Oregon Trails Part 1 (29-31May2021)

After a year and a half of self-imposed isolation, I finally got the chance to travel outside of NC.  My whole family unit is vaccinated including the kids and my canceled plane tickets from last year were sitting idle so we decided to take the plunge and scheduled a trip to Oregon.  We elected to fly into Portland but ended up spending no time there.  Melissa and I had already explored Portland a number of years back so this trip we focused on south and central Oregon. One of our checked bags never made it into Portland so Melissa and I would wear the same outfit for the next two days as we waited for them to show.

My sister in-law lives in Eugene so that is where we headed first.  In fact, my sister picked us up at the airport in her huge van so we didn't even need to rent a car for the first part of the trip.  Of course that also meant I was somewhat limited in where I could go, but my brother in-law was good about taking me to a few places where I could pick up some birds.

On the first morning Chris (Bro in-law) had rowing practice at a reservoir just east of Eugene so I tagged along and went birding while he rowed.

Violet-green Swallows are definitely more interesting than our east coast swallows.

Red Crossbills were plentiful over the whole course of the trip.

Cedar Waxwings were also everywhere.  

I was expecting to find and be stumped by lots of cryptic western type flycatchers but this Western Wood-pewee made it easy by vocalizing constantly.  I was able to get sound recordings and will post to my eBird checklist.  I was just on the tail end of when birds probably stop vocalizing so the timing was good.

Considering this lake/reservoir wasn't even an eBird hotspot, I was pleased with the mix that I saw.

Bullock's Oriole - when I saw these cool flowers I figured I was post up and wait for a hummingbird, but this Oriole came instead.

Later that afternoon Chris and I went for a short hike on the Ridgeline Trail system in Eugene. Eugene is a really cool city in that it doesn't feel like a city.  The thickly forested hills are so good at hiding the development and Eugene has strict zoning laws which prevent urban sprawl. The Ridgeline trail system connects some of the peaks that sit within the city limit and once you step into the woods you forget how close you are to civilization.  As we hiked I told Chris about one of my target birds and played him the song.  2 minutes later we had it!

Hermit Warbler!

California Scrub-Jay

Band-tailed Pigeons

Olive-sided Flycatcher - at this same bald I also had a very dark swift fly over but I was slow with the camera and it flew right by.  I could have sworn it was a Black Swift which would have been a lifer and would have flagged as rare on eBird so I left it off my list.

Pacific Wrens were thick in the woods.

Even downtown Eugene is within walking distance of Skinner's Butte which is a nice hike which allows you to descend and have lunch in the city center which is what we did.  Fun fact, the Simpsons TV show was created in Eugene and you can find references everywhere.  Eugene Skinner was the founder of Eugene and if you watch the Simpsons you will know Principal Skinner.

Red-breasted Sapsucker - As we came down Skinner's Butte, we ran into a flock of birds that were going crazy over some kind of insect hatching event.  Needless to say I lagged behind the rest of the family and spent some quality time with the birds.

Another Western Wood-pewee.

Black-headed Grosbeak

Nom nom nom....

Later that afternoon on the second day our bags finally showed and after a shower and change, we headed to our first destination outside of Eugene in the van.  The drive to the coast is only about an hour and is beautiful so the ride out in the van was fun even though there was 9 of us and I rode in the back which was a bit bumpy.  It was kind of refreshing not having to drive and navigate and just soak in the surroundings.  Our hotel for that night was right on the ocean in Yachats (pronounced Ya-Hats).

Song Sparrows on the west coast are dull and dark.

I am sure I have seen Pigeon Guillemots before but eBird registered them as a lifer.  Perhaps I never put them on my lists because I didn't have pictures previously.

White-crowned Sparrows were singing like crazy.

Black Oystercatcher 

Flowers were blooming everywhere and it felt like early spring.  Unfortunately for my oldest son this meant he was miserable with allergies almost the whole trip.  When I researched it a bit more, I found that it probably was not the flowers but actually the grasses which was triggering his allergies.  Apparently flower pollen is comparatively large and usually does not make its way down deep in the lungs and bronchioles.  Grass pollen is small and works its way down deep which aggravates allergies more.  The only place where Luke's allergies were not too bad was on the coast probably because the prevailing NW winds pushed the pollen inland.

I couldn't get enough the VG Swallows.

Glaucous-winged Gulls were the most common species next to Western Gulls.

Wandering Tattler

I should have taken more scenery pics on the coast but its hard with my constantly fixed long lens.  I had a couple whales breach and also saw some alcids that looked good for Marbled Murrelets but they were too far so I didn't call them. The waves looked awesome for surfing but strangely I didn't see any surfers in Yachats.

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Melissa loved the coast as it reminded her of California.

Black Oystercatchers

Purple Finch - as you can see the weather was perfect..

I caught this Cackling Goose flying by with a flock of Canada Geese over the ocean.

Spotted Towhee

Our next day trip was focused on driving north on the coast to Depoe Bay and I was able to convince the group to stop at Yaquina Head which had some nice bird reports in eBird and generally looked like a cool place.  I was not disappointed.  The lighthouse sits on a peninsula just north of Newport which juts out into the ocean and provides many crags and crannies for nesting shorebirds and alcids.

The Yaquina Head Lighthouse.

Common Murres and Brandt's Cormorants covered all the rocks.

Pelagic Cormorants were in breeding plumage showing off their rear headlights.

Pigeon Guillemots

Unfortunately I was not able to get close to the Brandt's Cormorants but if you look closely at the bottom of this frame you can see they were displaying the bright blue gular pouch that makes them distinctive.

Apparently the huge Common Murre roost was not successfully nesting yet because Bald Eagles keep scaring them off the cliffs.

Pigeon Guillemot

Yaquina Head was one of the highlights of my trip.

In Depoe Bay we stopped for lunch and I snapped this pic of my in-laws.  A great family to spend a week with.  Also, I have to say that the food in Oregon was top notch everywhere we went.  

Since there was easy (1 hour tours) whale watching trips out of Depoe Bay, I bought us all tickets and managed to convince the group to go out for a quickie.

These Sea Lions were chilling on a buoy just outside the harbor.

I was hoping for Murrelets but we only saw the usual suspects that you can see from the coast.

Common Murres

More Pigeon Guillemots

The view from the boat.

Gray Whales!  They never fluked or breached but it was cool to see them anyhow.

Harbor Seal

The Harbor in Depoe Bay is very narrow and its amazing that the boats can get out considering the big swells of the Pacific are just outside this inlet.

I should have known that a 1-hour whale watch trip would not bag me any new birds but a guy can hope and it was a good time anyhow.

Western Gull

We finished out the day back in Eugene at my in-laws place and took a nice walk in the evening after supper.  It wasn't getting dark out until past 9pm so it was possible to pick up birds after dinner.  I had been seeing tons of swallows and swifts way up high but it was hard to get any detail, so I was grateful when some descended within crusher range before it got dark.

Vaux's Swift!  Finally a lifer.  I might have seen this species before but again it was showing as a lifer in eBird and certainly its the first time I have photographed them.

Chimney Swifts can be seen in Eugene but they are rare and the default swift is Vaux's although they were on their way north and only staging in Eugene.  Unfortunately I was a couple weeks too late to see the huge congregations that were roosting in a nearby chimney just at dusk.  Check this video out for a taste of what that can look like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TT07lAdNaM (Not my video).  This video was taken in August when the birds are on their way back south. 

The Vaux's Swift has a lighter throat and the wings are a bit more compact.  The crazy thing is the next morning we took a walk and were about a mile away from the spot where I saw this swift when I photographed another swift that looks like it was probably the same bird.  Note the little notch in the primaries on the right wing (left side of picture).

Vaux's Swifts have a propensity to flare their tails when they hunt which is one of the field marks although I have seen Chimney Swifts do this when they are about to take a sharp turn.

Eugene is a great place and I hope to make it back someday soon.  Next installment includes a trip to Crater Lake and Bend Oregon.