Past Activity

Birding in Klamath Basin

Start date: 03/01/2017
Start time: 12:00 AM
End date: 03/02/2017
End time: 11:59 PM

Description:

BACK BY POPULAR REQUEST! This interesting and fun trip to view birds in the Klamath Basin is a great winter outing. Local naturalist and fellow Obsidian, Rick Ahrens always makes the trip more enjoyable by sharing his vast knowledge of the natural world. Plus, he is an expert at sighting and identifying birds. While we can’t guarantee just what birds you will see, here are a few highlights from previous trips: Thousands of Snow Geese flying in at dusk, turning the ground white and filling the air with sound; Eagles on the ice at Klamath Lake and hunting in the snow covered fields; A large flock of Night Herons roosting in the trees along the Link River; Hundreds of Tundra Swans floating on the water, looking like a huge white island; Large numbers of ducks, geese, birds of prey and perching birds. Who knows what special sights this year will bring!
Cost of trip includes: Transportation in a luxury motor coach with experienced driver; Thursday lunch at The Black Bear Restaurant; overnight accommodations, plus full continental breakfast, evening soup & cookies at Best Western Olympic Inn Klamath Falls. BRING A SACK LUNCH FOR WEDNESDAY. Dress warm; bring your camera, binoculars & spirit of adventure. Load bus at 7:30 a.m., depart at 8:00

Cost: Members $175 Non-members $179 $50.00 deposit due at registration
Balance due: February 20 Please make checks payable to: Obsidians Bus Trips Account
REGISTRATION & MAIL CHECKS TO: Judy Phelps 541-726-0118
2774 Viewmont Ave., Springfield, OR 97477

Event Leader: Sharon Cutsforth
Event Leader Phone: 541-735-4703
Event Leader Email: skcutsforth@comcast.net
Assistant Leader:
Event category: Bus Trips
Area Type:
Departure Location: See Trip Description
Rating:
Roundtrip total drive miles:
Season: 2017
Permits Required:
Event Status: Passed
Supplies and Equipment Required:
participant prerequisites:
Conditions:
Total Distance:
Member Fees: 175
Elevation Gain:
Non-Member Fees: 179
Committee: Bus Trips
Junior member fees: —

Trip Report

Beautiful weather, great people and lots of birds made this trip really special! We welcomed several first time bus riders and enjoyed getting to know them. The bright sunshine as we traveled over the Willamette Pass and on down Highway 97 gave us wonderful views of snow in the forests and on the mountain tops. Diamond Peak, Mt. McLoughlin and Mt. Shasta were especially lovely. It was interesting to see the great mounds of snow that had been removed from roads and parking lots around the Chemult area. As always, the Olympic Inn in Klamath Falls was a lovely place to stay, even allowing us to stop in to eat our sack lunches in the breakfast area before we went out to the wildlife refuge on Wednesday. Lunch at the Black Bear Restaurant on Thursday was a great hit also. BUT, the highlight of the whole trip was the great numbers of birds we saw – both out on the Lower Klamath Wildlife Refuge and along the Link River right in Klamath Falls. While we were disappointed not to see the Night Herons, we were treated to great viewing of both Common and Barrow’s Goldeneye Ducks on the Link River. Out on the refuge we saw many Bald Eagles, Tundra Swans, Snow Geese, White-fronted Geese, hundreds of Red-winged Blackbirds, many other types of water birds and raptors. Special thanks to Rick Ahrens and Charlie Thomas for sharing their knowledge of birds and bringing their scopes for close up viewing