Home Opener - Bend Elks

 

Quick Three Beers

During the early morning dog walk I heard the famous brewery call of the olive-sided flycatcher - "Quick Three Beers!" Today marked the first morning that I've heard the call this season.

USFS Find-A-Photo of Olive-sided Flycatcher
 

The other call that I heard even earlier, was the "fitz-beew" of a willow flycatcher in the pre-dawn light. I guess I'm going to have to set my alarm for a little earlier time!

Cairns

I'm not referring to the town Down Under, but those piles of rocks that line trails and direct travelers. Be they made of stone, wood, bone, old cans or whatnot, these stacks of stone have been used throughout the world and across time. Some are obvious trail markers, some are the last known points of explorers lost to the pages of history, some are the repository of fatigue or fear.

In my friend David B. Williams new book, Cairns: Messengers inStone, he investigates the silent monuments, their meaning, their history. From foreign lands to Arches National Park, Williams covers the globe to uncover the story of stacking stones.

One of my favorite chapters dove into cairns the ill-fated Franklin exploration party had left that contained tin cans and other objects indicating that the group had passed through an area. Searchers could only tear apart these stone monuments and examine the pieces, wondering what had happened to the party.

Silent Stones

 

Not all cairns are constructed equally

 

 

So if you are in for a good read, check out Cairns; you'll never look at another stack of stones the same way...

 

 

Great horned owls

On my early morning dog walk I heard a pair of great horned owls calling. Light snow covered the ground and a few flakes were still falling as Thielsen and I walked "the loop." I hear owls along the loop often, and I am sure they nest somewhere in the neighborhood. Occasionally, owls land in our back yard ponderosa creating a ripple of nervousness in the chickens. 

One thing that stands out to me during these pre-dawn walks is the amount of noise that disrupts the calm. I can hear highway traffic about 3 miles away and commuter traffic along the street that borders our neighborhood. Some might consider this time of day quiet, but the sounds interrupt listening for owls. I've trained myself over the years of owling to blot out the background noise and concentrate on the sounds that are different, the hoots and toots of owls. Sometimes the mourning doves get a second listen, as their calls are very owlish in pitch and cadence.

Below is a little information about great horneds that I published in our local newspaper, The Bulletin. 

The hardest thing about owling is either getting up early or going out at night. I can't say I prefer one over the other, both have their place. I think the most important part is to go when things are quiet to reduce confusion over background noises and to be as quiet as possible. Sometimes the owls let go a string of calls, other times just a few notes. You don't want to miss those short calls because of distracting sounds you've made.

Great horned owl

Finding a great horned owl can be a challenge

 

About the Great horned Owl

Scientific name: Bubo virginianus

Characteristics:  Large, fierce looking owl. Average size is 22” long and 44” wingspan. A large fierce-looking owl with prominent ear-tufts, gray or brown mottled undersides with dark barring, a rufous facial disk, large yellow eyes with black pupils, and a white throat patch.

Breeding: nests in rocky caves or ledges; abandoned hawk, magpie or raven nests; or tree cavities. Eggs may be laid in early winter (Jan-Feb).

Habitat: widespread from urban areas to deserts, lowland forests and up to alpine woodlands across most of North and South America.
Food: although mostly nocturnal, may hunt during the day. Preys on small to large mammals from mice to rabbit-sized, including skunks, porcupines and occasionally domestic cats. Also preys on birds, reptiles, amphibians, bats and insects.
Bird facts: Females tend to be larger and more heavily marked than males; some birds have pale plumage. Song is a series of deep hoots that have an up and down cadence represented by “Whose Awake, Me Too.” Males have a deeper pitch than females. Owl pellets contain remains of previous meal.

Sources: Oregon Department of Wildlife Resources and David Sibley’s The Sibley Guide to Birds.

Klamath Marsh Owls

Last week I spent several nights down at the Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge hooting for owls. One night was spent scouting for an owl prowl that was part of the Winter Wings Festival. The other night and early morning was the Owl Prowl.

Conditions were perfect for owling - clear and calm. Some background noise from geese honking in the marsh did not distract us. Traffic was light, about one vehicle every 2 hours.

Though we got the expected pairs of dueting great horned owls and northern saw-whet owls, it was a treat to hear other owls, as well. Long-eared, northern pygmy, western screech- and great gray owls were heard on one or both of the nights.

Great horned owl

The great gray was a target bird that has nested down in the refuge. For some, it was their first sighting and first time hearing the owls call. Their rhythmic deep hoots are unmistakable. We even heard the females doing a contact call that sounded like whoooPP!

As part of the Owl Prowl, we heard 20 owls of the 6 species. Pretty good night for hearing diversity and some numbers.

Birding Bend - January 21

Yesterday we spent a fruitless day searching for Lapland Longspurs that had been observed between Bend and Sisters. Mixed in with a flock of Horned Larks, we scoured several fields to no success. Though we located a Great Blue Heron standing in a newly plowed field, American Kestrel dive-bombing a Red-tailed Hawk, Pinyon Jays and a couple of Clark's Nutcrackers, we didn't find the larks or longspurs.

So this morning when we set out for a Barred Owl reported down at Farewell Bend park, I was less than optimistic. Fortunately, that feeling turned positive.

 

 

 

We ran into several other birders down along the river; Madell explaining that the owl had just flown across the river. Optimism rising. We moved away from the Deschutes River and headed down the trail. Success! The owl had landed in the grass near one of the small frozen ponds in the park. Several passersby stopped and watched the bird which seemed intent on some longer grass at the base of a tree. All of us moved down the trail and the owl stayed put.

At one point, a walker on the other side of the trail passed by the owl within 10 feet. The owl seemed unconcerned. Eventually, the owl flew off, crossed two lanes of traffic as we all shouted to "get higher." The bird seemed to barely miss several vehicles, then landed on the far side of the Reed Market.

Nice to see one of the reported birds now and then.

Species count to date: 70

Birding Bend

Spent the morning at Hatfield (frozen) Lakes in Bend. The first pond was about 1/2 frozen and the second pond was totally frozen. A good selection of waterfowl in the first pond with buffleheads, ring-necked ducks, redheads, lesser scaup, and cackling geese, plus a bunch of others.

In terms of birds of prey - bald eagle, red-tailed hawk, northern pygmy owl.