Oregon Trails Part 2 (01- 02June2021)

After spending the first part of our trip in Eugene and on the coast, it was time to head over the cascades and experience some of the drier parts of the state.  Before we could do that, I needed a car!  So Chris drove me over to the airport in Eugene and I picked up a cheap rental using my points.  Now that I was free to explore on my own, I stopped over at some wetlands on the way back to the house called Fern Ridge.

Marsh Wren - they look a little lighter in color with less contrast than our eastern Marshies.

Brown-headed Cowbird

There were a bunch of waterfowl but nothing worth writing home about.  Definitely a spot to check out in the winter.

Lorquin's Admiral!  Lifer butterfly.

Melissa was already calling me only 30 minutes into my solo exploration so I pulled the plug and headed back to pick up the fam for a hike in the hills around Eugene.

I was pishing when this Barred Owl flew in right on top of me. Too bad it wasn't a Spotted Owl.  

The Steller's Jays were mobbing it incessantly and I think that is why it started hanging out with us.  Every time we moved, the Barred Owl would follow us, and the Jays kept their distance.

Imagine being a mouse and being tackled by those talons..

We had a great BBQ that night at my in-laws and set out next morning on a family day trip to Crater Lake.  The Cascade Mountains east of Eugene are gorgeous and we couldn't resist stopping a couple times on the way to Crater Lake.  Of course I neglected to take scenery pics and instead focused on the birds.

Audubon's subspecies of Yellow-rumped Warbler

Brewer's Blackbird

At Crater Lake I couldn't resist to take some cell phone pics, what a gorgeous place!

Crater Lake is what it sounds like, a massive crater caused by a huge volcanic eruption that blew off the top and over time filled with snow melt and rain.  The crazy thing is it blew only 7 thousand years ago, a blink of an eye in the grand scheme of things.  

An even crazier fact, the lake is almost two thousand feet deep!

Very strange that there was still so much snow with temps in the high 80s!

Clark's Nutcracker!  One of the few lifers I bagged on this trip.

Common Raven

Keeping an eye on the sky is always a good policy especially while traveling in new places...

Northern Goshawk!!

A full adult to boot!

Western Tanager!  Never had one in full breeding plumage like this so needless to say I was star-struck.

Good thing the family was able to hold back the snow banks while I birded.

Luke looked like he was the only one really putting his back into it.

California Tortoiseshell!  Another butterfly lifer for me.

Cassin's Finch 

I was not expecting Gray-crowned Rosy-finches and neither was eBird.

Gray/Canada Jay

Crater Lake was absolutely worth the drive and I would go back...

On the drive up to Bend I slammed on the brakes thinking I finally found my nemesis bird Pinyon Jay when a blue bird flew by us on the highway.

Mountain Bluebird

Pinyon Jays sadly continue to elude me after looking for them in Colorado, California and now Oregon.

Next post will be dedicated to our ramblings around Bend Oregon.