A fly/drive to Portland, Oregon 18th June-2nd July ‘23. (1 Viewer)

[KenM]

With the ending of COVID restrictions we (wife and grandson) flew to my daughter’s abode after a four year absence.
The plan was 5 days in Portland then down to Bend, (first o/night stop) then on to Newport 2nd stop over, with Eugene being the 3rd stop over, finally ending up with the last stop at Cannon Beach with the famous Tufted Puffins on Haystack, ending up back at my daughter’s for the final 5 days.

We took delivery of the car (with 7 miles on the clock) a Toyota Camry (a very comfortable ride) and did 833 miles…with very long roads that never seemed to end between destinations.

With the most Southerly point on the tour being
“Crater Lake” (North America’s deepest 2000’) not too far from the Californian border.
In all only 67 species logged, (must be the breeding season😩) to include just a single warbler and just the one wader species added to which….just a single US life tick! (have been numerous times before).

Thus might appear to have been an “underwhelming affair” on the contrary, think I can probably say the best trip that I’ve had, particularly with my new “Bridge” camera which exceeded expectations, albeit shooting BIF against a bright sky, was often more miss than hit!…..to be continued…..

 

[KenM]

The first five days in Portland embraced the local neighbourhood parks and included a “river” trip along the Willamette to downtown Portland, travelling beneath the many magnificent bridges that span the waterway connecting East with West.

Bald Eagles and Osprey were frequently seen overhead, also by far the most numerous were Turkey Vultures, that were seen throughout the road trip to include most habitats encountered.
These three species certainly making up the numbers versus the smaller passerines that were “mostly” conspicuous by their breeding season absence (warblers, chickadees, Empids, etc.). Oregon Juncos were certainly not in short supply nor American Robins, Lesser Goldfinches or White Crowned Sparrows come to that…and not to mention Carpodicus Mexicanus!
All in all, enough birds to whet the appetite for the coming days.

 

[Frank van Drogen]

Lovely Osprey photo.... I really like the angle!

 

[KenM]

With our road trip car hire due on Thursday 22nd from Portland Airport, we found we were clicking our heels for the off, as “Crater Lake” our ultimate destination was forever beckoning!
Being primarily a “family affair” trip as opposed to a birding one, (with moi taking scenic shots with the “odd” bird interposed within 😂).

Getting used to “a new car” parked in a darkened 3rd floor parking lot, did take a little time…ie which lever does one push/press/pull in order to adjust the seat rake adjustment, just for starters….and they drive on the wrong side of the road! 🤣

Passing the initiative test, we finally made it on to the highway and proceeded on the “84 East” to Hood River, an hours drive away where we’d have our first caffeine break.
After which, heading West past Mount Hood to Warm Springs (Indian Reservation land) where alpine meadows meet the high desert….this is a hallowed place for me, where the ice cold “Deschutes” river flows East from the “Sisters” range cutting a swathe through the arid landscape.

Upon arriving, I was greeted by noisy Red-winged Blackbirds berating a flypast Osprey, numerous Tiger Swallowtails taking “salts” from the shingled riverbank, with Ashy-throated Flycatcher and superb Bullocks Oriole perched up on tree tops….in audience.
As great a spectacle as it was, we had to press on to meet our deadline accommodation in “Bend” some 100 miles to the South, on a very long straight road.

Reaching Bend late afternoon we checked into our single overnight lodging, replete with balcony which was to prove to be a “godsend” later that evening!
The location proved to be an educational one for me, seeing a relatively not uncommon bird that I’ve seen on every visit to the US….but never quite like this!

Plus a totally unexpected bird that was to raise my excitement levels to a new all time high, in each case the camera, plus “post editing” for one, was an invaluable aid.
Before dinner, I did some casual birding from the balcony, with the sun lower in the sky,
I found myself looking at mostly silhouetted perched and flybys, managing perhaps some questionable ID’s, however I managed Western-wood Pewee, Nutrea and Mule Deer, with the last two being life ticks!

After an enjoyable dinner “downtown” post sunset, we ambled along the sidewalk back to our lodgings when we passed a break in the shop facades revealing a car lot, whereupon I looked up to see some silhouetted hirundines and a small Pipistrelle sized bat, hawking the plentiful airborne invertebrates.
All of sudden! a “larger hirundine” appeared amongst the throng…executing rapid bat like turns!

The ID was instantaneous!…my first “real” taste of NIGHTHAWK…camera was instantly in hand burst firing what appeared to be “out of focus” black shapes…thankfully some post editing saved “the night!”
For me, there’s something mesmerising about Nighthawk movement, such gyrating and twisting flight, all visible over a sidewalk…if only our Nightjar would likewise oblige.😩

To be continued….

 

[KenM]

The following morning Friday 23rd after packing, found me “balcony watching” (this time with the aspect superbly lit).
Managing a less than perfect shot of PYGMY NUTHATCH in yonder Willow tree was a bonus, as it was only the second time that I’d ever seen one!

Whilst I was trying to image a Red-shafted Flicker on the tree, it suddenly flew out and
I replied with a couple of short bursts, as it disappeared over the tree tops.
Looking at the bursts afterwards, I was amazed at the shots, showing the spectacular underwing and tail which I’d previously not witnessed on the many previous occasions when I’d often glimpsed the bird from afar.😮

Checking out the apartment at 11am, we had another long drive ahead South to Crater Lake, to show our grandson “the sights”, then North West, again to the coast for more pre-booked accommodation at Eugene and Newport.
Arriving at Crater Lake mid afternoon, we proceeded to wonder whilst on “the rim”, at the spectacle before us, a truly magnificent intense “sky blue lake” some 1000’ below, a once upon a time extinct volcano…. now the 3rd deepest lake in the world at some 2000’ deep.

Whilst wife and grandson were taking in the scenery with a scattering of tourists, I wandered away to the “snow melt” perhaps 50m behind the “tourists”, where I chanced upon CASSIN’S FINCH..a life tick! (had forgotten about this in the initial preface), and what a splendid specimen it was!
Soon followed by only my 2nd Mountain Chickadee…then on the edge of the ”melt” a silhouetted very upright (chat like bird)….raised the bins. uttered an expletive!…and proceeded to image MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD…again only my 2nd ever and what a confiding stunner!

Making our way back to the car park we found the “freeloaders” CLARK’S NUTCRACKER and GRAY/CANADA JAY looking out for handouts.
With time being of the essence, we pushed NW to “Eugene” where our overnight accommodation was booked….onwards and upwards.

 

[Richard Prior]

Great photos, but who are you really and what have you done with our Ken?

 

[KenM]

After an early start leaving Eugene we headed West towards Newport on the coast, stopping off for an hour en route inland at a “reserve” parking area. Where we “leg stretched” for an hour, with moi “picking up” on bird calls resounding from the parkland edges.
Managing to nail Swainson’s Thrush, American Goldfinch, Western/Clark’s Grebe and a bonus RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER again only my 2nd ever!
However with time waiting for no one, we resumed our drive to Newport our next stop, before our last two nights at Cannon Beach and the famous “Haystack”.

Great photos, but who are you really and what have you done with our Ken?

Am still jet-lagged Richard, flying sub 10 hours against the Earths rotation…kinda upsets yer body clock!
Our last visit 2019, took us a week to resume some sort of sleep pattern norm….perhaps a few more days yet.👍

 

[Farnboro John]

Great photos, but who are you really and what have you done with our Ken?

No, that cruel and unusual treatment of quote marks is diagnostic. It's him.

John

 

[Andy Adcock]

Great photos, but who are you really and what have you done with our Ken?

Can't be him, no BOC shots...............!

 

[Andy Adcock]

After which, heading West past Mount Hood to Warm Springs (Indian Reservation land) where alpine meadows meet the high desert….this is a hallowed place for me, where the ice cold “Deschutes” river flows East from the “Sisters” range cutting a swathe through the arid landscape.

I found myself looking at mostly silhouetted perched and flybys, managing perhaps some questionable ID’s, however I managed Western-wood Pewee, Nutrea and Mule Deer, with the last two being life ticks!

After an enjoyable dinner “downtown” post sunset, we ambled along the sidewalk back to our lodgings when we passed a break in the shop facades revealing a car lot, whereupon I looked up to see some silhouetted hirundines and a small Pipistrelle sized bat, hawking the plentiful airborne invertebrates.
All of sudden! a “larger hirundine” appeared amongst the throng…executing rapid bat like turns!

The ID was instantaneous!…my first “real” taste of NIGHTHAWK…camera was instantly in hand burst firing what appeared to be “out of focus” black shapes…thankfully some post editing saved “the night!”
For me, there’s something mesmerising about Nighthawk movement, such gyrating and twisting flight, all visible over a sidewalk…if only our Nightjar would likewise oblige.😩

To be continued….

1, Why, did I overlook the explanation?

2. Self explanatory, Nutria assuming you mean Myocastor coypus?

3. First one I ever saw, I thought it was a Tern.

 

[KenM]

Finally arriving at Cannon Beach after a c700 mile drive (not getting any easier) on Sunday 27th June, where I just thanked the gods for a two day rest from driving!
Here’s where I’d put my new bridge to the BIF test with toes in the Pacific…..Ahhh!
The sensor in my new cam appears to be extremely light sensitive, often failing to release the shutter when I’m tracking a fast BIF against the blue yonder, or “releasing” and taking blurred images, particularly with hirundines and auks.
That said, when it “eventually” locks on, the images are fine, until perhaps I pan into a section of sky of a different light strength…dunno?
I would normally put it down to “moi error” however it seems to focus perfectly on anything terrestrially bound.
Larger BIFs (slower) against the sky no problem, seemingly if it’s small and fast it becomes problematical.😩
Monday 26th June an early start, with a mile walk to Haystack, questing Fratercula cirrhata and indeed anything else that cares to come my way!
As we know Auk colonies can fluctuate from one year to the next…here today…and less tomorrow.
During the 80’s if I’ve read correctly, several thousand TF’s on Haystack…last count c100 in 2021.
Although they appear to be stable elsewhere in colonies North to Alaska.
It was good to see the “return” of the starfish having been mostly absent after the 2011 Japanese nuclear meltdown, only to be hit again by a virus in the mid-teens, with nos.now again slowly rebuilding.
Certainly large and exotic by European standards (can’t remember last seeing them in UK waters, must have been in the ‘50’s?)
The only wader of the trip briefly dropping into the pools on the one occasion when I was present was BLACK OYSTERCATCHER! allowing me a few shots for posterity.😊

To be continued…..

 

[KenM]

Can't be him, no BOC shots...............!

Don’t count your chickens before…..😉

 

[KenM]

1, Why, did I overlook the explanation?

2. Self explanatory, Nutria assuming you mean Myocastor coypus?

3. First one I ever saw, I thought it was a Tern.

😮

 

[KenM]

With Monday being intermittently overcast (light not good for imaging a fast moving predominantly black projectile), I headed into town for a caffeine fix.
This was followed by a trip to the water treatment plant (nature reserve) located behind the public washrooms.
June not being the best time for diversity but “hey ho”….killing time and hoping the forecast (brighter in the afternoon) would follow.
True to form the birds were slow, however during my 4 year absence the “reserve” staff had erected PURPLE MARTIN boxes a species I’d never recorded over 25 years on many previous visits.

They’ll be lucky I mused!…until half a dozen appeared “twittering” over my head before landing on the “boxes”😮😮😮😮
A photo op too good to miss “he cried”, not only that…they had also erected TREE SWALLOW boxes….that were also tenanted!😮
Suitably admonished, I took a “few” frames before scuttling (a mile) back to Haystack, as the cloud was beginning to evaporate.
On station beneath the rock, it was a good 30 mins. before I espied the target, coming in fast albeit distant, only to disappear on the seaward side behind the rock.😩
Suddenly!.. a great cacophany erupted….the sky was full of all the rock bound tenants, with the object of their ire…an adult BALD EAGLE!, eventually being escorted away by 3 Corvids.
Excitement over I resumed my vigilance, with the sky absolutely full of commuters…it was like trying to find a Tufty in a Haystack.🤣
Whilst waiting, I took advantage of the air show
Pelagic Cormorants, Pigeon Guillemots, Murres, Brown Pelicans and Western Gulls filling the void.
It was probably another twenty minutes elapsing, before I espied not one…but two! Tufties coming in, on a wide arc over the beach (certainly the closest that I’ve ever been to the species c30m) framing them before hitting the shutter, once more the shutter failed to “lock on” with nowt in the viewfinder😩
However for the first time, I was able to view a single bird “on the rock”….this enabled me to get some reasonable shots.😊
As pleased as I was…it was the action shots that I wanted, over the next three hours I was tormented by the more miss than hit results.
In the frame…blurred…then absent…a-a-g-h!
That said when I reviewed the rushes, I was surprised that I’d actually got some unexpectedly good-ish images…certainly the best to date.😊
Heading back to our lodgings with a smile on my face…I was not to be expecting another mammal tick at dinner from the balcony,…a herd of ELK crossing the river.😮
With Tuesday (27th) being our last day at the beach, we decided to cross the river/inlet over the bridge, to where we’d seen the Elk the previous evening and explore, before driving East back to Portland late afternoon.
With temps in the eighties, we soon sought shade in a riverside park setting, where I was admiring the tall conifers, brilliantly lit by the mid-day sun.
Catching some movement towards the canopy
I espied several small birds, raising the bins I noted a red one and a brown one.😮
Alarm bells rang, as I whipped out the bridge!
Firing a few frames then reviewing…my 2nd US avian tick COMMON CROSSBILL!
Was particularly pleased with the shots, as they were better than anything I’d ever seen in the UK by far, a species I’ve only ever seen in silhouette flight “calling” on a handful of occasions over the last 50+ years.😊
It was time to move East, so we “saddled-up” the car…and rode out…stopping off at the elevation “maintenance” resting place, where we slaked our thirst from a mountain stream and I “shot” the only warbler of the trip…WILSONS!

To be continued….

 

[KenM]

Back in Portland we had one more Willamette river trip planned plus casual birding in the local parks.
Wednesday 28th found me in the local Irvington Park, where I caught an “unexpected” flyover BAND-TAILED PIGEON another 2nd time only!
Plus COOPER’S HAWK, VAUX SWIFT very difficult to image for me on the day (too bloody fast 😩), also BARN & VIOLET GREEN SWALLOWS, with the males of the latter being absolute stunners which I unfortunately failed to image.
Leaving the park and walking the leafy sidewalks, I managed shots of LESSER GOLDFINCH, WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW and HOUSEFINCH, all being relatively numerous thereabouts.
Thursday 29th had me hitting “the trail” on Sauvie Island c45 mins away, with my son-in law Cedric, (an expert hunter/finder).
Parking up the truck, we soon hit the trail whereby within 5 mins, Cedric had his first find, to which I only had a glimpse.😩
A circa 18” (black thumb thick) snake sliding across the path, on balance we think it may have been a “Racer” dunno?
Further along the trail, we heard a very loud “volumous” roar, elicited several times over the next 10 mins or so.
Almost, sounding like something very large, giving birth! 😮
It was at this time that (I for a change) found what looked like to us, a “critters” paw print on the track.
To our eyes, there appears to be an oval soft pad area (praps 3” across?) preceded by 5 toes….make of it as you will.😮
As we rounded the bend, he spotted two DOWNY WOODPECKERS and a BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, me then replying with AMERICAN ROBIN, and a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (I wasn’t going to be outgunned 🤣especially as Cedric is not a bird watcher.😩)
Birder he may not be, but he has the eyes of a hawk…I kid you not!
Cooper’s Hawk, Turkey Vulture, Red-winged Blackbird, Violet-green and Cliff Swallows, fem. WOOD DUCK, WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE and what sounded like PILEATED WOODPECKER either that…or 10 Downies tied together🤣
kinda wrapped up a very hot day on the trail…now where’s that lager!

To be continued….

 

[KenM]

Friday 30th June, a short drive SEast to Mount Tabor, a non active 😮volcano c200m elevation, where you can look down on the city of Portland.
Here we stumbled across a SPOTTED TOWHEE! a very attractive bird albeit not easily seen, as it keeps well hidden to the forest floor/leafage.
Soon followed by RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD another stunner that I failed to image as it “Yo-Yo-d above the gradient sometimes engaging the Anna’s that were also present.

Although seen at lower elevations, Hummers certainly appear to have an affinity with slopes generally in the area.
Vaux Swift, Purple Martin and Cliff Swallow were also encountered overhead plus CEDAR WAXWING passing through the trees below as did a most magical LORQUIN’S ADMIRAL…once more, only my 2nd ever sighting of this beauty!

Saturday 1st July was pencilled-in as boat trip day, alas upon arriving at the marina, we discovered that the Yamaha outboard engine was malfunctioning which resulted in a “no go!”
Therefore it was decided to go NW to Washington Park, another high point overlooking the West of the city, albeit not before I ticked off DOUBLE CRESTED CORMORANT and GREAT EGRET!😊
Arriving at the park replete with TItan Rocket conifers, simply awesome sitting in the shade beneath these giants!…no wonder the endemic tribes of NA worshipped them.😮
In the past I’ve had some great birds here, but today it was mostly silent, apart from Dark-eyed Junco, American Crow and a distant calling RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH…can’t win ‘em all.😮
On Sunday (departure day) a languid stroll to Starbucks through the shaded blocks of suburban Portland, unexpectedly produced my last “trip tick” when Cedric pointed “excitedly,” look at that!…I’ve not seen one of those here before….FERAL PIGEON…and nor had I.😮

Not that one would believe otherwise, but it was a family affair and a very enjoyable one at that, with the birding very much of a secondary nature……🤣

Cheers to all👍

 

[Richard Prior]

Thanks for sharing your holiday experiences Ken

 

[KenM]

Thanks for sharing your holiday experiences Ken

Many thanks Richard much appreciated.👍