[obol] Willow Hot Springs, Southern Harney County

[Wayne & Patty Bowers]

On October 11th I dropped by Willow Hot Springs for a social retreat from
the crowded metropolis of Burns/Hines. It was a beautiful fall day with the
air temperature about 67 and the water temperature of 104. No other human
activity in sight except for a UPS truck rolling down the county road over a
mile away. I bagged 24 species with the binoculars and none with the shotgun
in the vicinity of the hot springs and a mile or so hike up Willow Creek.
Southern Harney and Malheur counties are exceptionally green for this time
of year owing to a rain storm that swept through the area Sept. 22-23 and
dumped up to two inches of rain and snow. There have been several other
smaller storms since. The dormant native grasses have re-sprouted and cheat
grass and many herbaceous plant seeds have also sprouted.  The woodies along
the creek were in full fall color. Willow Creek subs out about a quarter
mile below the hot springs. Beaver are still active in the area with a
series of dams from the hot springs upstream.  Kinglets and sparrows were
abundant.

 

WB

 

Species List:  

 

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Golden-crowned Kinglet

American Goldfinch

Spotted Towhee

White-crowned Sparrow

Brewer's Sparrow

Vesper Sparrow

House Finch

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Red-wing Blackbird

Brewer's Blackbird

Northern Harrier

Prairie Falcon

Golden Eagle

Marsh Wren

Rock Wren

Winter Wren

Canyon Wren

American Robin

Horned Lark

Common Raven

Northern Flicker

Virginia Rail (heard)

Green-winged Teal

 

Wayne & Patty Bowers

DustDevil Nature Company

27897 Hwy 20 West

Hines, OR 97738

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.oregonstate.edu/mailman/private/obol/attachments/20071017/714d1b08/attachment.htm