Summary of OR/WA/ID Sagebrush Country Trip, May-June 2023

In January 2016 an armed group of protestors 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 in 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 the 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.  Many years ago 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 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 southern ID, then into eastern OR, next into southeastern WA, then back to ID for flights back home from Boise.  With pretty good statelists in ID (224), OR (249), and WA (267), my potential for new statebirds wasn’t too great.  I hoped to add perhaps 8 new birds in ID, 28 in OR, and 12 in WA.  Adding just 48 new statebirds was kind of a low tally for such a long trip, even though this was a new part of the country for me.  But for better or worse, I’m at the point of diminishing returns in my statebirding endeavors.

This blog post presents a brief summary of the entire trip.  My next 3 posts summarize the ID, OR, and WA portions of the trip.

Entire Trip Results, May 24-June 3

David and I were able to find 188 species on the trip as we chased after our targets over numerous, diverse habitats across the region.  A total of 67 of these were new statebirds, well over my target for the trip in each state.  That brings my “Total Ticks” (sum of all my state and province lists) to 15,114.  Here’s a summary of the trip by the numbers –

• 21 waterfowl species (not bad for a semi-arid region)
• 7 gallinaceous species
• 10 raptors
• 5 owls
• 7 woodpeckers
• 10 flycatchers
• 6 wrens
• 15 sparrows, and
• 10 warblers (it was out west after all)

Here is a link to my eBird trip report for the overall trip - ID-OR-WA 2023 Trip - eBird Trip Report

ID Trip Results - May 24-25, June 2-3

We found 112 species in ID, 10 of which were new for my statelist.  That brings my total to 234. Notable was a striking Black-throated Sparrow at Oolite Trail in Owyhee County.  Unfortunately, the sparrow’s dry sagebrush habitat isn’t nearly as attractive as the sparrow.

We also saw at least 4 Prairie Falcons at these canyons at Swan Falls Park in the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area in Ada County.

A final personal highlight was finally seeing a Say’s Phoebe in ID, this one was at Dedication Point in Ada County.  This sighting was notable because David and I had completed many unsuccessful searches for this species the previous year in the ID panhandle.

Oregon Trip Results, May 26-30, June 2

We tallied 166 species in OR including 41 new statebirds.  That brings my new total to 290, well over the old ABA threshold.  We found 3 rarities – Virginia’s Warbler at Malheur NWR, Boreal Owl at Idlewild Campground in Harney County, and Wood Thrush (only the 6th state record) at Philberg Road in Union County.  We were also able to track down 3 other rarities found by others at Malheur NWR – Least Flycatcher and 2 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.  The Grosbeaks were most cooperative, as they fed in the same tree where they were first discovered 10 hours earlier!

Interesting that both species that allowed me to reach the ABA reportable goal (Virginia’s Warbler) and my ABA reportable plus 15 goal (Rose-breasted Grosbeak) were rarities.  It’s nice when it happens that way.

Finally, finding a Black-backed Woodpecker nest in a recent burn next to the Idlewild Campground was very exciting.  Here’s the female just before it replaced the male on the nest likely incubating eggs.

Washington Trip Results, May 30-June 2

We found 112 species in WA, 16 of which were new for my statelist, increasing my total to 283.  Notable were a Gray Partridge in Walla Walla and an out-of-place Chukar in sagebrush in Benton County, nicely illuminated at dawn in this picture.

A final highlight was several Green-tailed Towhees singing from isolated patches of thick brush on slopes below Biscuit Ridge in Walla Walla County – just about the only spot to find them in all of WA.  One was singing from the brush in the middle of this picture.  And the scenery was nice as well!