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Rich Hoyer on his recently-completed tour, Oregon in Late Summer



October 05: Rich Hoyer on his recently-completed tour, Oregon in Late Summer

The Oregon in Late Summer tour was like a breath of fresh air. Well, at least the first half was, and then smoke from forest fires from all directions was evident most places we went, though we were lucky to be far from the fires' direct path. Not having led any tours since March, I was reminded what a joy it is to show off my home state and its birds to a group of passionate, appreciative, and grateful participants.

 

Near Corvallis, after our second of eleven picnic lunches in extraordinarily lovely settings, this Northern Pygmy-Owl descended from the towering Douglas-fir Canopy and put on quite a show for us.

 

The coast was as birdy as ever – and fog we had one afternoon was the only variation from perfection during the entire tour. This Glaucous-winged Gull at Barview Jetty demonstrated the proper way to eat an Ocher Sea Star.

 

It was a shock to the senses when in a matter of hours we went from wet coniferous forest to the steppes of eastern Oregon, such as here at Fort Rock, the site where the oldest human footwear in the world, dated to as much as 11,000 years ago, were found.

 

This is the habitat for the sleek and distinctive Prairie Falcon, and we were lucky to see three during the tour.

 

Thousands of American Avocets at Summer and Abert Lakes offered quite the spectacle.

 

These Great Horned Owl shouldn’t have been all that happy to be disturbed from their day roost, but then why did they break out in full song?

 

Two Sandhill Cranes and their colt calmy forage by the roadside at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

 

The drier and diverse coniferous forests of eastern Oregon’s Blue Mountains offered up many specialties such as Pinyon Jay, Clark’s Nutcracker, Mountain Bluebird, and this subtle immature Cassin's Finch.

 

On the gaudy side, this Red-naped Sapsucker was busy at these Quaking Aspen wells on our glorious day on Steens Mountain.

 

We varied the last day’s itinerary just a tad to visit a peach orchard on the John Day River in Kimberly, where this stunning male Summer Tanager, Oregon’s 28th record, had been found just ten days earlier.

 

It was clear we were having a fabulous time every moment, and it was a sad moment when I realized we were nearing the end of tour so quickly.

Posted: October 05, 2020