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Monday, July 12, 2010

Central Oregon Part 3

After a nice quiet night at the Cabin Lake campground we spent another few hours at the blinds photographing the birdlife. I had hoped a Lewis's woodpecker would show up but no such luck. Oh well, there's always next time!



By this time my camera battery had expired and I did not have a spare. My Birding Associate was kind enough to take over photography duties so the rest of these are by him.

Fort Rock was our next destination....it's right down the road from Cabin Lake. It looks like a giant volcanic fallen souffle out in the middle of an ancient lake bed.


You can hike in and all around the area. Be warned.....it's like a souffle on the outside but like a hot wok on the inside....take plenty of water and sunscreen!!



Tons of birds nest here. Thousands of nooks and crannies house everything from swallows and Rock Wrens to owls and Prairie Falcons. We encountered all of those birds plus White-throated Swifts; Fort Rock is a reliable place to see them. The owls had plenty of places to hide for the day but we found ample evidence of their existence along one side of the rock.

All the white you see is bone.


Years (or maybe just months) of dissolved pellets containing the bones of all the little mammals caught by the Great Horned Owls that raised their young here.


Stay tuned for the final destination - Summer Lake.

3 comments:

NW Nature Nut said...

Cool! I'm talking Richard into going to the watering hole. I can't wait!

Jen Sanford said...

Whoa that's a lot of bones! Very cool...and kind of creepy!

sue said...

Central Oregon looks gorgeous. Must get there one day.