Yesterday morning I drove out past Mount Hood to explore a few areas in Wasco County. My first stop was Camas Prairie, though I never actually saw a prairie. I followed the two signs from Highway 216 and ended up at this sign:
This seems simple enough. I went about a quarter mile in the direction the sign is pointing and found a trail head. I walked the dogs about a mile straight down the trail, never seeing anything prairie-like, only cow pie after cow pie. We backtracked and followed another trail. Nope. I had been hoping for American Three-toed Woodpeckers and came up with one flicker. Oh well. On our way back down the trail I found a couple of Hermit Thrushes...
They looked a lot greyer than the ones I usually see- perhaps a different subspecies? After the [lack of] prairie we headed east past Pine Grove and drove up Victor Road. You might recall
my last trip back in July to this very spot when I ended up in Short-eared Owl heaven. It's really a gorgeous area...
Doesn't get more scenic than that! Instead of driving all of Victor Road this time I took a turn-off for White River Crossing Road. I was hoping to find the river and its accompanying canyon from here, something you would never guess was there when you stare across the land. But first, some birds got in the way!
This fella was chattering away, hidden in the shadows at first, but eventually hopped to the top of a tree for excellent viewing (and listening!).
A Townsend's Solitaire! Behind me I could hear another one singing the same chattery song. Definitely not a bird I was expecting to find there. Also poking around in the shadows were a couple of towhees and a White-crowned Sparrow.
A bit farther up the road were the first views of the White River Canyon...
The drive down into the canyon was pretty rocky and dusty, but could have been worse. I found some chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches in one spot, with ravens and vultures soaring constantly overhead. I found a spot to park where I could walk the dogs down to the river and do some exploring.
I quickly found an American Dipper hopping around eating stuff off the rocks...
I was hoping for some warblers by the water but only found this one mysterious empid (yes, Fly Jen is back!):
According to eBird, the empids expected here are Hammond's and Pac-slope/Cordilleran. I unfortunately have zero concept of what is a long vs. short primary projection. Also, it's fall migration so perhaps other empids would be possible too. Argh. Maybe I do still hate birds.
Lots of the rocks in the river had these little growths on them... What are they?
They made the river look like it was filled with deer poop. I am guessing they do not taste like deer poop though, because Ralph did not try to eat them.
One last shot of one of the canyon walls (towards the top of the canyon). So freakin pretty...
Just like on my last trip, my favorite bird of the day was on my way back down Victor Road. I saw something perched on a telephone pole that was strongly backlit. I briefly turned it into a Ferruginous Hawk (I saw lots of pale areas, that's my only defense), until it took flight...
Prairie Falcon!
So awesome- a bird I had only seen twice before. And now I shall leave you with something else I found to be rather impressive... This horse's weiner:
Good times!!
