black-backed Woodpecker which had been reported in previous years in a recent burn along NF 2820.  There was a recent burn on the north side of the road near the campground, so we assumed that was the one in question.  We started slowly walking through the burn area – most all the underbrush had burned in the fire, and all the tree trunks were charred though few of the trees were killed.  The area was actually quite birdy, with a number of both Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches, a pair of Western Bluebirds (I need that one in ID later in the trip!), Cassin’s Finches, and “Oregon” Juncos.  Plus we spent some time watching Townsend’s Solitaires as they sang in flight high above the trees.  We didn’t know that that’s their typical approach for singing on territory.

But we had no woodpeckers of any species.  Though most of the charred trees had bark chipped off with piles of bark chips near the base, so we remained hopeful.

We had spent nearly an hour wandering through the forest and were thinking of giving up when we heard a drumming call in the distance.  It was similar to the call on the Sibley app, and Merlin thought it was a Black-backed too, but we needed to be sure.  A recording of the Black-backed call is uploaded to my eBird checklist - ebird.org/checklist/S139676839

We walked closer to the call and eventually a large woodpecker flew in and landed nearby – it was indeed a male Black-backed Woodpecker (OR statebird #33).  We watched it forage on trees nearby and then it just disappeared.  We walked around the last tree it was on and David spotted a nest hole.  Not only had we found a Black-backed Woodpecker, we had found a nest!  A bit later another Black-back called in the distance and this second bird flew in – it was the female. 

A couple minutes later we watched a nest exchange as the male flew out and the female flew in to take his place.  So cool!  Later we had another Black-back on the Summit Trail on the other side of the campground giving us 3 in one morning.

It was now about time to head out, and as we started our drive from Idlewild Campground a Green-tailed Towhee flew by.  A nice way to end our morning.  We had only 31 species in nearly 7 hours of birding at the campground, but we sure had some great birds.

Our hotel that night was in La Grande, 3+ hours to the north.  But along the way we had one target to pursue – Grasshopper Sparrow at the Thief Valley Reservoir.  There were several reports of that species there in previous years, and just a couple so far this year, but locations weren’t very detailed.  So I reached out to one of the birders who had reported the sparrow there this year, Nolan Clements, for some advice.  Nolan provided us excellent input on the best location to find the Grasshopper Sparrows, and offered to help on our other targets as well.  His help would prove to be invaluable on several of these other chases too. 

But first back to the Grasshopper Sparrow – Nolan gave us specific coordinates of the best location, which took us to the edge of a grassy field being grazed by cows.  We walked a short distance along the fence line and played some tape but got no responses. 

We then drove to another part of the field but the grass there was more heavily grazed and didn’t look like it would be as appealing to our target.  In fact, the best habitat seemed to be back where we first stopped, where there was a strip of taller grasses close to the fence.  So we went back there and played more tape.  This time we heard a weak response and then spotted a Grasshopper Sparrow that perched on the fence long enough to allow me to get this digi-binned photo (OR statebird #34).  We should have just stayed at the initial location suggested by Nolan. 

Our last stop of the day was Deal Canyon in La Grande where Nolan suggested we might find Calliope Hummingbird.  We parked at the bottom of Deal Canyon Rd. and started walking up the paved road that took us into the canyon.  The road was quite steep so luckily there were a quite number of birds to look at while we rested along the way to catch our breath.  At one point I spotted an Orange-crowned Warbler in the brush (our only one of the trip), and then spotted a Nashville Warbler in the same patch of brush (OR statebird #35).  We would later have 3 more singing Nashville’s on the way up.  Unfortunately we couldn’t come up with any hummingbirds.  At least the view was nice.

Nolan mentioned that if we missed Calliope at Deal Canyon he could contact his parents who live in La Grande to see if we could look for them at their feeders.  So on our way down I called Nolan and left him a message to see if we could visit their feeders the next day.  But more on that tomorrow.

Yet another day of double-digit new statebirds!

Day 6 -May 29 - La Grande Area

We only had 2 planned stops for the day on the west side of the Wallowa Mountains, which at most would fill about half the day.  So with extra time on our hands I did some more eBird research the night before to see if anything else might be around to chase after.  There was a recent report of Great-tailed Grackle a short distance from town that was confirmed by the eBird reviewer, so that one would be worthwhile to try for.  And just in case we were unable to reach Nolan’s parents I put together a list of other Calliope Hummingbird sightings in the area, though all were at private residences.  That one might take some effort…

Our first stop was the riparian area along Philberg Rd.  That road would dead-end at a parking area and the beginning of a foot trail that would take us into the next hotspot, Rhinehart Canyon, with more riparian habitat.  We had 3 remaining targets possible at both sites – Calliope Hummingbird, Veery, and Catbird.  Though Nolan mentioned that Veery can be difficult in the Canyon but are vocal along Philberg Rd so be sure to drive along slowly with our windows down.

We arrived at the north end of Philberg Rd. at 5 AM just a couple minutes before sunrise and began our slow drive south.  We had come no more than a quarter mile with windows down as Nolan suggested when I heard what I thought was a singing Wood Thrush from the hillside above the road.  We quickly got out of the car and amazingly it was indeed a singing Wood Thrush! (OR statebird #36)  We listened to it singing its “e-o-lay” and similar songs for the next 15 minutes.  A recording of the Wood Thrush is uploaded to my eBird checklist - ebird.org/checklist/S139728975.  Although there are many other birds singing at the time drowning out the Wood Thrush, it is best heard 2 seconds into the recording.

We knew it was a rarity for OR but didn’t know just how rare it was until later – there are only 5 prior accepted records in the state!  This species normally only gets as far west as the eastern portion of the Great Plains.  Interestingly that was my second Wood Thrush as a western vagrant – I photographed a bird in NM years ago.

It was quite anti-climactic, but while we were listening to the Wood Thrush we also had a singing Veery (OR statebird #37).  And minutes later we had the first of many Catbirds, which were one of the most common birds there (OR statebird #38). 

After birding along Philberg Rd. for about an hour we reached the end of the road and the parking lot for the Rhinehart Canyon trail.  We then went on foot and headed south into the canyon.  Catbirds continued to be common, but as Nolan predicted, we had no more Veerys.  Canyon Wrens were common singers from the rocks above us, and the riparian area was quite birdy featuring many Bullock’s Orioles, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Yellow Warblers, Nashville Warblers, and the like. 

Then we reached the bridge that formerly was sturdy enough for vehicles but was now only a footbridge.  Three boulders had been placed at the end of the bridge to prevent anyone from driving onto it, and the foot trail continued along hugging the left edge of the left boulder.  Just as I stepped near the boulder about to get onto the bridge I heard an odd sound that startled me and I quickly stepped back.  From a distance we peered under the boulder and there was a very large head of a rattlesnake.  We thought it might be 5 feet long!  Here’s a picture of the snake tucked in under the boulder.

Since that was the only way onto the bridge and the rest of the trail beyond we decided not to tempt fate and turned around and headed back to the car.  Though it was tough to leave this nice habitat behind.

On our way back to the main road we stopped at the Wood Thrush spot on Philberg Rd. but could no longer hear the Thrush.  Hopefully it was still there for others to hear it later on.

We got back to La Grande and tried calling Nolan again but it once again went to voicemail.  [It turns out that Nolan was birding out of cellphone range at the time.]  We didn’t want to leave town without the Calliope, so we decided to try a couple of the private feeders to see if we might be able to gain access.  One of those feeders where Calliope had been reported was on Morgan Lake Road but it turned out that the feeders were not visible from the road.  I was tempted to knock on the door but the fenced front yard kept me from getting to the door.  Then I noticed a hummingbird feeder across the road, and watched it from a distance for a short while when a male Rufous Hummingbird came in for a visit.  Worried about continuing to stare into people’s backyards with binoculars, I knocked on the front door but no one was home. 

We decided that was enough trying to access private feeders unannounced.  Then David went onto one of his favorite people search websites and potentially found the phone number for Nolan’s parents.  I gave the number a call but could only leave a message, hoping that we had the correct number but apologizing in the message if we had it all wrong.  (If only there was such a thing as a phone book again.)

Then we went off to chase after the recently reported Great-tailed Grackle.  The report came from a wetland a short distance southeast of La Grande along Airport Rd.  The wetlands was very birdy, featuring 9 species of waterfowl and 3 Black-necked Stilts.  And we had the regular Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds, but no Grackles.  Just then my phone rang and it was Nolan’s father, Steve Clements – we had the correct number after all.  He was fine with us coming by to watch his feeders.  But first he gave us another suggested spot for the Grackle – just around the corner on Wilkinson Lane.  We went over to Wilkinson Lane and ran into a small group of birders at another marsh.  There were once again quite a number of birds there but no Grackle.  They mentioned that the Grackle actually hadn’t been seen there for a few days, and suggested trying another nearby spot, the Grande Hot Springs RV Resort, where one bird (or perhaps the bird) had been reported.  So we took a quick drive over to the RV park but came up empty again. 

We decided it was time to give up on the Great-tailed Grackle, and head to the Clements’ back yard to try for their Calliope.  After a short drive we arrived at Steve’s house and he and his wife greeted us at their backyard gate.  They offered us chairs on the back porch and we started our vigil for our target hummingbird. 

While we waited we mentioned that we had a singing Wood Thrush earlier in the day, to which Steve said something like – “oh you’re the ones that had the Thrush.”  The news had apparently traveled fast, and other birders had already tried unsuccessfully for it after we posted the eBird checklist.  Steve then made a quick call to Trent Bray who is the eBird reviewer for the area, mentioning that we were at his house looking for hummingbirds.  Trent came by a few minutes later and we had an opportunity to describe our sighting to him in person – certainly better than just having the eBird reviewer evaluate our description written down in a checklist.  Trent and Steve were both thinking about trying to re-find the Thrush, and I suggested trying again this evening rather than the next morning in case the bird decided to migrate out of the area overnight. 

But now back to the hummingbirds...

After a short wait a female hummer visited the feeder close to us on the porch.  It most often fed from the far side of the feeder out of view but came around occasionally showing buffy flanks and faint streaking on the throat.  A bit later another female hummingbird arrived, this one lacked the buffy flanks of our first bird and was pumping its tail.  But we couldn’t see a noticeable size difference.  After some discussion we decided the first bird was a Calliope and the second was a Black-chinned, and the size difference was difficult to tell at such a close distance.  Later a hummingbird visited the feeder out in the yard and this one was obviously a smaller Calliope (OR statebird #39).  OR was the last state where I needed this species in its regular range.  I’ve also seen Calliopes in 7 eastern and central states as rarities.

With our target bird out of the way, and some time now on our hands, we had a nice chat with Trent and Steve, especially focused on our trip.  Steve mentioned that he had heard that just after we left the birding group on Wilkinson Lane the Great-tailed Grackle appeared.  We thought about heading out right away to chase after it.  But then Steve said that there was a small colony of Great-tailed Grackles in Ontario, OR.  We would be driving right through Ontario in a couple days on our way from WA back to Boise so we decided to give them a try in a few days instead.  We also talked a bit about our planned walk the next morning at the McCully Creek Trail and Trent and Steve gave us great advice for birding that spot as well.  But now it was time to get back on the road, so we thanked them for all their help as we headed out and wished them good luck on re-finding the Wood Thrush.

It turns out that Trent was able to re-find the Wood Thrush that evening, getting a much better recording of the singing bird than mine.

Our hotel that night was in Enterprise, OR, just over an hour away.  It was still pretty early when we checked in, so we decided to do some scouting for the next day’s walk at McCully Creek Trail.  The trail was on the north side of the Wallowa Mountains just south of the town of Joseph.  The scenery was nothing short of spectacular - this panoramic view just doesn’t do it justice.

There were a couple options for places to park and locations to pick up the trailhead so we were glad to have checked it all out in advance.  And after a bit of exploring we thought we had it figured out and were ready for the next day’s hike.

Day 7 – May 30 - McCully Creek Trail and Drive to Walla Walla

Our plan was to bird McCully Creek Trail on foot for much of the morning before starting to make our way toward Walla Walla for the WA portion of the trip.  The key attractions for this trail are Grouse – all three species of them.  In fact, this spot is among the best in the state for Spruce Grouse.  Plus there is the chance for a number of other boreal species like Pine Grosbeak, Goshawk, 3-toed Woodpecker, etc. 

Given our interest in the Grouse we wanted to be the first ones on the trail, so we arrived at 5 AM, a few minutes before sunrise, and started our hike.  We walked along slowly looking for Grouse both on the ground and perched in the trees.  Soon after we started we heard a drumming Ruffed Grouse – definitely a nice start.  We were picking up a few birds here and there like Mountain Chickadee, both Kinglets, and Hermit and Swainson’s Thrushes.  Then we started to hear low-pitched calls right next to us coming from the spruce underbrush that almost sounded like hoots.  We peered into the brush but it was too thick to see anything.  Whatever was making these sounds was moving because the hoots continued but slowly got farther away.  They sounded somewhat like the hoots of a Long-eared Owl, but that wouldn’t be likely at all this time of day, not to mention unlikely so close to the ground.  We were thinking it could be a Grouse walking on the ground, but the calls didn’t sound anything like any of the calls for any of the three Grouse species provided on the Sibley app.  Eventually the calls stopped and we were left scratching our heads.  We would have to do some research that evening to see if any of the Grouse make calls like these.

But for now, it was back to birding.  We continued up the trail and started picking up singing Fox Sparrows, “Oregon” Juncos, and Pacific Wrens from the underbrush.  And from overhead there were numerous Yellow-rumped and Townsend’s Warblers, Hammond’s Flycatchers, and Warbling Vireos.  Wetter brushy areas featured MacGillivray’s and Wilson’s Warblers.  One of our highlights was finding a couple groups of Chestnut-backed Chickadees – striking birds.  And a singing Olive-sided Flycatcher was a nice addition.  But we found no other boreal species, nor any more Grouse, even though we spent 5 hours on the trail, covering the first 1.5 miles, sometimes hiking through some remaining snow patches.

Although we were a bit disappointed when left the trail, our moods picked up that evening when I went onto xeno-canto.org and played several recordings of the Spruce Grouse.  It turns out one recording of “alarm calls” from northwest Montana was a nearly perfect match to what we heard near the beginning of the trail.  So that evening we decided that our mystery call was indeed from a Spruce Grouse (OR statebird #40).  Although there are a number of states where I’ve yet to see Spruce Grouse in its regular range, I’m very happy to have found this hard-to-see species in 8 states across the country.

On our way to Walla Walla we had one last stop in OR in the Umatilla National Forest near the OR/WA state line.  There was a spot right along the highway where 3-toed Woodpeckers were seen each of the last 2 years.  Although there were no reports in 2023, the eBird locations from 2021 and 2022 were pretty specific so at least we knew where to look.  We started from where the birds had been seen and walked along the road about a quarter mile in each direction but the only woodpecker we found was a Flicker.  Though 4 flyover Red Crossbills were nice consolations.  Soon thereafter we bid farewell to OR and were off to WA!

Days 7-9- Washington 

See my next blog post for the WA portion of our trip on Days 7 through 9.

Day 10 – June 2 - Ontario, OR

We left Walla Walla around sunrise and were on our way to Boise and searches for several targets in ID.  But along the way, we had one last stop to make in OR – in Ontario for the Great-tailed Grackle.  A quick search of eBird showed that there were 2 seemingly reliable spots for them in town – Beck-Kiwanis Park, and the Walmart parking lot.  The park sounded like a much better habitat to bird, so we started our search there.  We pulled into the parking lot for the park and it looked like a typical county park with lawns and scattered trees and some ballfields.  But off to the north we could see a pond and wetlands, likely better habitat for the Grackles.  Before the car had even stopped I spotted a blackbird perched on a footbridge at the wetlands.  I put the bird in my binocs and it was indeed a Great-tailed Grackle (OR statebird #41).  I got this marginal digi-binned photo of the bird in the distance.  

OR was my 17th state for this species which continues to expand its range.

Conclusion

We ended the trip with a whopping 166 species in OR, a testament to that fact that we birded so many different habitats in and around sagebrush country.  And most importantly that included 41 new statebirds, much better than the 28 I hoped for.  That brings my statelist to 290, greatly exceeding both the old ABA reportable threshold (259) as well as my “ABA reportable plus 15” goal (274).  Note that as of May 2023 the official OR statelist stands at 548 – meaning that the new threshold for half of the total would be 274.  Looks like just being 15 over the old threshold isn’t enough to stay above half the statelist total. 

I have now exceeded the old ABA thresholds in all the Lower 48 states and the District of Columbia.  Interesting that both of the OR species that allowed me to reach the ABA threshold (Virginia’s Warbler) and my “ABA reportable plus 15” goal (Rose-breasted Grosbeak) were rarities.  It’s nice when it happens that way.

Here is a link to my eBird Trip Report for the OR portion of our trip –

OR Portion of 2023 Sagebrush Country Trip - eBird Trip Report

Many thanks to Ezra Cohen for his help at Malheur NWR, and northeastern OR birders Nolan and Steve Clements and Trent Bray for all their help on so many of our searches.  And thanks to Steve for allowing us to visit his hummingbird feeders.

Oregon Portion of the Northwest Sagebrush Country Trip, Part 1 of 2, May-June 2023

In January 2016 an armed group of protesters seized and occupied the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon.  By the time the occupation was over in February 2016, there was a considerable amount of destruction of the refuge facilities, resulting in closure of the headquarters facilities for months.  Unfortunately, I had planned a summer 2016 birding trip to the sagebrush country of eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and southern Idaho to include a lengthy stop at Malheur NWR.  But given the issues at Malheur I shelved those plans and headed to Alberta and British Columbia that summer instead. 

But my interests in birding eastern OR, eastern WA, and southern ID continued as this was the last large section of the Lower 48 that I had not yet birded.  And a new part of the country for me would equate to considerable statebirding potential.  So after further delays first due to moving, and then due to Covid, I finally got around to scheduling the OR/WA/ID sagebrush country trip for the summer of 2023.  Plus I added a short side- trip to the South Hills of ID for Cassia Crossbill.  I reached out to birding friend David Donsker who often joins me on these trips, and he agreed to come along. 

But simply adding a lot of statebirds wasn’t my only objective for the trip.  Years ago, the ABA allowed you to report your totals for a given state only if your total exceeded half of the total number of species ever recorded in that state.  Early in my birding career I had set a goal to be able to report my totals to the ABA in each of the continental 49 states.  Eventually I exceeded those thresholds in each state except one – OR.  Although those ABA reporting thresholds no longer exist, they still represent a logical set of standards to strive for in each state.  And since the state totals inch up over the years as new birds are added to the official state list, I set a somewhat arbitrary goal of being 15 over those old ABA thresholds (I call it “ABA plus 15”).  I started the 2023 trip with 249 species in OR, just 10 shy of that old ABA reportable threshold.  So this was certainly a realistic secondary objective for this trip.

After considerable research on-line especially on eBird, and with invaluable advice from a number of local birders, I set up an 11-day itinerary from May 24th to June 3rd, starting in Boise and southern ID, then into eastern OR, next into southeastern WA, then back to ID for flights back home.  And with 5 days birding in OR I hoped to add perhaps 28 new birds.

This blog post presents the first of two parts of the OR portion of the trip on Days 2 through 4.  The next post summarizes the second part of the OR portion starting with Day 5.  The subsequent post summarizes the WA portion.  My previous posts briefly summarized the entire trip and the ID portion. 

Day 2 – May 25 – Drive to Burns

After birding the morning in the South Hills in southeastern ID we spent the rest of the day driving west to Burns, OR to be in position to start the next day pre-dawn at Malheur NWR.  And of course we birded along the way.  Although we were driving through some pretty desolate habitat we did pick up my first OR statebird along the way – the first of many Swainson’s Hawks.  My statebird map for this species is inserted below.  Blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this western species; the cross-hatched states are those in its regular range where I’ve yet to see it.

Also, when we got close to Burns we started to run into some flooded fields, and spotted a pair of Ring-billed Gulls feeding in one of them.  They turned out to be the only ones for us in OR.

Day 3 – May 26 – Malheur NWR

Our plan was to spend the entire day birding the northern portions of Malheur NWR, starting with nocturnal searches for Poorwill and Short-eared Owl.  Interestingly, there were very few sightings of either species there yet this year.  So for Poorwill I went back to 2022 sightings, and found several reports just north of the Field Station, including a couple with birds sitting in the road.  We made that our first stop, turning onto the road to the Field Station at 4:15 AM.  We drove along slowly but didn’t see any birds on the road.  Then we arrived at the butte just north of the Field Station and got out to listen.  Almost instantly we heard a Poorwill calling from the butte (OR statebird #2).  Nice when a search for a nocturnal bird comes out so well.  I just need this species in 3 more states across its western range.

Our next target was Short-eared Owl.  There were only a few scattered 2022 records for this species in the area, and only 1 so far this year.  The 2023 report seemed like it was in a good habitat, and was nearby, so we drove over to that location and started our vigil for the Owl just as the skies were starting to get light. 

We unfortunately struck out on the Owl, but the grassy fields nearby held a singing Vesper Sparrow (OR statebird #3), which turned out to be our only one of the trip.  That was a pretty good start of the day – 1 of 2 nocturnal targets plus one bonus bird.

It was now closing in on sunrise, so it was time to head to the Headquarters where we planned to bird the oasis hoping for a nice fallout.  Just after getting out of the car we ran into a small flock of Western Kingbirds (OR statebird #4) pestering a Great Horned Owl.  And the cottonwoods held small groups of Western Tanagers and Bullock’s Orioles.  We walked over to the hummingbird feeders and saw several female Black-chinneds making extended visits (OR statebird #5). 

In the distance beyond the hummingbird feeders were these extensive wetlands that would eventually deserve a detailed scoping. 

But with a quick scan I spotted a small flock of Black Terns dancing over the marsh (OR statebird #6), several Blue-winged Teal (OR statebird #7) mixed in with Cinnamon Teal, and a couple fly-by White-faced Ibis (OR statebird #8).  And then I looked up just in time to spot a high-flying Franklin’s Gull (OR statebird #9) – surprisingly the only one we would see at Malheur where it is supposed to be common.  In my statebird map below the brown-shaded eastern states are those where I’ve seen this species as a rarity.

But the marsh would have to wait, because we needed to focus on landbird migrants at the oasis.  And right on cue I turned just in time to watch a flock of a dozen Western Tanagers fly by.  Followed by at least 10 Orioles.  And all of this was within the first 15 minutes. 

David and I then started a slow walk around the Headquarters finding nearly constant activity and picking up quite a number of Yellow-rumps, Wilson’s Warblers, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Warbling Vireos and additional flocks of Orioles and Tanagers.  Numbers were difficult to estimate because so many birds were moving back and forth.  It was turning out to be a nice fallout, and we both thought that we had the “critical mass” to get a rarity (or 2). 

Then we had the moment we predicted – a drab gray warbler appeared in a small tree just 20 ft away.  It was gray above with an eyering and no wingbars, had bright yellow undertail coverts and a dark rump.  We had a rare female Viriginia’s Warbler, with only 17 prior accepted records in the state (OR statebird #10).  Unfortunately, we had it in view for only about 20 seconds before it flew off.  We alerted other nearby birders but it was not re-found that day.  Though there was another report of Virginia’s Warbler there the next day, also a female.  Perhaps the same bird?  I still need this species in several states around the periphery of its regular range.

That was my 10th new OR statebird, bringing my state list to 259 – the old ABA threshold.  Nice to reach the goal, but we had lots of OR birding ahead of us yet.

We spent another couple hours birding the trees in the oasis, picking up good numbers of the same species.  But we also added a few new species like Townsend’s Warbler, Cassin’s Vireo, Western Pewee, Lazuli Bunting, and finally a cooperative Ash-throated Flycatcher (OR statebird #11).  Then there were these Yellow-headed Blackbirds providing nice eye candy at one of the feeders.

Unfortunately news didn’t get out in time to chase after the male Indigo Bunting seen at one point just a few feet away from us. 

After the landbird activity slowed down we went back to get the scope and birded the wetlands.  We had 9 waterfowl species, 4 shorebirds, and more Black Terns along with my first Forster’s Tern (OR statebird #12).  Plus close looks at the swallows feeding overhead gave us 5 species including my first Banks (OR statebird #13).  I just need Bank Swallow in one more state plus D.C. to complete my statebird map for this species.

As we walked back to the car we were alerted by others to this baby Great Horned Owl.

What a morning!  In 4 hours at the Headquarters we tallied 59 species including 10 new ones for my OR statelist.  Not to mention a significant rarity.  We also made a good birding connection while we were there – a young birder named Ezra Cohen who would end up alerting us to a couple other rarities later in the trip.  But the day was young – we had lots of stops ahead of us yet.

Our next target bird was Black-throated Sparrow seen last year, along with another target Sagebrush Sparrow, on the south side of the south butte at the Field Station.  We drove back to the Field Station but couldn’t find any trails leading from the buildings to the butte.  We then drove around to the south side of the butte hoping to find a trail but found the access road to the area was closed.  We decided to pass on this spot, with 3 other possible locations for these targets.  Though I did get my first Sage Thrasher for the state (OR statebird #14).  Hopefully I’m just as successful with this species in WA later in the trip.

The next stop was Saddle Butte which was another potential spot for both Black-throated and Sagebrush Sparrows.  But as we drove south along the west edge of the butte on Route 205 we couldn’t find a place to pull off this busy road.  Maybe we could try it again later heading north and find a safe spot to park.  That is unless we found these species at our next stop at Diamond Craters.  Along the way we came upon an overlook for the Buena Vista Ponds.  Quite a nice view of the wetlands below!

And while we scanned below we heard a Say’s Phoebe singing from the rocks nearby.  That’s not a song I hear very often.  And then we heard a song that we were very familiar with – at least one Yellow-breasted Chat was singing in the brush down below us (OR statebird #15).

After we snaked our way around the Buena Vista Ponds we made our way to Diamond Craters where both Sagebrush and Black-throated Sparrows were reported last year.  This area had some very unique volcanic rock formations, but few birds.

We couldn’t find any noticeable trails through the sagebrush, and in fact the vegetation was pretty meager.

But we had at least one more spot for the sparrows – along Foster Flat Road.  After a short drive we made it to this gravel road running through some very nice sagebrush habitat.  We made several stops playing tape for both sparrow species but with no luck.  Then we finally got a response from a Sagebrush Sparrow and eventually found it perched on a sagebrush (OR statebird #16). 

As we continued down the road playing Black-throated Sparrow tape we came to an area with exposed rocks.  David suggested that we play some Chukar tape as well – he had good instincts.  At our next stop we heard some “chuck” calls behind us and spotted this calling Chukar perched on the rocks (statebird #17). 

That was a great find, but we still needed Black-throated Sparrow.  We doubled back to 205, and headed north toward Saddle Butte.  This time we found a spot that seemed to be wide enough to pull over, and started to walk through the sagebrush looking for our target. 

We were able to find a couple more Sagebrush Sparrows, a Sage Thrasher, and several Lark Sparrows, but no Black-throated.  And there were some nice wildflowers too.

I guess in retrospect we should have tried harder to access the Field Station butte location.

It was now getting pretty late in the day but we had one more stop on the way back to our hotel in Burns.  There were quite a number of Burrowing Owl sightings just north of Malheur so far this year, though specific locations weren’t provided for most sightings.  One key exception was a sighting along Ruh-Red S Rd. with the location listed as - “North side of road.  Just east of telephone pole F129”.  That sounded pretty specific.  And it was – after a short drive along the dirt road we found the correct telephone pole and started our search.  And just a few seconds later David spotted the diminutive owl low in front of a pile of dirt that had been excavated from the hole (OR statebird #18).  A bit later the Owl walked a bit higher up on the pile to let me get this phonescoped photo.

Despite our most successful day at Malheur NWR I still had 2 remaining water-related targets – Trumpeter Swan and Wilson’s Phalarope.  Both species had been seen in the last week at a number of locations around Burns.  Most spots were apparently flooded fields from the spring rains.  So after a quick dinner, we headed out to check 4 nearby spots where 1 or both targets had been seen recently.  But the fields at the first 2 spots were now dry – we were just a couple days too late.  Our third stop was at Foley Rd. and we initially thought that grassy field was dry too, but we realized some water remained when we spotted the heads of 3 tall shorebirds sticking above the grass – Greater Yellowlegs, Willet, and Long-billed Curlew.  Then while scanning the grasses I spotted a Wilson’s Phalarope flutter up out of the vegetation and fly off (OR statebird #19).  How lucky can you get?  If I can also find this species in WA later in the trip I would need it in just a few states in central US in its regular range, though I’ve seen it in a number of eastern states as a rarity.   

Our 4th stop also still had water, but no target birds.  Though we picked up Wigeon, Redhead, and Lesser Yellowlegs for the day. 

And what a day it was – we had 90 species, 19 of which were new for my OR list including a rare Virginia’s Warbler!

Day 4 – May 27 – Malheur NWR

Our plan for this day was to concentrate on the southern portion of Malheur NWR and a few areas just south of the refuge.  Since we still needed Short-eared Owl we would slowly drive the southern end of the Center Patrol Road (CPR) at first light hoping to find a hunting Short-ear.  Then at sunrise we would make our way to the oasis at P Ranch hoping for another nice fallout. 

We started our Owl search at 4:45 AM slowly driving several miles of the CPR but with no luck.  When we neared sunrise we turned around and headed back to P Ranch, having only netted a couple Black-crowned Night-herons.  I had just got done mentioning that the grassland in this area can be good for Bobolinks when we spotted one sitting in the road right in front of us (OR statebird #20).  That was easy.  I still need Bobolink in a couple states at the western edge of its breeding range, along with a few southern states where it is a migrant.

We arrived at P Ranch right on time and crossed our fingers for another fallout.  This was still a functioning ranch with a house and some out-buildings off limits.  But it was OK to bird the tall cottonwoods ringing the complex.  Plus a small river flowed by the ranch which was lined with riparian shrubs and small trees.  It all looked like it would be inviting to a migrant.  Unfortunately, it was slow with mostly nesting passerines and few migrants.  We had small numbers of Bullock’s Orioles and Western Tanagers in the trees, and good numbers of Willow Flycatchers, Yellow Warblers, and Chats in the riparian brush.  Plus a Say’s Phoebe around the buildings was a nice find.  So with birding being pretty slow, after about 90 minutes we decided to head to nearby Page Springs Campground to see if birding was any better there.

Page Springs Campground was touted as another good spot for migrant fallouts.  Plus we hoped for breeding Gray and Dusky Flycatchers along two trails there.  As we pulled into the campground we were greeted not by birds but by mosquitoes – hordes of mosquitoes.  We felt sorry for those camping there.  Birding in the campground was next to impossible, as was one trail that would take us into riparian habitat.  So we tried to head up into the hills above to lessen our blood loss.  But that trail was gated off, so I ended up just bushwacking my way upslope. 

The habitat quickly changed to a juniper forest with scattered undergrowth of sagebrush - nice for my breeding targets.  The first birds I found were several Black-throated Gray Warblers singing from the junipers.  Then as I continued my climb I started to hear a singing Empidonax that I wasn’t familiar with.  I played a bit of tape and soon realized I had a Gray Flycatcher as confirmed by Merlin (OR statebird #21).  I got some pretty nice views of the bird as it sang from the tops of the junipers.

I continued wandering through the forest but couldn’t find any Dusky Flycatchers.  That target would have to wait until the next day when we would be in some more good habitat for this species.

Here’s a picture of the Gray Flycatcher habitat and valley below.

We bid farewell to the campground (and its mosquitoes!) and then headed toward the Steens Mountains in search of Green-tailed Towhee.  But the road to the mountains was still closed apparently due to heavy snow cover.  So I went onto eBird to look for alternative locations and found several recent reports nearby at the Barnes Spring and Trail hotspot near Frenchglen.  And in fact, two recent reports seemed to put the Towhee right at the trailhead for the spring.  We parked the car at the trailhead and focused on a hillside above the lot with sparse sagebrush vegetation that looked like good Towhee habitat.  And sure enough after just a couple minutes we could hear a bird singing up the hill that I wasn’t familiar with.  Merlin suggested it was our target, which I confirmed by playing a bit of tape off the Sibley app (OR statebird #22).  I just need this species in a few states on the periphery of its range, including WA where we hoped to find it in a couple days.

Our next target was White-throated Swift which can be seen nesting on cliffs near Roaring Spring some 14 miles south of Frenchglen.  These cliffs can also be good for Chukars, but we no longer needed that one since we had the cooperative bird the day before.  Just after we arrived at the northern end of the cliffs we spotted a soaring adult Golden Eagle – a nice start.  And a bit later we found this remarkable nest which must be 10 feet tall.  The baby raptor on the nest is likely another Golden Eagle.

Unfortunately, those turned out to be the highlights of this spot since we never found the Swifts despite nearly an hour searching that stretch of the cliffs.  Try as we might, we could never turn any of the many Cliff and Violet-green Swallows flying around the cliffs into a Swift.

We now had an option to drive another 45 minutes south to an Oasis in the town of Fields for possible migrants, or head back north onto the refuge to search for waterbirds.  Given the limited migration we experienced at P Ranch, we decided to head back to the wetlands.  Our last realistic target waterbird was Trumpeter Swan, of which there were several recent reports in the wetlands in the southern half of the refuge, so we were optimistic. 

We soon were back to the CPR and started our drive north.  The southern mile or two passed through grasslands where we found Bobolinks in 3 different fields – we counted 11 singing birds.  We then drove from wetland to wetland looking for large white swimming birds but each time came up empty.  Though we picked up a few nice birds along the way including an American Bittern in flight, Caspian, Forster’s and Black Terns, and Marsh Wrens at several spots. 

Then we came to Benson Pond and found a lot of cars and birders milling about.  “Bird the birders” as I always say, so we got out to find out what was up.  We happened to run into our friend Ezra Cohen from the fallout at the Headquarters the day before and he said there was a singing Least Flycatcher up ahead in the small oasis at the pond’s edge.  It was first found the day before and had stuck around all this time.  We quickly took the short walk to the grove of trees finding an Ash-throated Flycatcher along the way.  Then after a short wait we heard the characteristic monotonous “chebek” calls of the Least Flycatcher.  We even got good views of the bird (OR statebird #23).  OR is now the third state where I’ve seen this species as a rarity.

As we headed back to the car we again noticed some activity among the birders.  They had found a very distant Trumpeter Swan.  The views weren’t the best even through the scope, but good enough (OR statebird #24).  OR was my 21st state for this species which is being re-introduced in much of its former range.

I texted Ezra to thank him for the tip on the Least Flycatcher and he responded by asking if we had seen the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks yet.  That was the first we had heard of them.  They had apparently been seen that morning in Frenchglen and Ezra gave me the coordinates of the tree where he had them.  That was more than 8 hours ago, so it wasn’t likely that the birds would still be there.  But it was only a short ride back to Frenchglen so we decided to give it a try.  I punched in the coordinates and we were off.

The coordinates took us to a small parking lot for a school in the town of Frenchglen.  I got out of the car and looked at the map to get my bearings.  The GPS put us just a few feet south of the Ezra’s tree.  I looked up and pointed to the apparent tree where the Grosbeaks had been seen in the morning and pointed right at a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak (OR statebird #25).  A few seconds later we spotted a second male in the same tree.  Remarkably the birds were still feeding on seeds in that tree (an elm) 8 hours after being first spotted.  And in fact, Ezra had the same bird, or a different bird, in that tree 2 days earlier. 

Later we found 3 Black-headed Grosbeaks feeding in that same tree.  Must be some tasty seeds.

OR was the 3rd state where I’ve seen Rose-breasted Grosbeak as a rarity.  This eastern species is definitely prone to vagrancy especially to western migrant traps.

And as my 25th new statebird for OR, that puts me at my “ABA plus 15” threshold.  Nice when the threshold is a rarity.  An excellent way to celebrate our day.  I may have only added 6 new statebirds that day, but it’s not often you can get 2 rarities (Least Flycatcher and Rose-breasted Grosbeak) in the same day.

 

See my next blog post for the continuation of the OR portion of the trip.