Date: 8/15/25 7:36 am From: Daniel Getman <000003a484abda6a-dmarc-request...> Subject: No Sightings-Oregon Trip
We just returned from 10 days in Oregon, flying into Portland, then doing a big loop of the state with 2 days in the Bend area, a day at Crater Lake National Park, three days in the Klamath Falls area including several National Wildlife Refuges in northern California (Lower Klamath and Tule Lake NWR, Butte Valley National Grasslands). We originally had then planned on a couple days in the wineries of the Willamette Valley, but with temperatures then above 100 in that valley, we instead headed for the central coast area traveling from Florence to Tillamook, before heading back to Portland.
Oregon may not be on your list of places to visit to bird, but it’s quite a gem. We didn’t spend any time along the southwest or northwest coast or the Cascade River area.
Overall, the scenery, with several snow-capped mountains (Hood, Jefferson, Three Sisters, Shasta) and beautiful rivers (Deschuttes, Rogue and Willamette) and many lakes, was awesome. The weather was sunny with temperatures in the 80s east of the mountains and 70s along the coast. Klamath Falls is a town of 21,000 and claims >300 sunny days each year. There are 7 NWRs, as well as a variety of other birding sites, within an hour or two, many just 30 minutes away.
We later learned that if you just want to visit the Klamath Falls area, you can fly into either Medford (1 hr drive) or Redmond (2.5 hr drive to Klamath Falls) and just north of Bend. Both flights are a connecting flight through Denver. From Bend, Crater Lake NP is on the way to Klamath Falls. Crater Lake NP was not crowded at all and its Rim Road can easily be covered in a casual half a day. It’s Rim Road often opens in late June, due to a normal 43 feet of snow! There are several very good birding trail booklets about the Klamath Falls area and the regional NWRs, as well as one covering the entire Coast. Oregon also has a well-established state-wide birding trail online and very helpful travel guides and newsletters you can sign up for online.
Birding highlights included:
- multiple Osprey throughout our travels
- lots of Western Grebes at Upper Klamath Lake near Putnams Point
- Eared Grebes still in breeding plumage, many with young, at Tule Lake
- California Quail observed several times
- a cooperative Sora feeding in the reeds along Agency Lake in the northern section of Upper Klamath Lake. The short trail to Agency Lake was very birdy.
- lots of White-faced Ibis flying around at both Lower Klamath Lake and Tule Lake
- a Golden Eagle (our first with excellent views) and a Prairie Falcon at Butte Valley National Grasslands. We were hoping for a Swainson Hawk, but no luck, but we did see a Mountain Bluebird and many Red Tail Hawks.
- a huge roost of Black-crowned Night Herons at Meiss Lake. We initially thought there were 3 in a group of small trees, but then discovered dozens were present
- although we saw some shorebirds, we were surprised they weren’t more plentiful, especially along the coast. It might have been a little early. There were quite a few at Lower Klamath Lake and Meiss Lake.
Photos can be viewed at: flickr.com/photos/dgetman/sets
Dan Getman, Kirksville, northeast MO
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