Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Monday, June 28, 2010

Oregon Trip June 2010

A Birding Trip to Oregon

Six of us flew to Oregon in early June. We landed in Portland, and made our way west towards the coast, stopping at lakes and other good birding spots along the way. It was rainy and cold on the coast – we had trouble holding our scopes steady. We saw Common Murres by the thousands, as well as Harlequin Ducks, Tufted Puffins and Glaucous-winged Gulls.

Heading east we stopped near Sisters and visited totally different habitats. Sapsuckers, both Red-naped and Red-breasted were among the stars.

We spent a whole day at Malheur NWR, part of it in fixing a flat tire. We ended our day with four Short-eared Owls, a real treat.

La Grande was our last destination, for some higher-altitude birding. We found Great Gray Owl nest platforms, but, alas, the chicks had fledged and gone.

We covered nearly 2000 miles in the SUV, stayed in seven different hotels, and tallied 207 species for the trip.

I’ve posted a few pictures here, and more at www.pbase/janebob/oregon_2010

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Birding Trip to Oregon, June 2010

Early in June, a group of six birders from the Delaware Valley area set out for Oregon to visit several different habitats to look for as many bird species as we could find. We landed in Portland in late morning on June 7. We began birding right after lunch, visiting Killin Wetlands, Pacific University in Forest Grove (where we found Acorn Woodpecker), and Fern Hill Wetlands (where we found Cinnamon Teal and Band-tailed Pigeons). From there we began heading toward the coast. Some of the highlights the next day were a visit to the Lewis and Clark statue