A Birding Bonanza

Wow. What a day.

October 20 started out to be just a trip to the coast, which I have been missing since Black Oystercatcher monitoring season ended, to pick up friend Dawn and go look for a rare-to-Oregon bird that had been hanging around Yachats, a bit over an hour south of Dawn's home in south Lincoln City. Mountain Chickadees had also been sighted in Yachats and Dawn "needed" those for her Lincoln County list. But we had no great expectations other than to have fun birding together, whether or not the birds showed up.

My day started with a good omen: the first of the season White-throated Sparrow eating seed in front of the barn with the horde of Golden-crowned Sparrows and California Quail. I didn't take the time to get a photo. The next day, I tried for a photo but all the small birds were very skittish. The best I could do was the sparrow peeking out from under bushes.

But it, along with all the other birds, soon disappeared. The jays kept up a constant warning clatter. The reason appeared suddenly in the dead tree behind the feeding grounds. A Sharp-shinned Hawk.

My first stop on THE day was at Dawn's, where she invited me to spend a few minutes out on her deck overlooking the ocean where she had her scope set up on the rafts of birds in the water. I have been wanting to do a seawatch from her deck with her telling me what I'm seeing. To me, they look like dark and light birds... not a clue what they are. She started explaining how to tell the Heerman's Gulls from the Shearwaters or whatever when we spotted whales, apparently lots of them, swirling around in the water, blowing almost constantly, with birds, hundreds of birds, swirling around above them. When the whales dove, the birds dropped into the water where the whales had been, apparently scarfing up fish that the whales had churned up. We had never seen Gray Whales, common on the coast, doing this. Then I saw a whale dive with its beautiful black and white tail flukes straight up in the air. They had to be Humpback Whales! But soon they moved on south... and so did we. What a start to our day!

At Yachats we found the street where the Common Ground Dove had been seen but saw no birders or birds so decided to park behind the nearby Presbyterian Church and walk the neighborhood. As we got out of our car, binoculars and cameras draped around our necks, a woman behind the church next to a grassy playground raised her hand as she looked through her binoculars at something in the grass ahead of her. She had the bird sighted! It turned out to be Judy Meredith, who said there were many other birders who had been walking around looking for the bird since 9 in the morning. It was now a bit after noon. We had spent zero minutes looking, thanks to Judy, who had spotted us getting out of our car with our bins and knew we were looking for the dove. She then called the person she rode down with and soon all the other birders arrived.

Common Ground Dove, sparrow-sized

Dawn and I felt a little embarrassed to have had such good, fast views with no effort. We left the rest of the newly-arrived birders and headed for the park to have lunch... and look for my favorite coastal bird, Black Oystercatcher. Again, the bird (birds this time) appeared in front of us with no effort. We hiked down the road along the rocky coastline a bit where Dawn spotted 3 sub-adult BLOY with 4 adults! I took photos of one juvenile foraging...

and finding a bit of something to eat...


 

Another juvenile called...   and soon all flew a bit farther off and foraged together.

I would have been content to call the day superb already... we had seen our target bird, the uncommon in Oregon Common Ground Dove, and my beloved Black Oystercatchers. But the fun had only begun...

Next stop was Eckman Lake by Waldport. Dawn birds there often and thought we might see some shorebirds. We did see hordes of Dowitchers and noisy Greater Yellowlegs, but also a pair of Bald Eagles and lots of various ducks, most of which I have forgotten (Dawn keeps a list) because I was so entranced by this Double-crested Cormorant trying to get a big fish into position to swallow.

Before the bird succeeded, two otters swam up to try to steal the fish. Amazingly, the cormorant was able to take off with that fish in its bill and fly away.

Dawn had me drive to a gravel road at the end of the lake by a marsh. There we heard a Virginia Rail calling. Dawn played a recording to bring it out but it never appeared. However, as we stood looking across the marsh, having given up on the rail, it let off a series of grunts so loud it made us both jump. It must have been very close to our feet but completely hidden in the marsh vegetation.

We left Eckman Lake and drove along Alsea Bay back toward Hwy 101. We stopped at a few pull outs along the bay and saw 27 Western Grebes in a raft together and a dozen or so Great Egrets on the far bank, all too far for photos. Then we were back at 101 and off to Seal Rock, where we saw whales again... and Brown Pelicans...

... more Black Oystercatchers, and Dawn saw a Hermit Thrush while I was off taking photos of the beautiful scenery. I had never been to Seal Rock park to do more than use the restroom before. I had no idea it had such wonderful trails and viewpoints and odd rock formations.

This vista looks like it belongs in eastern Oregon but it is right by the ocean

By now we were joking that every time we stopped and got out of the car, we saw something wonderful. So Dawn guided me to the South Jetty in Newport... where we got out of the car and saw...

...a pair of Common Loons...

...two Horned Grebes...

...and a Brant...

Dawn still wanted Mountain Chickadees for her Lincoln County list and had heard that they had been seen at Yaquina Head. So that was our last stop. We drove in, parked, got out of the car, and were immediately entertained by a flock of Chestnut-backed Chickadees and at least three, probably more, Mountain Chickadees.

Wow! What a day!

Apple Autumn

Autumn has finally arrived on the farm. It's a season of dramatic skies, colors, and fallen leaves...

The dragonflies patrol the pond like tiny colorful helicopters...

 

 Sunsets, always pretty here, seem even more spectacular in the fall.

...reflecting their color in the upstairs window...

 Our old dog Shirley has turned more colorful in her autumn years, too, her face dusted now with white...

Autumn is, of course, apple time on the farm.

Jessica, Kevin and Ian came down from Washington for apple cider weekend. As always when they come, Jessica cooked tons of delicious food for us. On Saturday, with friends, we potlucked and pressed apples... but I did not, believe it or not, remember to pick up my camera and take photos of the cider making... or anything else until the last day of  J & K & I's visit, just before they drove home.

We sent them home with farm produce, of course. Kevin picked apples off the tree out our back door, the one I won't let anyone raid for cider. It has wonderful eating and baking apples.

Ian helped with the long apple picking basket (while holding onto his two bags of Pamela's Bread Mix. He loves that bread and I had bought plenty to share with him). 

They also took some of my Russian Black heirloom tomatoes. They're not really black, just shades of red and green... pretty and very tasty.

Ian fed the llamas apples. The llamas love cider weekend because kids always feed them lots of apples.

It has been gently raining off and on since everyone left. We need the rain badly in this drought year, but I'm glad it held off until after apple cider weekend on the farm.

 

Six Plays in Three Days

My annual trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival was spectacular this year.

I had worked very hard the week before, trimming all the horses' hooves, making and freezing stuffed green peppers, picking and freezing corn and broccoli, canning tomatoes, putting frost covers on tomatoes and citrus trees, writing my monthly column for United Caprine News (due the day I left)... I deserved a vacation!

The citrus trees now look dressed for Halloween

The tomato plants appear to be ghosts in the garden

It has been a bumper year for grapes. This is a small portion of the crop. They were/are delicious.

The never-ending broccoli.

One day's harvest of acorn squash, among other things, and the weird black Russian tomatoes. Colorful and delicious... but weird.

And what a great vacation it turned out to be. However, I cut Mr. Smith's hooves too short before I left so he was tender-footed. He gradually recovered, fortunately, and was running and bucking again when I got home. And I apparently sent last month's UCN column with this month's photos. The editor emailed me; Johnny read the email and called me. (I don't get email on my primitive cell phone.) I talked Johnny through finding and sending the correct column. Haste makes waste, my mother always said. But Johnny saved the day and my column arrived at the paper only one day late.

Ruth and Munazza and I stayed in the same wonderful Airbnb that Ruth, Toni and I had stayed in last year. Toni's knee surgery turned out to be scheduled for the day I left for Ashland so she had to bow out and Munazza took her place. We were sorry Toni could not come but glad Munazza could. The cottage is within walking distance of the theaters and we walked to and from every day, twice a day. The weather was perfect. The plays were wonderful.

We started each day with a Qi Gong session together. (Well, I confess I missed one day to get up early and go birding with a friend... more about that later.) The first day we saw Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land, a play by a Chinese playwright, very popular in China but unheard of... until now... in the U.S. It was great fun... two plays trying to rehearse in the same space. After a wonderful Green Show that evening (free outdoor performance in front of the theaters), we saw Antony and Cleopatra, good but very different from the afternoon's comedy.

Mornings were free of plays so the next day we hiked at nearby Emigrant Lake. The lake is extremely low but still lovely.

 I, of course, was checking out the birds as we walked and saw a distant one that I could not figure out. So I called birder Paul Sullivan back in McMinnville to see if he could tell from my description. (After I got home and saw my bird on the computer and listened to recordings on the web, I knew it was a Rock Wren.) It turned out Paul was on his way to Ashland right then for an Audubon Birding Weekend. We arranged to meet the next morning and bird with a local birder.

Rock Wren

That afternoon Ruth, Munazza and I saw a spectacular production of Pericles. It may be my new all-time favorite play at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The evening performance of Head Over Heels, the World Premiere of a new musical, was funny, lively, and beautifully staged. All the plays we saw this year were beautifully staged.

The next morning Paul and Lee took me to Ashland Pond, a wonderful birding spot. I took lots of photos. Meanwhile, Ruth and Munazza enjoyed shopping in the fabulous downtown stores in Ashland. I am glad they like to look at elegant shoes and other stuff... and really glad they don't expect me to go, too.

 I met the birders at Lithia Park where Lee led us half a block to see this Western Screech Owl roosted in a box. It is wonderful to have a local birder guide!

 Our next stop, Ashland Pond, was teeming with birds. I saw a Mountain Chickadee, which I thought was my first ever until, after returning home, I checked my long-ago abandoned life list and realized I have seen at least one Mountain Chickadee before... somewhere. It didn't stick around long enough this time for a photo. The Red-shouldered Hawk did, though.

Paul called out a pair of Wrentits that sort of cooperated...

What a pretty place!

Birders who faithfully keep lists have certain ones they're looking for. Paul, working on augmenting his county lists, wanted a California Towhee. So we went to the property of a friend of Lee's... and found a pair of California Towhees. Local knowledge is wonderful! Birders are a community and love to help each other out.

  While Paul and Lee looked at Western Bluebirds and others, I took photos of this beautiful butterfly. At home later I researched and discovered it was a Common Buckeye, but uncommon in Oregon.

That afternoon Ruth, Munazza and I saw Guys and Dolls which gave Pericles a run for the money for being best production of our 2015 trip. That evening was Much Ado About Nothing, another terrific production and our last play of this trip. Six great plays in three days... plus a new-to-me place to bird in the play-free mornings.

Just before evening performances each day, we went to the Green Show on the bricks. Each one was great this year... from the hip hop dancers to the ScienceWorks Museum demonstrations (Steve is going to want to try these!) to the Uganda children's singers and dancers and drummers.

Friday morning Munazza and I each headed home while Ruth stayed for one more play. First, though, I tried to take a photo of us remotely with my camera. In spite of Steve's instructions over the phone, I managed to take a movie instead of a still photo. So this tipsy photo of the three of us (it looks like they're holding me down!) is a still capture from the very short movie.

On the way home, I, of course, stopped at the Merlin rest stop where I have found Ash-throated Flycatchers in the past. They were not visible that day but the Acorn Woodpeckers were thick. This one was drinking from a tiny pool of water at the base of one of the oaks.

My last stop before home was at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge, where I counted 30 Great Egrets. Here are a few of them.

It is difficult to imagine a more perfect vacation... great weather, great friends, great plays... and great birding. Plus a great spouse willing to stay home and do chores for me.

I am already planning my 2016 trip to Ashland, Oregon, and the fabulous Oregon Shakespeare Festival.