Archive for the ‘Oregon’ Category

« Older Entries

Columbia River Gorge

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Headed up the I-5 in Oregon and turned east on I-84 into the Columbia River Gorge. Immediately encountered strong winds that demonstrated the fact that the gorge acts as a tunnel for winds. Planned to stay at a state park near Portland, but that didn’t happen. Ended up at The Deschutes River State Recreation Area that I stayed at before just past The Dalles. Next time, for sure, I’ll stay near Portland and explore the forests and waterfalls in that area.

Above, the John Day Dam as seen from the Washington side of the river and wind turbines on the Washington side. They are going to get all the power they can get.

Part of a Google data center on the Columbia River in The Dalles. There are no signs identifying the complex as Google, but I got the address from searching on Google and a nearby business confirmed it. It is surrounded by a fence and there were several security patrols. The structure on the roof surrounds pipes.

A very large family of Canada geese at the campground. Had to watch where you stepped on the grass because of all the geese.

Lincoln sparrow, above, goldfinch below.

Posted in geese, goldfinch, sparrow, State, The Dalles | No Comments »

Gentle rains in Oregon

Saturday, April 24th, 2010

Have been in Oregon, south of Eugene, for the past two weeks. Wanted to stay someplace I could get UPS deliveries directly and get some work done. Have been putting off organizing and backing up my photos for a long time. Found the frequent gentle rains here conducive to staying inside and working. While the weather in Tulelake was often cold and windy, as soon as I got back on the I-5 in Oregon things settled down. The temperatures have pretty much been in the 40′s at night and the 60′s during the day. It has never gotten down to freezing.

Above, two male turkey’s. They may be common in most of the U.S, but as a Southern California native, I love seeing them.

Posted in deer, Sutherlin, turkeys | No Comments »

Oregon Wildlife Safari

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

zebras

zebras_poke

On leaving Sutherlin to go to the Oregon Coast, stopped at Wildlife Safari Park in Winston, Oregon. It is an accredited, non-profit park that allows you to drive among animals from around the world. I enjoyed it and will probably go again when I’m back in the area.

Above, a herd of zebras were having a good time until a Watusi cow gave them a poke with her huge horns.

giraffe_eating

A young male giraffe eating a tree branch. Most of the animals appeared young, along with mostly young employees.

guanaco

A mother and child guanaco. The father was on the other side of my truck looking in. He wanted me to move on, as I did.

rhea

A rhea on a bad hair day.

crown_crane

A crowned crane on a good hair day.

Below, animal keepers in with a cheetah and anatolian shepherd that were raised together. This is done at many zoos, the San Diego Zoo for one.

cheetah

Posted in cheetah, cow, crowned crane, lama, rhea, Winston, zebra | Comments Off

Back in Sutherlin, Oregon

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

airstream_woods

Have been at the Escapee park in Sutherlin, Oregon for a couple of weeks now. Needed to do a lot of maintenance work on my truck and rv. Have gotten the most important tasks done.

Loved my site at the park, right against the woods. After spending most of the summer in high desert areas, really appreciated the forests in western Oregon. The weather has alternated from clear and warm to overcast and cool. Have not had to use my air conditioner once, as I was always in the shade snug against the trees.

young_buck

This is a good time of the year for the deer here. A lot of people are away, and fruit from their fruit trees are falling on the ground. The young buck above enjoys an apple. Have also seen deer eating figs from a fig tree.

roadus_endus

white_cadilac

Top picture: Roadus Endus. Parked behind this rv one time and admired how neat the elderly couple keep it. They grow vegetables behind their rv.

Bottom picture: Thought this homeowner, a few blocks from the rv park, must be using the Cadillac as decoration. But it doesn’t look like he has a garage.

The flowers below are sprouting up all over the park.

bulb

Posted in Airstream, deer, Escapee, Sutherlin | No Comments »

More from Malheur Refuge

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

horned_owl_3

Horned owl at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center.

swan_juvinile

Young swan seen at the same spot a number of days. Two adult, banded, swans were seen in a nearby water channel.

quail_young_male

Two young male California quail, on right, in a covey.

female_pheasant

Female ring-necked pheasant.

hawk_13

Young hawk often seen flying with two adults, probably it’s parents.

cows_burns_or

Livestock is often on the road. I can’t pass through the area without getting cow dung on my truck. The day after this picture was taken, saw  two cows with their calves walking along the highway a few miles away. They soon showed up at the cafe/rv park/laundromat that I had gone to do my laundry. They wanted in the owner’s pasture, but he said “no way”. He got on his atv and herded them to the other cows in their herd about a mile away. Glad they finally got some water, it was hot out.

pronghorn_hart_mt

Stayed one night at the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge.

hart_mt_campground

Posted in antelope, Burns, hawk, owl, quail, ring-necked pheasant, wildlife refuge | No Comments »

Malheur Refuge & Steens Mountain

Sunday, September 6th, 2009

great_horned_owl

Have been at the BLM Page Springs Campground at the base of Steens Mountain in Oregon for about a week now. It is right next to the southern edge of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Have spent most of my time visiting the refuge, but have also driven Steens Mountain Loop. Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area was created rather recently, in the year 2000. The BLM is also doing a study on how to deal with the development of western juniper forests that have developed because of fire suppression. They have cut down a lot of juniper trees and will burn them after it snows.

Picture above: Surprised a great horned owl while driving through the refuge late in the afternoon. There is also an owl that perches near the visitor center. Wondered if they bribe it with mice to get it to stay there for visitors to see.

coyote_1

Have had four coyote sightings. They really look healthy.

merganser

Common merganser.

california_quail_male

young_quail

Top: male California quail. Below: a young quail.

Have surprised quail with a lot of young ones several times. Each time the male flew up to a bush to supervise while the female corralled the young ones into the brush.

Birds seen but not pictured: Three trumpeter swans, large flock of white pelicans, lots of great egrets, magpies, ring-necked pheasants, vultures roosting on an old fire lookout tower and a few sandhill cranes.

rattlesnake

A rattlesnake decided to sleep in the middle of the road by the campsite next to mine. Bad choice. The camp host came over with a shovel and decapitated it. Talk about nerves of steel!

sheep

There is a long history of Basque sheepherding on Steens Mountain. When I was driving past the ones above, they started to cross the road in front of me. A sheepherder and his dogs quickly came into play and returned them to the area they were supposed to be in.

Kiger_Gorge

There are four u-shaped gorges on Steens Mountain. Above is Kiger Gorge with a little patch of snow.

Getting here

Stopped at Lake Walcott State Park in Idaho on the way here. They water the lawn by the campsites one hour a day, 5 days a week. This, along with the naturally occurring water, makes it very buggy.

sunflowers

Posted in Bureau of Land Management, Burns, merganser, owl, quail, Rupert, sheep, State, wildlife refuge | Comments Off

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

Monday, June 1st, 2009

Drove a little more than 100 miles from the Hart Antelope Refuge to Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, which I visited last fall. Just stayed one day. Did not see any large flocks of any one bird, but rather a large variety of nesting birds.

Above, two cliff swallows in their mud mansion.

Think this is an ash-throated flycatcher.

Long-billed curlew

Yellow warbler

Posted in Burns, curlew, flycatcher, pelican, swallow, wildlife refuge, yellow warbler | Comments Off

Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge

Saturday, May 30th, 2009

Traveled 100 miles from Tulelake to the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge. I had driven over a 50 mile gravel road to see the east side of the refuge last fall. This time I entered on the west side. You drive up a 6% grade gravel road to get to the top of Hart Mountain and the park headquarters.

I camped at the CCC Campground at the base of Hart Mountain. While I could have towed my rv up the mountain, I didn’t want to. The Hot Springs Campground that is up there, while beautiful, is more suited to truck campers or small rv’s. The CCC Campground can handle about any size rv. There is no water or hookups and generators are not allowed. You also need to pack out your trash.

The refuge initially allowed cattle to graze on it, but after seeing all the damage they did, they were gradually removed. There is an interesting article on GORP about this.

I’m glad they have not paved the gravel road through the refuge. If it were paved, it would provide a shortcut to the town of Burns, Oregon and would get a lot more traffic which could not help but impact the habitat.

My rv against the base of Hart Mountain at the CCC Campground. I had it all to myself and really enjoyed it. Meadowlarks were singing all around me, hidden in the grass. When I returned from one trip up the mountain, a pronghorn was sniffing around my trailer. He ran when he saw me coming.

Hot Springs Campground. You can’t see the campground, it blends in so well. The hot springs is by the clump of trees on the bottom right. The campground is really beautiful, with wildflowers and a stream running through it. A single elk was also rambling around. The only negative, mosquitoes.

The hot springs at the campground. It is free to use, as is the campground.

There were a lot of these caterpillar filled sacks. Lots of butterflies will soon be in the area.

Barn swallow near the hot springs

Going back down Hart Mountain you get a great view of the Warner Valley Wetlands, an area of critical environmental concern (ACEC). This is a dry year, so you see mudflats circled with grass in the lakes. The sandy areas are interconnected dry ponds.

A northern harrier over the wetland area.

Below, a tree swallow nesting in a birdhouse in the wetlands area.

(more…)

Posted in Airstream, antelope, Northern harrier, Oregon, swallow, wildlife refuge | Comments Off

Back in Sutherlin, Oregon

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

Back in Sutherlin, Oregon to dry out from the coastal dampness and wait out the Memorial Day holiday. Was lucky to get the same rv spot I had before. The first week in a long time that I have not had to wear my mud shoes.

The number of jackrabbit’s is increasing. In the summer, there are lots of them here.

Robin with worms. Robins are one bird I seem to see everywhere I go.

Oregon dark-eyed junco. The bottom one is with its’ fledgling.

Below, flower growing wild in the woods.

Posted in Escapee, junco, robin, Sutherlin | Comments Off

Bandon, Oregon

Monday, April 27th, 2009

Moved a little south to Bullards State Park in Bandon, Oregon. It is really nice staying at the Oregon coast state campgrounds this time of year—there are no crowds. The downside is, it’s cold! The temps are in the 50-60′s during the day, but the wind chill makes it feel a lot colder.

There are two chestnut-backed chickadees (bird shown above) working on enlarging a hole in a tree for a nest across from where I’m camped. For such a small bird with a small beak, they are really working hard.

Cranberries are the main crop grown in the area.

New River is managed by the BLM as an area of critical environmental concern. The river is “new” because it was formed around 120 years ago. It runs parallel to the ocean. There is a beautiful circular trail that takes you through woods, wetlands, and dunes. Dry sandy areas and the dunes are off limits in the summer to protect snowy plover nesting sites.

Saw the azalea below growing wild on the New River trail.

Below, Steller’s jay and a spotted tohee.

Posted in Bandon, Bureau of Land Management, chickadee, jay, State, towhee | Comments Off

« Older Entries