Birding in Oregon, Day 1

A view of the Cascades from the Tangent Loop

Brewer's Blackbirds, my first lifer of the trip.

February 15-16, 2014
Corvallis, Oregon

When I got off the plane in Portland on Saturday, I think I realized how Noah must have felt.  I opened my weather app and was greeted with a flood advisory for the Portland area.  The rain and wind drove debris from trees and hurled it at passing cars.  This was not a welcoming environment.  Still, there were birds to be seen, so I headed into Vancouver looking for a Tufted Duck that had been reported a few days earlier.  I found a beautiful lake but no birds.  I had also planned to stop at Tualatin, but the weather made that impossible.  Instead, I resigned myself to reality (never a preferred choice - I like living in my own little world!) and drove to Corvallis.  It rained all the way, getting worse for a bit near Albany, but I arrived at the hotel just before dark.

Here's a little side note.  The best part of the day was Kelsey, the employee at Enterprise in the Portland airport.  She was cheerful, helpful, and efficient.  She asked questions about why I was visiting Portland and seemed genuinely interested in what birds I was hoping to see.  Thank you, Kelsey!  The next best thing about the day was an excellent dinner at Pastini's in Corvallis with some terrific Pinot Noir from Elk Cove, an Oregon-based winery. 

Acorns stored for future use.

But the bottom line was the final score: Weather 1, Bob 0.

Sunday morning was much better.  Partly cloudy skies promised better birding.  Two of my targets for the trip were raptors and woodpeckers, and the Tangent area was supposed to be good for both.  So following directions in the Oregon Birding Trail brochures, I headed east.  On a hunch I pulled off at a small pond and found a swarm of Brewer's Blackbirds, my first lifers for the trip.  Soon, I found Tangent and an Acorn Woodpecker storage facility, but no woodpeckers. Still, it didn't take long for the drive to become productive.  Along one road were a couple of Horned Larks and in a nearby field a gorgeous white-tailed Kite.  A bit later a hawk sat perched on a telephone poll.  I studied it a bit and suddenly it took flight.  There were the tell-tale rectangular dark wrist patches of a Rough-legged Hawk, my second lifer of the day.  At another spot water ran over the road from one field to another.  Off to the right, a field held at least a thousand gulls.  I could see Herring, Ring-billed, Glaucous-winged and possibly a Mew.  There were many more, but strong winds made close study difficult at that distance.

Western Scrub-Jay

At another stop a Western Scrub Jay took exception to my presence.  I was scolded continually until I moved along.  A local resident stopped to tell me of a Short-eared Owl just a hundred yards along the road.  I found it in the same field being patrolled by a Northern Harrier.  Dark-eyed (Oregon) Juncos fed in a farmhouse yard.  "Sooty" Fox Sparrows played under a bridge near the Thompson's Flouring Mill along with a few Golden-crowned Sparrows. 

It was well past noon, so after a bit of lunch and a cup of Black Rock Coffee, I headed south.  Along the way I decided to do some rest stop birding.  It was a good call.  I walked around for a while stretching my legs and looked up in time to see a Prairie Falcon dart through the sky chasing a dove or pigeon, a third lifer for the day.  Then while watching a Stellar's Jay and a few Western Scrub-Jays, I heard a bird chawing at me from some shrubs.  It was a Spotted Towhee, lifer number four.

Finally it was on to Ashland to meet up with Oregon Big Year record holder Russ Namitz.  That story will have to wait until tomorrow.

Spotted Towhee

Northern "Red-shafted" Flicker

Golden-crowned Sparrow