Birding – Page 6

April 25, 2021April 24, 2021

River Fishers

Osprey with freshly caught Redband Trout

We make regular trips to the Crooked River, so as a reader of this blog you get to hear about this spot frequently. There’s repetition to these visits, but we attempt to post about the parts that are different.

This week we shared our picnic spot with an Osprey. Well to be clear, he was on the opposite side of the stream but that is still very close. The old juniper snag he perched in stood on the river’s bank maybe 60 or 70 feet away … close.

We set the camera up on a tripod and attached our Sony 600mm lens.

When first seeing this snag I thought … “what a great spot for an osprey.” Then we heard a screech!

On a couple of occasions he would swoop off down river and eventually return with a fish tucked up to his breast, land neatly on an exposed branch and calmly tear flesh from the carcass. On this day he was having much better luck finding fish than I was.

They are very capable fishers, being successful in 4 of 5 attempts. The Osprey is particularly well adapted for catching fish. They have reversible outer toes, sharp spicules on the underside of the toes, closable nostrils to keep out water during dives, and backwards-facing scales on the talons which act as barbs to help hold its catch.

Basically the odds are against the fish. William Shakespeare, in Croriolanus refers to a medieval belief that fish were mesmerized by the bird and turn their bellies up.

I think he’ll be to Rome

As is the osprey to the fish, who takes it

By sovereignty of nature.

Eagles, a larger bird, are known to attack Osprey hoping to get them to drop the catch.

We witnessed an eagle osprey encounter but it didn’t seem to result in the eagle getting anything more than the run around. Osprey are very agile fliers.

Canada Geese with goslings still covered in down

Stream banks, the riparian, host a wide variety of creatures and it just takes quiet moments of observation to open a trove of plant, animal and insect life.

The water feeds more than hay fields miles down river or the aquatic life contained in the flow. Every trip to the river is a unique experience … and we love it.

March 28, 2021March 27, 2021

In the Flyway

More than half of the 650 species of birds in North America migrate. The westernmost edge of North America is the Pacific Flyway and includes coastal plains, the valleys on the west side of the cascade range, and also marsh and wetlands in Central Oregon.

Summer Lake Wildlife Refuge is one of three major stopping points along the Pacific Flyway and happens to be an hour’s drive from our house. The marshes on the north end of the Summer Lake Valley are an excellent spot for birding.

Binoculars, the extra long camera lens and of course “Shirley Birds West” … a favorite guide book … are primary tools in our bird watching. However, recently we discovered a couple of online tools that are invaluable.

Bring up BirdCast on your browser and you’ll get an animated map of current bird migrations. There are also some interesting forecasting tools here as well. But the best tools come out of Cornel University. It’s eBird web page is packed with helpful goodies.

There are species specific maps that show monthly migration patterns. Which will help predict when the Evening Grosbeaks will be showing up at the feeder.

We used this as an identification aid when trying to figure out which species of swan was sitting on the water at Summer Lake.

Tundra swans have entirely white plumage and their bill is mostly black.

It’s spring so naturally we are making somewhat regular trips to the Summer Lake Wildlife Refuge. This week we were greeted with hundreds of swans. The question is Trumpeter or Tundra … it’s not an easy ID … we think they were Tundra.

The Cornell site also has an application where you can set up an account and track of what birds you’ve seen, get a list of the types of birds most likely to be in a specific area and find out what other birders are seeing.

There is also a mobile app that turns your smart phone into a bird identification tool and even plays song/call recordings.

June 28, 2020May 23, 2022

Birding to Social Distance

You may have heard of Malheur Refuge in southeastern Oregon’s high desert. It’s known for it’s birding, fishing, and hunting.

But just 200 miles east of there is our favorite site to photograph birds and wildlife, Summer Lake Wildlife Area. It is strategically located within the Pacific flyway and sits in the northern corner of the Great Basin.

For birding, we’ve found Summer Lake is more rewarding. You can gain access via car and dike paths to the marsh lands. Canals and ponds are adjacent to the major loop road.

Plus there are camp/picnic sites within easy access. It might also be that Summer Lake is just an hour’s drive from our house.

We manage to spend a day at the refuge at least every other month, keeping track of the migratory birds, as well as full time residents. There are nearly 300 bird species that nest or pass through the area and it also hosts about 40 different mammals and another 20 or so fish, reptiles and amphibians.

Currently we’re looking to upgrade our photography kit with shooting wildlife in mind. This means we need a telephoto lens at least 400mm. Borrowed Lenses has equipment rentals so you can try out a camera and lens to see if that is going to work. This saves a lot of frustration in what will eventually be a major purchase.

The week’s trial was enlightening. The lens, a 200 to 600mm zoom, was a great fit but we also fell in love with the camera, Sony’s A6400. The other piece of information gleaned was that a smaller, lighter wide angle lens is going to be critical.

Being able to capture images at distances even with the great level of wildlife proximity Summer Lake offers has always been an issue. iPhone cameras are great, Moment lenses work well, but neither of these let you “pull in” those distant critters.

The week was spent with lots of early morning trips to all our favorite haunts. Not just the edge of a marsh, but the mountains and onto a stream side as well. I think in all we had some 5K frames to work with … with wildlife that means you have about 2 dozen decent shots. The ones shared here are just a few. Expect a new photo essay going up next month.

May 7, 2020May 6, 2020

Otters in the Pond, no really

On the eastern edge of Sunriver lies Lake Aspen, home to a mated pair of trumpeter swans, flocks of Canada geese, redwinged blackbirds, swallows, a bunch of ducks and an elusive family of Northern River Otters.

In one of our many walks along the shore of this small lake, JQ spied these otters darting in and out of the rushes, diving and sliding through the water. We spotted them again last winter poking out of holes in the ice and scampering on the frozen lake.

We make regular excursions to the lake, usually to catch a glimpse of the swans and numerous variety of birds.