After our fun experience in Florence, we drove inland to a place in Central Oregon called Bend. When you think about deserts the first things that come to mind are probably cactus, dry heat, and barren land. Bend, which is part of the vast High Desert, is anything but that. The High Desert is unique in many ways, and is very different from anything in Taiwan. Because of its high elevation the high desert can get quite cold at night, something we had to learn the hard way the last time we were here. Rather than cacti, the vegetation here mainly consists of sagebrush. We only managed to fit in two birding trips in Bend due to the short amount of time we were here, but we still made it just as memorable.
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| Cedar Waxwing |
The first trip was to the Deschutes River Trail. When we got out of the car, we were immediately greeted by the drumming of Hairy Woodpeckers, foraging for food. Before we even got to the start of the trail, we were already met by a dazzling array of birds chirping, singing or calling to each other, much to the pleasure of our ears, which had been accustomed to the dull beat of the cities back home. At the start of the trail, we walked onto a bridge, it was even more impressive, with the never ending action. Cedar Waxwings, with their warm-colored plumage, jumping onto the nearest branch, and just as soon as you so much as took a photo, immediately fluttering away. Or Mountain Chickadees, jumping from branch to branch, chattering away the whole time, somewhat like hyperactive teenagers.Or a Calliope Hummingbird, buzzing around at top speed, trying to catch insects above the water, a behavior known as traplining. We spent nearly half of our time on the bridge, birds flying by every second. The other half of our time was spent a couple of steps off the bridge.To the left was a rocky hill, and the river on the other side. We saw a Downy Woodpecker clinging on a rock, maybe ten or so flycatchers swooping around, catching insects in mid flight, then returning to its original post. But the most abundant species by far were American Robins. They might have had young in the area, because anything that got too close was aggressively chased off, thus ruining a patiently timed picture. That was most of the action on the river; we tried to find American Dippers but failed to spot any, but all the fun stuff at the start made it up.
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| Female American Kestrel |
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The next day, we visited Bessie Butte.The habitat there was a mix between ponderosa pines and the classic high desert vegetation, sagebrush. When we entered the trail, me and Dad noticed a lot of dead pines with holes in them, so we knew there were woodpeckers around. On the way in, we didn’t see much, because it was early. I was really cold even though I had long pants and a sweater on, something nearly impossible in Taiwan in the summertime. All of the action was concentrated on the way back.
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| Lewis Woodpecker with bug in its mouth |
It was when I looked up at a really tall tree. I saw a woodpecker fly to the top of a pine tree. It was a Lewis Woodpecker, the coolest woodpecker in North America. It has a deep reddish face, a pale neck collar that extends to the breast, a unique salmon pink belly, and a green back. I saw it take flight and it moved like a flycatcher, suddenly turning and braking, catching a bug in mid air, flying the opposite direction, disappearing for a while into a hole in a dead tree. Only the calling of the chicks betrayed the location of the nest. After a while, it emerged again, flying back to its original perch. After we had moved on, I noticed a shape in the sky. Judging by how he was flying, I mistakenly thought it was a pigeon at first, but when it landed in the dead tree in front of us, we knew it was a falcon of some sort. Because it was facing us the whole time, with an obvious streaked pattern on its chest, I thought it was a Prairie Falcon, and I eventually convinced Dad it was a Prairie Falcon. But when it was flying away, we both noticed it had a red back, so it turns out it was an American Kestrel after all. After being a little disappointed, even though I got great pictures of it, Dad caught sight of a weird looking bird sitting on a bush. Even though it was far, Dad still got an identifying shot (he was using my old camera that day). It had a red crest and a green body, it was facing away from us, so we couldn’t see its head beak or chest. The only bird that came to mind was the Ruby-crowned Kinglet (hence the name, has a ruby crest). But the Ruby-crowned Kinglet is the size of a warbler, much too small to be the bird we were looking at. Baffled, we tried the last trick we knew, the new Merlin function, sound identification. Sure enough it picked up on a high pitched meowing sound, that of another lifer, the Green-tailed Towhee (which also has a red crest). That was about the end of the action.
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| Lewis Woodpecker next to its nest |
We met an old woman and her daughter, taking a leisurely hike. She was very kind, and we struck up a conversation. She told us about a gorgeous Mountain Bluebird she saw up on Bessie, we in turn told her about the Lewis Woodpecker and Kestrel we saw. I thought the conversation was over when she asked me where I was from. I told her I was from Taiwan, and she seemed pleasantly surprised. She told me something that really touched me, she said, “You have a beautiful accent!” When I think about Bessie Butte, I will always remember her kindness and sweetness.
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| Grey Flycatcher |
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