BONNY BUTTE RAPTOR MIGRATION PROJECT

Last Tuesday I set out early for a long day trip to the Bonny Butte International Raptor Migration Project site on the south eastern flank of MT. Hood, in Oregon.

According to the Hawk Watch International web site I would be able to easily spot several species of Raptors that are difficult to see here in the Klamath Basin. I was especially interested in the Sharp Shinned, Cooper's, and Peregrine numbers they were quoting as viewable in a days watching.

My best friend Melvyn was my companion for this trip, and we were traveling in his vehicle for its higher ground clearance; as the last few miles of the trip was to be over deeply rutted dirt roads.

Well, we never made it to our destination. We had a flat tire just a few miles from our turn off onto the unimproved road. That was the good news! The bad news was that Mel’s spare tire was one of those little “toy” tires that are intended just to get one a few miles to a tire repair station. We were afraid to trust the “toy” tire on up into the wilderness and then back out to civilization for tire repair, so we turned around and started home.

As it turned out the trip was not a total bust. On the way up we had passed a couple of interesting locations we thought might be interesting to investigate, so we decided to check them out on the way back.

One of the spots was a roadside park and boat launching ramp along side the Deschutes River, in the small community of Warm Springs. Warm Springs is in the middle of a deep river gorge of some 1,000 feet deep, a mile or so wide and about 10 miles long. We had our picnic lunch there and found it almost worth the trip in its self.

The other spot was another deep river gorge crossing Hwy. 97 just a couple of miles north of the little town of Terrebonne; the name of this town just cracks me up for some reason. Terrebonne is about 20 or so miles north of Bend OR. Anyway this river gorge is the, Crooked River Gorge. The gorge is about 300 feet wide and 300 feet deep. There is an older, abandoned, bridge one can walk over and view the gorge below. It is quite impressive and exciting to be on it looking down.

We finally safely made it home on the “toy” tire, after what seemed a very long return trip, what with our 50 MPH speed limit on the toy tire, and all the friendly gestures directed our way by passing fellow travelers.

I’m thinking I might rent an SUV, from Enterprise rent a car, and try it again in a week or so; If so, I will post another report; hopefully bragging about all the raptor spotting I bagged. Until then, happy trails!

BIRDING MILLER ISLAND

Nancy and I birded Miller Island yesterday evening after dinner.

Miller Island is a wildlife sanctuary along the Klamath River just a couple of miles from our house, and is usually a pretty good birding location.

Being that it is currently close to the end of the “slow” season for birding we did make some notable sightings:

Sharp-shinned Hawk, very difficult to discriminate from a Cooper ’s hawk.

Red-shouldered Hawk, a rare sighting until this year, they have just begun to show themselves in the Basin this year.

Ring-necked Pheasant, a beautiful rooster (cock) one of Nancy’s favorite birds to spot.

Great Blue Heron, a magnificent bird always fun to spot and observe.

Red-tailed Hawk, ubiquitous, but still as magnificent as any other raptor.

American Kestrel, beautifully colored and patterned almost as common as RTH.

Belted Kingfisher, striking profile they look top-heavy to me.

Mule Deer Doe, to me the very essence of tranquility.

Click on any of the sighting titles for a link to more information.

STUKEL MOUNTAIN

Yesterday I went to the top of Stukel Mountain for the first time since my coming to the Klamath Basin seven years ago.

Stukel Mountain is about two miles south of the outskirts of the city of Klamath Falls. This full picture of the mountain was taken from my neighborhood looking SE at approximately two miles distant.

It has taken me these seven years to discover the access road up there. It seems to be a secret closely held by the local natives. I was once led to believe that it was private property. One of the other prominent mountains, “Hogback”, surrounding the city is.

Stukel Mountain is 6,200 in elevation, rising abruptly 2,000 foot above the surrounding basin floor; it covers some 100 square miles in area stretching ten miles at its base in both the north/south and east/west directions. It has several main peaks.
If one clicks on this LINK one will be redirected to an interactive, 360 Deg. panoramic, photo of the surrounding countryside, from the top of the mountain.

LONGEST NON-STOP JOURNEY

Recently a female Bar Tailed Godwit was tracked by USGS Satellite on an 18,000 mile journey; along the way she set a record for the longest known non-stoop flight of a land bird.

On February 2, 2007 she departed Miranda, on the North Cape of New Zealand, and flew non-stop, 6,300 miles, to Yalu Jiang, China in 8 days.

She rested in Yalu Jiang for five weeks and then departed for Alaska May 1, 2007 arriving at the Kuskokwim River Delta having traveled non-stop 4,500 miles in 5 days.

Finally on August 29, 2007, after approximately 4 months R&R, she took off again for her non-stop return flight to New Zealand of some 7,200 miles; arriving at the New Zealand North Cape just 8 miles from her original departure point, in just 9 days! This is equates to over 33 MPH average speed, 24 hours a day, for 9 days!

Next time you see one, with its pecker stuck in the mud, a small tip of the hat might be in order!

GIG HARBOR

TIDES TAVERN

Did I mention I like Tides Tavern and Gig Harbor?

Here are three images from the outside dinning deck of Tides Tavern looking across the harbor, and one looking across the entrance to Gig Harbor from a view point just one block away from TT.

Photo credits: Me.

TIDES TAVERN
GIG HARBOR WA

Tides Tavern: the best tavern I have ever been to.

Last week on a quick trip to Port Townsend WA. I stopped by Gig harbor, on the way by, to have lunch, and stopped again on the way back, the next day, to have dinner.

My trip to Port Townsend was to attend the Wooden Boat Festival there, but I think Tides Tavern eclipsed the Festival!
Picture credits: Mel Bruce.

The Tides Tavern in Gig Harbor