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missing Barrow's Goldeneye at Gold L. (which was dotted with fisherman), we 
found our other target species in eastern Lane Co.   The goldeneye miss was 
offset by hearing a Gray Jay at Gold L.  It was somewhat breezy to downright 
windy as we traveled down the east slope of the Cascades and out onto the 
high desert plateau.  However, we still did well among the pine forest 
specialties other than woodpeckers (another story).  Getting a Townsend's 
Warbler at a recently discovered site on Odell Butte was a nice addition.  
We had missed this species two weeks ago.  We had little trouble picking up 
all the desert passerines and raptors.  Blasting through the Paulina Marsh 
area we filled in the blanks on the roster of expected marsh birds with 
Long-billed Curlew, Wilson's Snipe, Willet, N. Shoveler and Sandhill Crane.  
Finding three Canvasbacks right next to the road eliminated having to scour 
Dutchy L. at dusk  for the one or two that are usually there.   We once 
again missed Canyon Wren (a mass extinction is suspected).  Up on Winter 
Ridge we managed to get a response from a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at 8:10PM 
making us all wonder...just how late do these little guys stay up?

We did a quick scope of Dutchy L. to get Eared Grebe and we also cleaned up 
our earlier miss on Lesser Scaup when Jay picked one out as the rest of us 
were  about to close up our tripods to move on.  Hoping against hope we 
checked the feeding station at the Summer Lake Refuge HQ for Collared Doves 
without success.  We had three sites where these birds have been seen 
regularly of late and found them absent at all three.  As daylight 
transitioned to twilight and then to total darkness, we made a dash through 
the auto tour loop on the north end of Summer Lake WMA.  We added Great 
Egret (somehow missed two weeks ago), Black-crowned Night-Heron, Snowy 
Plover and American Avocet.  The pair of Green-winged Teal that we found on 
Schoolhouse L. two weeks ago were still around, pushing our total to 204 
species.  As darkness fell we had four species we could still reasonably 
expect.  The first, Common Poorwill, took several stops before we finally 
heard one call a couple times.  It was cool and breezy and these factors 
combined with later sunset forced us to use more time than expected to track 
down this species, which we finally did at nearly 9:45.  Our final three 
possibilities, Burrowing Owl, Flammulated Owl and Yellow Rail were at three 
widely spaced sites.   Some quick mental gymnastics, not easy after nearly 
22 hours of non-stop birding, convinced us that getting all three would be 
nearly impossible in the remaining time before midnight.  So we chose to go 
after the Burrowing Owl first and then go for Flammulated Owl. Since we were 
staying at Summer Lake Lodge, it made little sense to do over 100 miles of 
extra driving just to get Yellow Rail at Klamath Forest NWR.

In retrospect this decision allowed us to have one of those birding 
experiences none of us will soon forget.  We would like to forget the 80+ 
mile round trip to the Burrowing Owl spot.  Apparently Burrowing Owls don't 
like cool breezy nights any better than Poorwills.  We did not find this 
owl.  However, the next owl we saw more than made up for any of the 
obstacles and misses we endured during the day.  We arrived at the Flam. Owl 
spot about 11:00PM.  After a little taping we heard at least two Flams 
calling.  Though they sounded like they were a long way off, Jay and Tim 
both suggested that these birds were closer than they sounded.  Since we 
didn't have anything else to do, we decided to see if they might be coaxed 
into view.  We taped a few more times and then realized that one of the 
birds was right near us just off the side of the road.  Scrambling around 
below the trees we triangulated until we finally determined which tree the 
bird was in as it called away.  We tried to find it using flashlights for a 
couple minutes before it flew out of the tree overhead.  As it did so Tim  
picked the bird up in his "Q-beam."  It actually fluttered in place above 
the road for several moments in the beam of light before landing in plain 
view.  We watched it for nearly 15 minutes as it sat there and called very 
softly.  Jay had never seen a Flam before, despite hearing them many times.  
I had only seen one other Flammulated Owl and that was a face in nest hole 
more than 20 years ago.  It was a perfect end to an imperfect day.  The 
invigoration of this experience made the normally bleary-eyed drive back to 
Summer Lake seem like it took about five minutes.   Our heads all hit 
pillows by 12:30.

As invariably happens with these cross state marches, we had some fairly 
ugly misses.  Woodpeckers in particular kicked our backsides as we missed 
Downy (ouch), Pileated (almost as ouch) and Red-naped Sapsucker (a solid 
stakeout).  Had Noah not somewhat whimsically played an iPod recording of 
Lewis' Woodpecker at Cabin L. Guard Station, we would have missed that 
species as well.  As expected for this time of year, shorebirds offered 
little support to our total.  We did find Greater Yellowlegs at Fern Ridge, 
but aside from Killdeer we saw no shorebirds along the outer coast.

On the surface doing Big Days must seem a bit insane to most of you.  
However, the planning and scouting for these efforts creates an opportunity 
to learn a lot about areas of the state that would go unbirded otherwise.  
Sharing these experiences with others who are just as passionate about 
exploring the state and its potential produces an intense and memorable 
experience without fail.  By the following morning we are usually already 
talking about next time, next year and how better planning and execution 
might improve the route.  Jay, Noah and Tim and the others who've shared 
these adventures in the past are all great company, and days/weekends spent 
with them are always a good ones.  Big Days produce the best kind of tired 
there is and a bed never feels better.


Dave Irons
Eugene, OR

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