The Cute, the Grand, and the Beggy: Crater Lake, Part 2

Crater Lake is among the most scenic spots in Oregon, the views from every square inch of it were spectacular. Besides the waterfall where we found numerous butterfly puddle parties, we made an effort to see the Phantom Ship, and then hiked a trail along the Pinnacles - volcanic vents where the release of hot gases hardened the igneous rock, after which the surrounding softer minerals eroded much more quickly, leaving only the vents.

"The Phantom Ship"

"The Pinnacles"

Also at the Pinnacles Overlook, Maureen and I both thought we glimpsed a Pine Grosbeak, but it was gone in a flash, and we were both left wondering, "wait, was that…?" But when we eventually list Pine Grosbeak, we want to make damn sure, and this certainly wasn't the sighting for that.

The next day, July 4, we decided the hike the Watchman Trail, a 0.8 mile trail to an old fire lookout. We expected birds, but instead got great looks at some much desired mammals. On the drive to the trail, Maureen spied a Yellow-bellied Marmot quite far off, sunning on a boulder. Neat, but hopefully we could do better. The hillside along the trail was strewn with rocks of all sizes, piled up in places, and creating perfect marmot habitat. We'd barely left the parking lot when we noticed the huge ground squirrel directly below us, only 20 feet down. From the looks of it, he was sharpening his teeth by scraping them against the rocks.

Yellow-bellied Marmot

Sharpening those chompers

Of course, this wasn't only perfect habitat for marmots. The top of our mammal wishlist up to that point had been the diminutive and adorable Pika. We were so determined to see one that we had a field trip booked for the following week just to get us out to a prime spot in the Columbia River gorge. You can imagine our delight, then, when we were able to find our lifer Pika all on our own, collecting wildflowers for turning into hay for the winter.

Pika with its bouquet of wildflowers

At the top of the hill, at the lookout, we had a Rock Wren pose against the deep blue of the lake. On the hike back down the Clark's Nutcrackers started getting boisterous. Our campsite brochure specifically warned against feeding Nutcrackers, so I had high hopes that they'd gang up on us at some point (thus living up to their "camp robber" reputation), and give us good looks. Unfortunately, they were better heard than seen at camp. But we did manage to see one up close at a random parking lot around the lake that morning. Yes, the Nutcracker in the photo is eating people food, and no, it didn't come from us.

Rock Wren

Clark's Nutcracker

After noon, we stopped at the Castle Crest Wildflower Garden, hoping to see huge numbers of butterflies, like we had a day earlier. Even though gardens here had an entire half-mile loop bordered on either side with wildflowers, it wasn't nearly as active as the falls had been. Even so, we got our lifer Clodius Parnassian right off the bat. A beautiful black and white moth called a Sierra Pericopid also made a new Lep for the trip.

Clodius Parnassian

Western White

Fritillary sp.

Sierra Pericopid

A couple of Gray Jays who must be used to getting fed stopped just above the trail, expectantly, and I'm afraid we rather disappointed them. With so many thousands of flowers in bloom, the Rufous Hummingbirds needed no handouts, and paid no attention to us as they lapped up nectar beside the trail.

Gray Jay

Rufous Hummingbird

Black Petaltail

For all the time we spend outdoors, we've never seen a bear in the wild. Every campsite had it's own bear locker, and signs stressed that there ARE bears in the campground. Well, it seems we missed out on a prime opportunity, but a curious Black-tailed Deer did pass through our site while we ate lunch that afternoon. Crater Lake: come for the birds, stay for the mammals.

Black-tailed Deer

Golden-mantled Squirrel

A Banner Day at Bonney Butte Hawk Watch

For once, I finally live in a place with real seasons – not just where it’s either really hot, hot, or not-so-hot. The leaves are changing color and there is a definite crispness in the air, not to mention all of the pumpkin products lining the shelves. And with this lovely change in seasons comes migrating birds, perhaps the best part about fall. One fall bird activity on our to-do list has been to go to a hawk watch, and luckily there’s one not too far away from here. We actually had meant to go the weekend before, but the threat of rain kept us away a week, and we’re so glad it did because we had the most beautifully clear day with mild temperatures.

Mount Hood

It took two and a half hours (and several missed turns and bumpy roads) to get to Bonney Butte, an open hilltop with a fantastic view of Mount Hood that lends for great views of hawks passing by and heading south. This hawk watch doesn’t have nearly the number of birds that form large kettles as in many other hawk watch sites, but it does have pretty good variety.

Accipiters were the most numerous, as Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s hawks zoomed by. Falcons (Merlins and Peregrines) were few but awesome with their sword-like wings cutting through the air. But one of the most amazing things from this trip had to be the burst of Golden Eagles. This was actually a lifer for us, and when it rained, it poured! We saw a couple scattered towards the beginning of our watch, but then midway through – bam, bam, bam! SIX Golden Eagles flew across the sky one after the other practically in a line. (I guess I should have written out 6 bams). Since we were new to these incredible raptors, it was only from hearing from the seasoned hawk watchers that we knew that this was an amazing occurrence that just happened. Not only was this number of Golden Eagles great for this site, but to have them stream in like that was also unprecedented.

Sharp-Shinned Hawk

But the highlight of this gorgeous day has to be getting to release sharp shinned hawks and observing a Golden Eagle up close. A short-ish hike from Bonney Butte is a banding station that uses bird lures (Starlings and Pigeons) that are eventually released and humanely treated (expect for being scared out of their mind for a minute as a hawk comes diving towards it). A net is cast over said hawk and then a small team bands the birds and then allows willing participants to release the bird. Nick and I each got our own Sharpie (Sharp-shinned Hawks) to release after they were brought up in their homemade tube. The experience was simply amazing.

Hawk-in-a-Tube

We then got to see a Red-Tailed Hawk and a Merlin released, too. Neither bird seemed to pleased to be held, but hopefully their short-term annoyance will lead to some good data. And I know the rest of us definitely appreciated this great close-up opportunity. We've seen a few Red-Tails in our day sort of up close in captivity, but I can't say that we've been this close to a Merlin. This Taiga subspecies of Merlin was especially striking with his deep, dark blue-gray color contrasting those bright yellow lores.

And then there was the juvenile Golden Eagle, who after close inspection, was deemed healthy enough to don a satellite tracker on its back. It took some time for the team to properly affix the tracker onto the eagle. There was even a close call as the eagle wriggled and nearly took off. But the handler, who seemed dangerously close to having his nether regions ripped up by this giant raptor’s magnificent talons, kept him from flying off too soon. After some readjusting of his backpack, the Golden Eagle was released, pushing off with such power and grace.

We almost thought the day couldn’t have anything more to offer, but we were graced with the presence of a new lifer – a flyby Clark’s Nutcracker and a band of Gray Jays that came up so close just to check us out as we were on our way out. One even swooped inches from my head, perhaps looking for a snack handout. They’re so endearing like many other jays, but they’re so round and plump unlike any other jays we’ve seen. It was a fun way to end such a spectacular day – perfect weather, a great variety of birds, getting to release Sharpies, and a rare close encounter with a Golden Eagle who was just one of many. Truly outstanding!