The smoke in southern Oregon continues to be a plague upon all who live there. Los Angeles, as I write has an air quality index of 68 (parts-per-million) and max 80 (and the news media says “poor LA”), while Medford currently is 321 with a max 443, yet Tinseltown gets the press. Reports for Florence show 152, so it’s better, but still “unhealthy”. Further south in Brookings it’s reported to be 126.
I should like to acknowledge the help provided by the Oregon birding community. My request for information yielded several helpful replies. Barbara Combs provided a series of her favorites, and Yvette Uber suggested Bolon Island, but there was construction on the bridge just to the south, and by the time I saw the exit, it was too late to get off the road and no way to turn around <sigh>. Stephen Holzman and Bob Archer sent the same link <http://www.ecaudubon.org/birding-locations>, which I’ve been using to navigate, choosing stops every few miles to investigate as I head south. I was tempted to start out further north, but ultimately I opted to drive the two-lane roads from Sutherlin and follow the Umpqua River into Reedsport, then north to Florence.
I started my investigation of the Oregon coast north of Florence at Siuslaw North Jetty. While there was still smoke in the air, it seemed elevated above the ground, causing a yellow cast to the sunlight, but not as much torture to the eyes and lungs. There was not a wealth of birds, though California Gulls, crows (assume American, but the calls were raspier than I’m used to… could they have been Northwestern?), cormorants (assume Double-Crested), turnstones (assume Black) and kingfishers were there. I drove South 3 miles to Cleawox Lake day-use area and found it very quiet bird wise, beautiful but quiet. I saw Song Sparrows which were darker than I’m used to seeing in Southern California. The only other birds at this lake I could detect were Steller’s Jays, which were heard not seen.
Twenty-three miles south at Winchester Bay I stopped to examine the bird life the parking area with lots of California Gulls, crows and Turkey Vultures loafing in the lot.
I finished my drive near Jordan Cove, on the northern arm of Coos Bay. I discovered that Jordan Cove is cut off from public access by a rail line that surrounds it on the land side, so I contented myself to a wide roadside area at the western end of the bridge joining the causeway to the dune covered isthmus between Coos Bay and the Pacific Ocean. At this location I saw several Great Egrets, a couple cormorants and gulls, and a Belted Kingfisher perched on a tall steel stake in the bay. Tomorrow I will drive to the Pacific shore and see what surprises it might hold.
No pictures with this post. I’ll try to do better tomorrow.
