Cleaning Up Our Target List: Winter Wings Festival, Epilogue

As much fun as we had exploring southern Oregon during the festival (see our previous posts here, here, and here), there were certain species we weren't able to turn up around Klamath; we were going to have to do some serious strategizing if we wanted to pick them up on our return trip home, and pick them up we must! The festival ended on Sunday, but now we had all of Presidents' Day to inspect every burrow, cavity, and undergrowth until we struck birding gold. Our targets: Lewis's Woodpecker, Oak Titmouse, and California Towhee.

For guidance, we turned to the all-knowing and all-powerful eBird machine (Hail, eBird!). As luck would have it, there were a couple of places along OR 66 where our targets had been reported in the last week. These weren't hotspots, but random pullouts that we certainly would have driven past if we didn't know better. Both were on the road to Medford where we were headed anyway, so there was no risk in stopping to give them a good looking-over, even if we felt like we were standing where we didn't exactly belong.

Some landscape on the way to Medford. This was the view from Songer Wayside

The first stop was entered in eBird as a personal location named "Lewis's Woodpecker spot". That sounded promising enough. Maureen saved the coordinates in her phone to help navigate our way through the mountain roads, and it's a good thing she had, because it would have been super easy to miss otherwise. We pulled over on the widened shoulder of a road, dividing a privately owned orchard in half, along the steep grade of whatever large hill / small mountain we were on. The welcoming committee consisted of a sign reading, "Smile, you're on camera".

We'd be smiling soon enough, as the birds began filing in. First were the Acorn Woodpeckers, and Western Bluebirds. A Black-billed Magpie flew over, and a Kestrel perched to watch the action. But what excited us most was the drabbest one of all: our first Oak Titmouse! These small and unassuming parids penetrate into only a tiny portion of southern Oregon, so this wasn't a species we were likely to encounter elsewhere any time soon. It was good that we found it early, too, as our next bird would have been a tough act to follow.

Oak Titmouse

Lewis's Woodpecker is one of the most unusually colored birds in all of North America, in addition to being one of the most beautiful. Maureen spotted one farther back in the grove, but being in private property, we had to hope and wait for it to come to us, which it soon did. In fact it flew across the road and gave us some really great looks, where it was soon joined by two others. The "Lewis's Woodpecker spot" was living up to its name. We spent nearly an hour along that little shoulder as countless 18-wheelers and logging trucks raced by, but still, it was difficult to eventually pull ourselves away from such a striking and impressive bird.

Lewis's Woodpecker

From there we headed to the Songer wayside area at Emigrant Lake, where I'd found recent reports of California Towhee. We stepped out of the car, and, sure enough, a California Towhee was right there in front of us, just like he'd been waiting for us all along. Maybe he'd expected us sooner and got frustrated, because he wasn't prepared to stick around long; he took off even before we could get any pictures. But we'd gotten cocky and didn't chase after it. We figured if we could find a towhee without any effort whatsoever, they must be superabundant and another would turn up any second now… yessir, any second… TOWHEE, WHERE ARE YOU?!?

We walked every inch of trail we could find, squeezed through brambles, and tramped through mud, but never did turn up another California Towhee. We did have a nice look at some Western Bluebirds, while turkeys gobbled away from a nearby grove. It wasn't easy, but at last mustered the fortitude to call off the search and move along to the next stop, having at least glimpsed all three of our targets for the morning.

Western Bluebird

We had one more place to visit before the long drive home, which was at Tou Velle State Park. We had already seen our last lifers of the trip, but Tou Velle ended up being notable for another reason: the hordes of Acorn Woodpeckers pillaging oak trees wherever we turned. Before today, the most we'd ever seen in one place was three. We counted six at Songer Wayside, and now there were no fewer than 18 or 19! The granaries where they stored their thousands of acorns were enormous, and spread all the way up and around the surface of the largest oaks.

Acorn Woodpecker

Bracing for impact

Tou Velle had one other significance for us: we identified our very first butterfly of the year, a Mourning Cloak. These butterflies are commonly some of the first seen in the spring, but mid-February seems early, and could be a sign of the extremely mild winter we've experienced in the Pacific NW this year. It was an ominous note to end our trip on, although I'm glad for the return of butterfly season, along with the rest of the pollinators. Southern Oregon couldn't have been kinder to us over the long weekend, and we racked up just about every species we hoped for. It was also a great chance to see a new part of the state, and a hint of what's to come during our planned trip to Crater Lake later this year.

Our first butterfly of the year - Mourning Cloak

Black-tailed Deer

Fall at Finley NWR

Ever since we announced our move to Oregon, it seemed like everyone we told who was even slightly familiar with the state told us, “Ohhh, it rains a lot!” We don’t mind the rain much, as we faced plenty of rain before in Florida, albeit a much different type of rain. We were told that it was the dreariness that might get us. However, I can’t say we faced much typical “Oregon weather” until just recently in December. The end of spring was an absolute delight, summer was warm but with no humidity (a foreign thing to me), and fall was nice and crisp, and even sometimes downright freezing. Winter has given us a bit of that typical rain and dreariness – including a full day of rain during the Salem Christmas Bird Count. Yikes. 

Northern Harrier over the Marsh

But who wants to think about that right now? I want to think about those lovely, sunny and crisp fall days, particularly at Finley National Wildlife Refuge. You may recall that Finley NWR was where we had our first encounters with my beloved Acorn Woodpecker. Knowing that there is a resident family there makes me very happy, and the sight of these fastidious woodpeckers always tickles me.

We were able to visit Finley before most of the trails closed for the winter for the birds’ protection. Geese and ducks were starting to gather in the lake, but not yet in big numbers during the peak of winter. Nonetheless, we were treated by a few American White Pelicans that swam by – bold splashes of white in a sea of greens, grays, and browns. 

American White Pelicans

The colors of fall Lungwort lichen

Can you spot the moth?

The feeders at the visitor center were especially busy. Groups of Golden-Crowned Sparrows and Juncos were scattered about. A nice Fox Sparrow made a very brief appearance. It’s always a treat to see these very sleek and handsome sparrows. Everyone was coming out to enjoy some solid sunshine, which would seen be a rarity for the upcoming winter season. 

Golden-Crowned Sparrow

Fox Sparrow

Western Scrub-Jay 

Although most of Cabell Marsh Trail was closed, the short path to the observation deck was open and full of fun birds. Waterfowl are great, but it was the little guys that were stealing the show that day. Golden-Crowned Kinglets were chirping all over the place and giving great close looks. A Brown Creeper stayed still long enough for me to capture a shot of him in a somewhat still position. A darling little Marsh Wren jumped up and out from the reeds to show off a bit. These are one of my favorite wrens – such tough guys in small bodies. If you ever use playback to call one out, he will fuss at you for quite a while, making you feel like you’re being berated.

Golden-Crowned Kinglet 

Brown Creeper

Marsh Wren

There were still fall apples on the trees, which made for a lovely setting for a Spotted Towhee. And I couldn’t have asked for a more cooperative and gorgeous Varied Thrush. These birds are unreal – such gorgeous hues of burnt orange and slatey grayish-blue. There was a pair of them munching on the apples (or maybe the bugs and grubs in the apples). 

Spotted Towhee

Varied Thrush

Even the undertail of the Varied Thrush is lovely.

We’re always thrilled to see these relatively new birds, but the surprise of the day was a ninja-like Wrentit. We spotted him and watched him for about 30 seconds before he flew off never to be seen again. We had only seen one once just barely in a little wooded area just off the coast, and we were surprised to see one this far inland, but I guess it’s not out of the question. In any case, it was fun to catch even a fleeting glance at this Kabuki mask-faced little bird. He was a lovely way to end our last fall trip to Finley. 

Skulky Wrentit

Acorn Woodpeckers, Grass Skippers, and Moon Trees

Over the past month or so I’ve taken several little “field trips” to visit the campus where Maureen works, at a huge public university. The campus is plenty scenic, and plenty historic, and it’s as good a place as any to while away 8 or 9 hours (filling the interim until my new job starts). Not looking for anything in particular, and not sure what I’d find anyway, I set out with Maureen’s camera in a bid to contribute some eye candy of my own to the blog.

The first marvel I met with was a Douglas-fir “moon tree”. The tree was grown from one of 500 seeds that accompanied the Apollo 14 mission during its 1971 lunar orbit. While this was certainly one of the more accomplished trees I’ve ever come across, it seemed modest enough, not letting the fame get to its canopy.

As a seed, this tree orbited the moon. You might say it was an astro-nut

Next, we’d heard it rumored that a family of Acorn Woodpeckers lives on campus, near the veterinary school. I started out in that direction, hoping to scope them out before Maureen’s lunch, so we could head there directly once she was free. The road was by with a stand of oaks, where, after just a couple minutes’ wait, a hyperactive set of five or six woodpeckers bounced from oak to oak, often fairly low and close.

When lunchtime rolled around we headed back over together. Now we discovered not only the nest hole they returned to again and again, but their stash spot, where they hoarded hundreds and hundreds of their namesake nut. The family was busy storing up for the dreary, barren winter months. They were also meticulously tending their inventory, sometimes removing an acorn from its cubby, and fitting it into a different hole.

The woodpecker photos above are all Maureen’s; my photographic efforts were decidedly lepidopterous. The only butterflies I found in good numbers, who were patient enough to put up with my obtrusion, were assorted members of the challenging “grass skipper” clade. Amid a patch of coneflowers, I found a handsome pair of Sachem.

As I watched them, the male performed a rather remarkable display: rapidly flying off diagonally, about eight inches, and flying right back at his mistress, as if connected by an elastic band. The dance lasted a total of about 10 seconds, with each round trip journey taking only half a second. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any video.

During a subsequent “field trip”, I came across another type of grass skipper, Woodland Skipper, gathering nectar from the lavender. These skippers look an awful lot like Sachem to my novice eye, except for the patterning on the underwing, and they lack the big boxy stigma on the upperwing. These skippers didn’t dance for me like their cousins, but being able to give them at least a tentative ID gave me satisfaction enough.