August 2-3 - Arizona Bound

I’m ‘way behind on my attempt to get this Blog up-to-date, but hey?  I’ve been birding and have priorities.  For those of you who keep up with me, I’m writing this on 13th October, just before I’m leaving for a trip to Saskatchewan.

The Chestnut-backed Chickadees bade me fare well

My intent to leave home by noon on Friday August 2nd didn’t come to fruition, and I left the house at about 2 p.m., stopping at a friend’s place to drop off my .177 Diana pellet gun.  His brother used to be a gunsmith, and he said he’d have the brother look at the piece.  Perhaps he can ‘bend the barrel straight’, and I can have a decent air rifle again.  I drove south through moderate traffic, ending up in Eugene by 7:30 p.m., checked into the Motel 6, and ate at the next-door Denny’s.  The Motel 6 had little to recommend it, other than the price, and the Denny’s was about what you’d expect for service and ‘cuisine’.

It was overcast with morning fog when I got up on Saturday morning, and ate a quick breakfast at the Denny’s.  I headed up Willamette Pass on a beautiful summer morning as the road climbed above the Valley mist.

I stopped at Salt Creek Falls, hoping against hope to see a Black Swift at this known nesting site.  The best time to see these birds is in the evening as they return to feed their single chick, after foraging up to 50 miles away.

The end of the trail to the lower observation point had been swept away in a rock slide, but there were decent views in any case.

Be carefull . . .

. . . then go no further!

On a beautiful day like this, the adult swifts are out foraging, and with there being no cloud cover, I would expect that the birds are foraging pretty high in the sky.

Rainbow over Salt Creek

In any event, I didn’t see or hear any of these ‘flying cigars’.  The Black Swift nests beneath waterfalls, which pretty much limits their nesting distribution.

Fireweed Epilobium angustifolium was in bloom

In fact, the only birds I saw or heard while walking the trail here for an hour were a family of Steller’s Jays.  I did have the opportunity to admire the wildflowers.

The 6 sepals and petals flare backward, hence "inside-out"

The Inside-Out Flower Vancouveria hexandra was named after the English explorer Captain George Vancouver.

Twin Flower Linnea borealis is named after the father of modern scientific nomenclature himself, Carl von Linné.  Marty and I once considered naming our daughter Linnea, because the flower is so pretty.

And, smells so sweet . . .

I continued across the Pass and south on US Highway 97 to the Silver Lake cutoff.

Mt. Thielsen was named after Hans Thielsen, builder on the C&O Railroad

There are good views of the Cascade peaks along this route.  I am told by climbers that the summit of Mount Thielsen - "The Lightning Rod of the Cascades" - is the only place, outside of Crater Lake National Park, where one can see the waters of Crater Lake.

Mt. Scott is on the southeast rim of Crater Lake

Mount Scott is inside Crater Lake Park itself, and is named for Levi Scott (1797 - 1890), an Oregon pioneer who helped lay the Applegate Trail, served in the Oregon Territorial Legislature as an Anti-Democrat and as a Whig, the Oregon Constitutional Convention, and founded Scottsburg, Oregon.

I thought there might be a chance, even at mid-day, to spy a Yellow Rail in the Klamath Marsh.  I’d heard several of them here from the side of the highway years ago, giving their calls, which sound so much like a person clicking two pebbles together.  But, that was on a June evening with a full moon out.  Today, it was 85º in the sun, and the water level was low in the marsh.

The Spotted Sandpipers liked the low water here for foraging

I did see several Virginia Rails, and some waterfowl.  There were a lot of Common Yellowthroats along the highway!

A Redhead with 4 ducklings was wary but not about to leave her progeny.

Driving south, I stopped at Lakeview to gas up, then headed up through the high desert to Winnemucca.  The desert sagebrush and hillside junipers gave off their savory perfumes in the warm summer air, on my way to checking into the Frontier Motel, which is kind of a dive, but I stay there because it’s cheap and clean. 

Salt Creek Falls eBird Checklist is Here

Klamath Marsh eBird Checklist is Here