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!
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.
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