From my recent camping trip in the Okanogan Highlands. Merlin, Red-tailed Hawks, Bald Eagle. The eagle was hoping to catch a young loon or duck. The Merlin is a youngster, constantly screaming for help from its parent. I think the Red-tailed Hawks were a family group.
Here it is, March 3 and spring birds are already arriving. Here I am catching up on last month’s birds! Pileated Woodpecker, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Steller’s Jay, three kinds of finches (Red Crossbill, American Goldfinch and Pine Siskin) and Red-winged Blackbirds (who have been here all winter), note that they are all males. I don’t know where the females spend the winter. And a Red-tailed Hawk. Backyard birds.
On the trip to see cranes and Snow Geese, I saw about sixty bird species. There should have been more but I was pretty focused on the big charismatic birds. I did get a few photos of the others – Red-tailed Hawks, American Kestrels and Bewick’s Wrens. The hawks and kestrels were setting up their territories and we saw the hawks’ nest. The kestrels probably had a tree cavity staked out. You can see in one picture, that the female kestrel had found some good food nearby.
I remember the first time I saw a Bewick’s Wren in SE Washington probably more than twenty years ago. At the time they were considered unusual for this area. Now they seem widespread in eastern WA. I don’t know about the rest of the state. It used to be that Marsh Wrens were common but I haven’t seen one in years. Maybe I’m just not getting to the right habitat at the right time.
We camped at Page Springs campground, located at the south end of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and on the road to Steens Mountain. At night I enjoyed listening to owls – Great Horned and also Western Screech Owls and the singing of coyotes. Ruby-crowned Kinglets positively dripped off of every shrub and tree. There were lots of raptors everyday wherever we went.
The girls and I ventured onto the Refuge a couple of times – more gravel roads. It is very dry as is much of the northwest this year. Hopefully recent rains have improved the situation. I did manage to see a few birds and a very beautiful coyote on the main road. The canid stayed on the road til an oncoming truck forced it to choose another pathway. American White Pelicans moved round and round a pond cooperatively fishing at the Malheur NWR headquarters.
What do you want for your birthday? I always hope to see something wonderful or have a wonderful time doing something I enjoy. Yesterday, the first day or Spring, was my birthday.
The girls and I headed over to the Okanogan in hopes of finding enough bare, snow-free ground for a good hike. Well good luck with that. Winter continues to linger on most of the hills unless they are steep and south-facing. We did manage to do some rambling and scrambling but the rotten snow was a challenge for a good walk and the open hillsides that were snow-free are so badly damaged by intensive grazing and wildfire that there are few native plants and lots of weeds. Since the big fires of 2014 many fences have been built in hopes of keeping livestock out of the creeks and this is a good thing. However, I crossed, over and under, numerous strings of barbed wire during our little outing.
Giving up on that, we headed across the Okanogan to the Timentwa Flats in search of Sandhill Cranes. But once again, winter’s grip is slow to let go and all the little lakes were frozen and the ground was snow-covered. I did see several Rough-legged Hawks and some Snow Buntings, both winter birds in our area, along with some vibrant Mountain Bluebirds and a pair of Killdeer walking on ice. It was a mixed bag. The road got progressively worse and I didn’t want to take a chance of getting caught in the mud so we turned around and gave up on that route.
We headed down to the Big River and Washburn Island. I knew it was snow-free and warm. We were able to walk all the way around it. At one point a Red-tailed Hawk circled above, screeching at us. Maybe there is a nest nearby? We were surprised when a small group of Sandhill Cranes lifted from the unseen cattails behind a row of Russian olive trees and flew around us landing somewhere behind where we had already walked. Sky enjoyed jumping in the Columbia and at the end we observed a Great Horned Owl in a nest.
All in all a pretty good birthday adventure and a beautiful day!
My Everyday Photos 