April 24 - The Oregon Desert

I was wide awake at 4 a.m.; still on Midwest Time, I guess.  It is 44º and clear on the Great Basin this morning, and I left Winnemucca at daybreak.

The wetlands along the Humboldt River were steaming in the fresh desert air.

Humboldt River Dawn

I drove north, then cut off on Highway 140 through the Black Rock Desert, and stopped to do a bit of birding in the Greasewood flats.  Along Continental Lake, there were some flocks of waterfowl and shorebirds, so I pulled over to put the scope on them.

Continental Lake with a fair amount of water in it

I especially like seeing the Avocets in their spring plumage.

Avocets in the early morning light

I continued through the Sheldon National Antelope Refuge and on into Oregon, for which I have a fondness.

Yet another cattle drive allowed me to slow down and enjoy the desert

I was raised in the Willamette Valley, but my father was a rockhound, hunter and fisherman, and began taking me to the Oregon Desert at an early age.  I was given the 1964 book of that name by E.R. Jackman and Rueb Long, and the desert has a special place in my heart.

I stopped for a late breakfast at the Adel Store.  The fried eggs and ham were definitely “home cooking”, but welcome and for a decent price, along with plenty of good coffee.

Leaving Adel, I drove on to the Lakeview highway and stopped at Hunters Hot Springs.

These springs are named after Harry Hunter, who bought the springs in 1923, and developed a resort.

The current motel is going through a bit of renovation, but their swimming pool is open, and the people are very welcoming.

The whole region is in a geothermal zone, with open pools of hot water, steaming vents, and fumaroles throughout the site.

You've been warned . . .

This hole-in-the-ground just has a wooden cover

The steam along this roadside tank vents continuously

The best-known feature within the geothermal area around the Springs is Old Perpetual.

This is Oregon's only continuously erupting geyser.

Why bother going to Yellowstone?

The geyser was formed as a result of a well drilling attempt while Hunter was developing a health resort at the springs.

There have been issues with the geyser, since the city of Lakeview drilled a geothermal and local groundwater pumping caused the geyser to quit working in 2009.  But, Old Perpetual’s well casing was renovated, and the geyser once again goes off every 90 seconds or so, shooting 40 to 60 feet into the air.

I drove north on Highway 31, stopping at Chandler Wayside to see the White-headed Woodpeckers, and noted that the recent snowmelt hasn’t quite drained from the State Park.

Continuing north through the Chewaucan Valley and past Summer Lake, I stopped at Picture Rock Pass to see how the ancient Pictographs were doing.  One of the rocks had been desecrated.  There is a Special Place in Hell for those who would deface the prehistoric pictographs and petroglyphs.

However, my favorite there remained unblemished.

This is the same rock in 1979

I hadn’t seen a Prairie Falcon yet this year, so drove down Egli Rim into the Silver Lake valley,

then through Christmas Valley and stopped at Fort Rock State Park, where a pair of falcons has nested for as long as I can remember.

This is not a military ‘fort’, but rather the ash tuff plug of an ancient volcano that erupted in a 70-foot deep Pleistocene lake.

Finally, I heard the cackling of the falcon as it passed overhead.  An American Kestrel made several attempts to grab one of the White-throated Swifts, which also nest in the clefts of the rocks.

The swift escaped . . .

A Darkling Beetle reminds me to look down as well as up . . .

Finally, I went north from the State Park to the edge of the National Forest at the Cabin Lake guard station.  There is neither a cabin, nor a lake, at Cabin Lake.  The East Cascades Audubon Society has maintained a pair of birding and photography blinds here for years, and these folks deserve much kudos for this effort.

White-breasted Nuthatch enjoying the water pool

Clark's Nutcracker (named after Second Lt. William Clark)

Yellow Pine Chipmunk - Tamias amoenus

I was going to have driven through the forest on my way out, but a photographer at the blinds informed me that there was still snow across the road, so I back-tracked through Fort Rock and on into the town of La Pine.  I’d called our friend Rachel, who noted that her folks were staying at their summer cabin this week, and put me in touch with them.  Harold and Jody graciously fed me and put me up for the evening.  What great people!

Desert Buttercup

Black Rock Desert eBird Checklist is Here

Continental Lake eBird Checklist is Here 

Hunter's Hot Springs eBird Checklist is Here

Chandler Wayside eBird Checklist is Here

Picture Rock Pass eBird Checklist is Here

Fort Rock eBird Checklist is Here

Cabin Lake eBird Checklist is Here