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.

Southern Idaho Portion of the Northwest Sagebrush Country Trip, 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. 

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.  With a pretty good statelist in ID (224) my potential for new statebirds there wasn’t too great, but I still hoped to add perhaps 8 new birds in ID.

This blog post presents a summary of the ID portion of the trip.  My previous post briefly summarized the entire trip.  The next 2 posts summarize the OR and WA portions of the trip.

Day 1 – May 24 – Boise and East

With on-time flights into Boise, David and I left the airport at about 2 PM.  We needed to eventually make our way to our hotel in Twin Falls to the east for the next day’s visit to the South Hills.  So I considered several targets that could be found east of Boise, finally selecting 2 key targets that were not only roughly on our way but also not too likely near the South Hills – Black-throated and Sagebrush Sparrows.  Black-throated Sparrow was only reliable at one hotspot – the Oolite Trail in Owyhee County.  And since Sagebrush Sparrows were seen on most lists submitted from this spot as well, I had the potential for 2 statebirds at one stop.  Now we just needed the birds to cooperate.

After about an hour’s drive we arrived at the small parking area for the Oolite Trail.  Actually there were two trails leading from the parking lot, and we chose the southern one to start.  The habitat was dry scattered sagebrush seemingly no different from the habitat seen throughout the area.

We walked a short distance finding a couple Lark Sparrows in the sagebrush, but little else.  A couple recent checklists mentioned the Black-throated would respond to taped calls, so with so much habitat to search we thought we’d give it a try.  And sure enough after playing just a couple songs a sparrow flew in.  Eventually it perched and with excellent views we had a striking Black-throated Sparrow (ID statebird #1).  What a handsome bird!  My statebird map for this species is inserted below.  Blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this southwestern species; the cross-hatched states are those in its regular range where I’ve yet to see it.

Next our attention turned to Sagebrush Sparrow.  We played a little tape of this species principally just to get acquainted with its song.  We listened for a while and thought we could hear one singing in the distance to the north.  So we retraced our tracks and headed back to the parking area to pick up the northern trail.  We were now closer to our singing bird and were pretty sure of the ID, but we kept walking on the trail to get closer and confirm it.  Eventually with of bit of scanning we spotted the singer – it was indeed a Sagebrush Sparrow perched on a sagebrush (ID statebird #2). 

Couldn’t have asked for a better start to our trip!

As a postscript – this location is named after a rather unique sedimentary rock called oolite, also known as egg stone.  It consists of small spheres that look like eggs formed when grains of sand are coated with calcium carbonate in marine environments.  Here’s a close-up picture of the egg-like structures that make up the oolite.

Day 2 – May 25 – South Hills Area

Our plan for the 25th was to meet up with local birder Pat Weber to bird in and around the South Hills.  Most birders go to the South Hills to look for the Cassia Crossbill.  David and I first traveled there in May 2010 looking for the endemic Crossbill but to no avail.  Subsequently I made a trip there in September 2012 and successfully found several small Cassia Crossbill flocks.  Pat knew them by call, and could separate them from the Type 2 and 5 forms of Red Crossbill that could be migrating through the area at the time.  So her help would be invaluable.

But first we had a couple pre-dawn targets in the South Hills – Common Poorwill and Flammulated Owl.  In past years both were routinely reported in and around the Magic Mountain ski area which was also among the best spots for the Crossbills.  So we hoped to pick up a couple pre-dawn species and then be in the right location for the Crossbills as they started their day.  At least that was the plan…

We played tape for the Flammulated Owl at several locations but had no responses.  It was a chilly 36 degrees at the time which would make it pretty difficult for insect-eating nocturnal birds.  So we theorized that they hadn’t yet migrated into the area, or perhaps were at lower and warmer locations while it was so cold.  But at least we were successful with the Poorwill, hearing 2 birds calling from the upper parts of the ski area (ID statebird #3).  ID was my 13th state to find Common Poorwill, and would be one of my targets in OR later in the trip.

Now it was time to switch our focus to the Cassia Crossbill.  Pat mentioned that the Cassia’s were nesting at the time, which could make it more difficult to find them.  And certainly they were not likely to be forming small noisy flocks foraging through the conifers as Crossbills often do.  Undeterred, we birded several likely spots including the Magic Mountain ski area, Diamondfield Jack campground, and Petit campground, but came up empty.  Then we headed to Porcupine Springs campground and walked in past the remaining snow banks.  There we finally heard 2 individual calling Cassia Crossbills but never get a look at them.  We gave it the old college try, but might need to come back after nesting season to increase our chances of finding them.  Notably, our other unsuccessful try for them was also on May 25 in 2010 – exactly 13 years earlier.  At least we had a number of other nice species during this year’s visit, like Cassin’s Finch, Green-tailed Towhee, MacGillivray’s and Wilson’s Warblers, and Lincoln’s Sparrow.

Our next target was Grasshopper Sparrow in the foothills below the mountains.  One had recently been reported on Cherry Spring Rd., the same spot where one was reported last summer.  Pat strategically parked the car in good habitat and played tape.  We all listened for a response but came up empty.  Then Pat noticed a small bird perched on top of a bush in the distance.  With quick binocular views we could see that it was a Grasshopper Sparrow (ID statebird #4).  That was a bird that David and I looked for unsuccessfully in the ID panhandle in 2022, so it was nice to finally find one.  Grasshopper Sparrow would also be a target for us in OR and WA later in the trip.

Our last stop of the morning was the riparian area along North Cottonwood Rd where rare Blue Grosbeaks had been seen each of the last 2 years.  Although there were no reports yet this year, I hoped that it was just because no one had looked, or perhaps it was just too early.  We spent nearly an hour there looking and listening, finding birds like Chats, Bullock’s Orioles, and a Willow Flycatcher in the riparian area, and Lark Sparrows and a calling Long-billed Curlew in the surrounding sagebrush, but no Blue Grosbeaks.  As of mid-June there were still no Grosbeak reports there, so perhaps they won’t be back this year.

It was now a bit past Noon, and it was time for us to begin our 5-hour drive west to Burns, OR.  We thanked Pat for all her help and hoped to see her again, perhaps birding in the east.

But we had one more stop yet in ID.  One of my other ID contacts, Cheryl Huizinga, had given me great tips on my Boise area targets, including telling me about a Peregrine Falcon nest box in Nampa, just a short distance west of Boise.  The nest box was on top of a silo at a sugar factory less than a mile off the highway, making it a perfect side-trip in route to OR.  As we neared the Northside Boulevard interchange on I-84 we could see the 6 silos a short distance to the north and quickly picked out the net box.  With a bit of effort we were able to pull off the road even with the silos with the correct angle to look into the box.  Unfortunately, it was empty.  I started checking the tops of the other silos and buildings nearby hoping to find a perched falcon.  Again with no luck.  Then I noticed a pair of raptors flying above the silos – it was a pair of Peregrines toying with each other in the sky (ID statebird #5).  That was lucky.  ID was my 41st state for Peregrines, though I still need this species in 8 states scattered across the country.

Day 10 – June 2 – Boise Area

Our plan was to return to the Boise area late on June 2nd after 7 days birding in OR and WA.  But we finished up earlier than expected in WA, so we left Walla Walla at dawn and got back into Boise by late morning on the 2nd.  With more time in ID than expected, that gave us the opportunity to pursue several additional targets.  Thanks to a tip from Cheryl we first headed to Deer Flat NWR where a Western Screech-Owl was being spotted in a Wood Duck box on the East Dike Trail.  We checked out about a dozen boxes mounted on large mostly cottonwood trees along the trail but couldn’t come up with an owl.  With all the natural cavities in the cottonwoods I guess it was spending its day resting in the trees somewhere instead.

Next we were on to the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, another spot not on our original itinerary.  But since this area is well known for our target Prairie Falcons, we were happy to now have the time to bird this spot.  We met up with local birder Kent Kleman who agreed to show us around the area, mentioning that that area was also good for another of our targets – Say’s Phoebe.  As we headed south toward the Snake River cliffs we spotted several Swainson’s and Red-tailed Hawks, but no target birds.  At Dedication Point we walked over to the cliff to hopefully find some falcons below us on the cliffs.  Along our walk through the sagebrush Kent spotted a Say’s Phoebe, which eventually gave us good views (ID statebird #6).  That’s another species we looked for extensively the previous year in the ID panhandle, so it was nice to finally see it in ID.  I’ve now seen this species in all states in its regular range, along with 3 eastern states where it is a rarity (the brown-shaded states).

By the time we reached the top of the cliff the wind was howling, making it difficult to peer down into the canyon.  We had Canyon and Cliff Wrens singing below, but still no falcons.

Next we drove to Swan Falls Park and decided to drive down into the canyon to try to get out of the wind a bit.  We made a stop about halfway down the canyon and looked and listened for the falcons.  Within just a few seconds we could hear Prairie Falcons above us and eventually got good looks of as many as 4 birds flying by and perched on the rocks above us (ID statebird #7).  Here’s a shot of the cliff above us.

Many thanks to Kent for his help in finding our 2 targets in this habitat!

Our next planned spot was a bluebird trail just west of the town Prairie.  It was a long 2-hour drive to the east, but I hoped it would be fruitful for our Western Bluebird target.  We started heading that way but soon realized that the last 24 miles would be on a very rural dirt road.  As we slowly drove east we could see a large thunderstorm forming also to the east.  And as we continued our dusty drive the thunderstorm just kept getting larger and was now directly east of us.  We had made it perhaps two-thirds the way along the dirt road when we decided not to take a risk on encountering the storm and having to drive on what may turn out to be a slippery and muddy road.  So we turned around and wished we had dedicated all that time to pursuing other targets instead.

Our last stop also wasn’t on our original itinerary.  The previous evening when making final arrangements for the day I pulled up an eBird Needs Alert for ID and was surprised that Bewick’s Wren and Anna’s Hummingbird were on the alert.  Distribution maps in the field guides indicate that both species are only found in ID as a rarity.  But numerous recent reports on the Needs Alert would suggest otherwise.  Unfortunately, with so much wasted time trying unsuccessfully to get to the Bluebird trail we only had time to bird one last spot that day, and decided on Hulls Gulch Reserve.  This suburban park had recent reports of both species, plus we got suggestions from Kent as to which trails to take, so we liked our chances. 

When we arrived at Hulls Gulch we were greeted by numerous mountain bikers on the trails.  Tough to bird when you’re avoiding bikes on the narrow trails.  We completed almost the entire loop without seeing a single hummingbird or wren, though we did have quite a number of Lesser Goldfinches.  At the very end of the walk I heard what may have been a hummingbird fly overhead.  As we stopped to look for a possible hummer I started to hear a short call that I wasn’t familiar with.  I recorded it on Merlin which called it a Bewick’s Wren.  Now I know that Merlin isn’t always correct, and should only be used as a tool and not be treated as “gospel”.  But here was my quandry - I was hearing a call I didn’t recognize, didn’t know Bewick’s Wrens calls well at all, their calls are “extremely varied” per the Sibley guide, and Merlin repeatedly ID’d this call as a Bewick’s.  Unfortunately, it was a heard-only bird, so I wasn’t sure what to do.  After returning home I checked numerous Bewick’s Wren calls on xeno-canto.org and found a nearly perfect match for a call recorded not too far away in WA.  So I finally decided to count it as a Bewick’s Wren (ID statebird #8).  In my statebird map below I decided to consider this species as a rarity in ID in keeping with my convention of using the Sibley range maps as the guide for my statebirding maps, even though Bewick’s are certainly not a rarity at least in the Boise area.

Day 11 – June 3 – Boise Area

My flight out of Boise was at about 2:30 that afternoon so I had all morning to bird in the greater Boise area.  That gave me plenty of time to pursue at least 4 of my targets.  The first was another attempt for Western Bluebirds in an area in the Boise National Forest along Grimes Creek Rd.  They had been reported there a couple times recently, and were also reported in 2022 “near the burn site”.  The Sibley guide says Western Bluebirds prefer “any open wooded habitat with areas of open or grassy ground”, so a recent burn would be ideal.  In fact, we saw a pair of Western Bluebirds a week earlier in a recent burn in OR (though I didn’t need it for my OR list). 

As I turned onto Grimes Creek Rd. and started my climb up the canyon I could see that the recent burn on the right side of the road.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that it stretched at least a half mile.  I drove along slowly and stopped frequently but to no avail.  Then a bit farther along I came upon an area of pines where the undergrowth was managed to promote growth of a grassy meadow.  An even better spot perhaps?  I drove through this area even slower, stopping and walking along several spots, but still no Bluebirds.  The area was otherwise quite birdy, featuring Hammond’s Flycatcher, Cassin’s Vireo, Townsend’s Solitaire, Catbird, Veery (the spot to find them in the area), and Cassin’s Finch.  After 2 hours I finally threw in the towel.

Next I was off to Idaho City and the Alban’s feeding station which was the most reliable spot for White-headed Woodpecker in the area.  I had previously connected with the homeowner, Jennifer Alban, and got her permission to visit her yard to try for the Woodpeckers.  The first thing I noticed when I arrived were the large numbers of hummingbirds visiting multiple feeders.  I asked the homeowner whether she had any Anna’s but she said only rarely.  Otherwise, her hummers were Calliopes and Black-chins.  Can’t hurt to try I guess.  She pointed out the 3 trees with suet feeders, and I positioned myself on the porch where I could see all 3 trees at once.  While I waited for the woodpeckers to visit, the hummingbirds gave me great close looks, as did the numerous Cassin’s Finches on the seed feeders.  Not to mention I had this great view while I waited.

After about a 30-minute wait I heard the White-headed’s Hairy-like call that I had learned a week earlier in OR.  And seconds later a White-headed Woodpecker dropped into one of the suet feeders just 20 ft away (ID statebird #9).  What a gorgeous bird!   

My next stop was a longshot for White-breasted Nuthatch at the nearby Pioneer Cemetery.  The Nuthatch had only been reported a few times there so I wasn’t too optimistic.  But since the Woodpecker arrived so quickly, I decided to make a quick stop at the cemetery anyway.  The cemetery was certainly unique with graves and monuments tucked in amongst large pine trees and grassy undergrowth, with many of the graves dating back to the 1800’s.

I only had a few minutes so I walked into the cemetery and began to play some tape.  It was no more than 2 minutes later that a bird flew in over my head and landed on a tree trunk a short distance away – it was a White Breasted Nuthatch (ID statebird #10).  That makes up for some of my other ID searches that were either unsuccessful or took longer than expected.  I’ve now seen White-breasted Nuthatch in each state in its regular range.

The final birding stop of the day was along Bogus Basin Rd. north of Boise to try for Chukar.  This road rises out of the suburbs and goes uphill first through grasslands and then into areas with exposed volcanic rock – ideal for Chukars.  I made multiple stops in the right habitat playing tape along the way, but to no avail.  At least I was able to add Chukars to my OR and WA lists earlier in the week.  As Meat Loaf said, “two out of three ain’t bad”.

Conclusion

I ended the trip with 112 species in ID, which was a pretty good tally given that most of our time was spent chasing specific species rather than birding hotspots in general.  And of course that included 10 new statebirds, certainly a better result than the 8 I expected.  That brings my statelist to 234.  Here is a link to my eBird Trip Report for the ID portion of our trip –

ID Portion of ID-WA-OR 2023 Trip - eBird Trip Report

Many thanks to local birders Cheryl Huizinga, Pat Weber, and Kent Kleman for all their help on our searches!  And thanks to Jennifer Alban for allowing me to visit her tremendous feeding station!

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!

Pacific Loon - Statebird #300 in South Carolina, Lake Jocassee, March 9, 2023

On March 4th an e-mail from the Greenville County Bird Club list popped up with this subject line – “Pacific Loon at Devils Fork SP”.  That certainly caught my attention, though I wasn’t sure where Devils Fork SP was.  The body of the e-mail read:

“Jay Mager, an ornithologist who specializes in studies of loons, reported a Pacific Loon on Lake Jocassee at Devils Fork SP around noon today.”

I remember hearing about Lake Jocassee, although I had never been there.  That is the spot that features large numbers of wintering Loons, and where a Pacific Loon was found at that same time of year in 2020.  I didn’t chase after that one as that was at the beginning of the Covid outbreak and I was pretty much sticking around home back then.  So with 3 years of kicking myself for not going after the 2020 bird, I sure wanted to give this one a try. 

The key question was whether it was just passing through or whether it would stick around long enough to chase after.  It was seen again on the 5th so at least it wasn’t just a one-day-wonder.  The next complication was that we had a short family trip scheduled for the 6th through the 8th, so March 9th would be my first opportunity to try for it.  I watched the eBird reports every day, and luckily the Loon was reported daily through the 8th, including with some excellent photos of the bird at quite close range.  The hunt was on!

I was out the door pre-dawn on the 9th feeling quite optimistic that not only would I find the Pacific Loon, but that I would find it quite quickly.  Most of the reports included sightings along the east shore of the lake near the Villa properties.  And the best viewing spot appeared to be from the Eclectic Sun rental shop.  Within minutes of paying the Devils Fork SP entrance fee I had set up my scope on the lawn in front of the rental shop to start my scan of the lake.  I first looked toward the northeast in the vicinity of the Villas but didn’t see any birds at all.  Then I turned my attention to the open lake waters toward the north and northwest, finding a couple Common Loons, but not my target bird.  With additional scans I found a few more Common Loons, a pair of Horned Grebes, and some distant Bonaparte’s Gull but still no Pacific Loon.

Could the Loon be feeding in some other portion of the reservoir that wasn’t visible from the Eclectic Sun?  Or worse yet, had it move on?  Just then a group of birders walked up to me and asked if I had found the Loon yet.  It turned out that they were the ones who first discovered the bird, and told me about a couple small coves near the Villas, not visible from my viewing spot, where they had seen the bird earlier in the week.  So I headed into the Villas and checked out those hidden coves, but to no avail.  I then drove around to the west side of the lake for another viewing angle but just came up with the same birds as before.

It was now longer than I had planned to stay, but I decided to make one more stop at the rental place.  As I started my scans I noticed a pontoon boat far out on the water owned by a group that gives tours of the lake.  I could see several people on the boat with binoculars, and watched the boat slow down each time it passed by a Common Loon.  I assumed it was giving a tour to some birders who were also looking for the Pacific, so I decided to keep a close eye on them in case they got lucky. 

A few minutes later the boat slowed once again.  A short distance ahead of them I could see a Loon on the water – the first thing that jumped out at me was that it was quite a bit smaller than the nearby Commons.  Did I have my target?  Unfortunately, the boat soon passed between me and the bird so I lost it for about 15 seconds.  Finally the bird reappeared giving me long albeit distant views.  In addition to being smaller, it was paler than the Commons, with a smaller bill.  I did indeed have my target Pacific Loon!  Not the best of views, but still definitive looks at quite a rarity for the Upstate of SC.

My statebird map for Pacific Loon is inserted below.  The blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular west coast range.  And the 12 brown-shaded states are those where I’ve seen it as a rarity.

This caps off a most successful winter for rare waterfowl in the Upstate of SC – I added Red-necked Grebe, Common Merganser, Ross’s Goose and now Pacific Loon to my statelist this winter.  And Pacific Loon was a milestone for me in SC – it was #300 for my SC list.  SC is now the 11th state where I’ve tallied 300 or more species.