I live in the Sellwood neighborhood of Portland, Oregon with my wife, Tui, two sons, Charlie (11) and George, plus a cheeky pitbull, Maile. These are the owls that I found in the Pacific Northwest in 2023.
January 7th. Maile and I took a walk along the East side of Oaks Bottom, where I found a screech owl roosting in a cavity in an ash tree.
January 8th. Tui and I took a very rainy walk around Lone Fir Cemetery. While watching a beautiful Townsend's warbler, we heard a distant barred owl singing. I ran across the park, and easily found the singing owl, seeking shelter in a dense cedar. Tui arrived a minute later and was able to enjoy the owl.
Jan 14th. Charlie and I took off early in the morning, stopping at the PDX fire-station where we hoped for a barn owl. Alas all we saw were airplanes. At the sea-scout base Charlie found a short eared owl hunting low along the dike. Later that morning we saw tricolored and rusty blackbirds plus a summer tanager.
Jan 15th. Charlie, Tui and I drive out to Steigerwald to look for a Lapland longspur that Charlie wanted to see. We found the longspur with a flock of pipits. On the walk back we found a beautiful short-eared owl hunting over a wet grassland with two northern harriers. Charlie and I took a detour to check out some fir trees. Right away we found some pellets, and after checking a few trees we found our prize, a barn owl-Charlie's 220th bird.
Feb 4th. I got up well before dawn and headed for Tryon park in search of saw-whet owls. I didn't hear any, but at first light I heard a spontaneously singing pygmy owl. It took about ten minutes, but I was eventually able to find a pair of pygmy owls.
Feb 4th. Charlie and I took a couple of local birders, Henry and Jane and some friends of theirs to the Oaks Bottom screech owl. When we arrived there were a couple of photographers already viewing the cooperative owl. It's remarkable just how many people have viewed these birds. We all enjoyed good views of the screech owl in it's cavity, before it flew low into a nearby tree.
Feb 10th. Maile and I walked the full circuit around Oaks Bottom. I found the screech owl in the usual ash tree. A little further around I found a barred owl roosting low in a Doug Fir. I also followed a huge flock of angry crows in some riverside cottonwoods. I feel certain that they had found an owl, but I never did find the object of their scorn.
Feb 12th. Tui, Maile and I took a hike around Powell Butte. A runner noticed my binoculars and told me about a barred owl. A few minutes later we found the owl, a lovely barred owl perched very low in a vine maple.
Feb 17th. Charlie, Maile and I walked around Oaks Bottom. We found a screech owl facing the sun in the usual ash tree.
Feb 18th. Tui, Charlie and I went birding in Clark County, Washington. At Shillapoo Lake, Charlie and I did find a Northern Shrike, a first for Charlie. We searched for Bitterns at Ridgefield NWR, but found none. A particularly dark Great horned owl roosting in the ash woodland was good compensation though.
Feb 19th. George, Maile and I drove out to Wasco County to search for long eared owl. This would be a new bird for me in Wasco County. We birded the area SE of the Dalles, but failed to see or hear any long-eareds. We did have a great-horned singing very close by and saw three other roadside great-horned owls; even George was excited by our close drive by views. We camped in White River WMA.
Feb 25th. Charlie and I walked around Whitaker Ponds in the snow. Despite the winter weather we saw five tree swallows. A couple of scolding scrub jays led us to a great-horned owl roosting high in a fir tree.
March 17th. Maile and I walked around Oaks Bottom. The screech owl was sunning itself in the usual ash tree.
Mar 25-30th. The whole family took a trip across Oregon to Ontario in Eastern Oregon. Our first night we stayed in a cabin at Crooked River ranch.
Charlie and I saw a couple of great-horned owls at the golf course there. The next day, Charlie and I drove down to Millican at first light, where despite the bitter cold we found 5 sage grouse.
Millican (Sage grouse location)
We all drove along highway 20 to Owhyee Lake, stopping along the way to enjoy Ferruginous hawk and Prairie Falcon. South of Vale, I found 3 great-horned owls, sat on nests. I had been hoping to get in some owling in Malhuer county, but Owhyee Lake was pretty isolated from the areas that I wanted to explore. In the morning Charlie found his first chukar and rock wrens. We drove to Ontario that afternoon, and tracked down a group of great-tailed grackles in a city park, another new bird for Charlie. The following day, Charlie and I set off north of Weiser in search of Sharp-tailed grouse. Along the route, we found a road side short eared owl at first light. The first lek site was devoid of grouse. We pressed on into the mountains toward a second lek site. I had misgivings, as the roads were wet and muddy. We eventually decided to stop half way up a narrow track. While reversing down the track the Rav4 slid into a ditch. Despite our best efforts to fill the ditch with rocks we were unable to to prevent the car sinking deeper into the cold wet snowy mud. Fortunately there was a house near by. The man who answered the door agreed to help. Remarkably he was a fish and game ranger, who helped people see the grouse. He let us know it was way too snowy to access the grouse lek. Once he hooked a chain onto the car, he pulled it down the hill with his truck, for a while the car remained stuck in the ditch, and we slid close to a big creek, but a few feet before the creek, the Rav's tires gripped, and it pulled out of the ditch. Defeated, but relieved, we drove back to the rental house. Returning to Burns, we got as far as Vale, when we discovered Highway 20 was blocked by a major accident. There was a winter storm warning, so we decided to loop around through Jordan Valley. Near Adrian I found three more nesting great-horned owls. It was a long, wild drive across this empty corner of Oregon. Approaching Burns we encountered a lot of blowing snow. We stayed at a ranch bunkhouse at the end of a long snowy drive. Surprisingly we didn't find any owls around Burns, but at least Charlie and I were able to find a logger-head shrike and big flock of long-billed curlews.
April 1st. I walked around Tryon after dark in search of saw-whet owls, but only heard a distant barred owl.
April 2nd. Charlie, Tui and I visited a slough just West of Portland Airport and found a large great-horned owl chick staring back at us from a tree cavity.
April 7th. I visited Tryon at dusk with Mail and tried to track down the barred owl that I had heard last week. After a few minutes of walking down the trail, I saw a beautiful barred owl perched by the trail side. After dark we tried iron Mountain trail for saw whet owl, but found none.
April 15th. Charlie, Maile and I visited Tabor in search of early migrants. We ran into Ross Barnes-Rickett, who kindly explained how to find a recently fledged great-horned owl. After a little searching we found a wonderful big fluffy owlet low in a Doug Fir. We also found five warbler species, but nothing new for Charlie's life list.
That afternoon Andy Frank let me know about a screech owl in his yard. Tui and I drove over and enjoyed close up views of a screech owl sunning itself from a large cavity.
April 16th. I drove out with Maile to Hagg Lake and started hiking a forest road through a clearcut at Sunset. In an open area of recently planted young conifers I found a long-eared owl hunting.
April 21st. I walked through Reed Canyon with Maile and heard a barred owl singing a couple of times near the upper end of the canyon.
April 22nd. Charlie, Maile and I took an early morning walk around Mt Tabor. We found Charlie's first Calliope in a cherry tree. We checked on last week's Great-Horned owl and were rewarded with an adult and a chick perched together.
April 28-29th. Charlie, Maile and I went camping in Morrow County. I was on a quest to find Short-eared owl in Morrow county. We took a beautiful walk in some wild grasslands at dusk. Charlie found his first grasshopper sparrow, and we kept company with many displaying curlews. Unfortunately we found no short eareds. One consolation was a pair of great-horned owls that Charlie noticed, perched in a barn window.
May 19-21st. Charlie, Maile and I drove out to Summer Lake. This was our big spring trip. We found lots of new birds for Charlie, especially steppe and scrub songbirds and waterbirds. Both nights we tried for Flammulated owl, but failed to see or hear any. Perhaps we were a week too early. We also checked out a known site for long-eared owls, but unfortunately found two dead nestlings and no adults. At a campsite at Summer Lake we found a lovely family of four great-horned owls. Along Winter Ridge we found a very cooperative singing pygmy owl.
May 28th. Tui and I took a walk around Tryon, where we found a hunting barred owl perched obviously in a low fir tree.
June 30th. I have not been owling in Oregon lately. Today we moved into a new home in Lake Oswego, where my youngest son can get better special ed services. After a long sweaty day moving dusty crap, Charlie, Maile and I took a night walk on Cook's Butte. On the far side of the Butte we heard a singing great-horned owl.
July 1st. Charlie, Maile and I walked around Luscher Farms after dark, where we found a calling barn owl. We got a great view without a flashlight under a big moon.
July 19th. Maile and I walked around Luscher Farms after dark. I could hear a barn owl screeching from a stand of trees.
July 25th. I took Maile to Bryant Woods Nature Park. We quickly heard, but struggled to find a singing great-horned owl. A begging barred owl was much easier to track down.
July 30th. While driving along highway 43 we saw a roadside barred owl hunting just north of Lake Oswego in the daylight. Later at Luscher farms I found a barn owl after dark.
Aug 4th. While walking Maile around Lake Ridge high school I heard a distant barn owl.
Aug 5th Maile and I got up at 3am, and walk down to Bryant Woods/Canal Acres nature areas. After a few minutes I heard a great0horned owl singing. The owl sang for over an hour. Down by the Tualatin River I found a singing barred owl.
Aug 11th. Maile and I got up before sunrise and walked down Stafford Road to the bridge over the Tualatin River. Surprisingly a barred owl flew across the river accompanied by a coopers hawk. Soon after another coopers crossed and finally a second barred owl.
Aug 18th. Charlie, Maile and I hiked East from Timberline Lodge down to the while river crossing, where we camped. At dusk we heard a great-horned owl singing just above the White River
Aug 25th-27th. Sean Cozart had found a family of nesting barred owls at Buck Creek Trailhead in the Wallowas. Although common near Portland, this is a challenging bird to find in NE Oregon. I had a weekend camping trip planned with my friends Mark and Justin, so decided to stop and visit Buck Creek along the way. I didn't get off work until 6pm, so didn't arrive at Buck Creek until 2am! It was beautiful out, surprisingly damp. I enjoying having a beer and walking the forest roads. Alas I heard no owls, and it wasn't until I had given up that I heard the first barred owl sing around 330am.
Up in the eagle cap wilderness I had hoped for a long eared or boreal owl, but found neither. I did see a lovely spruce grouse and a pair of tame white-winged crossbills. Plus the views were lovely:
September 7th. While doing a Maile walk around the high school I noticed a large owl silhouetted low in an alder tree. I was able to approach it and use my phone's flashlight to figure out it was a barred owl.
September 9th. While exploring the scablands around coffee Creek Wetlands I flushed a big great-horned owl from some tall Doug Firs.
Sep 17th. I my quest to see a boreal owl in Oregon I ventured up to Timberline on Mount Hood with Riis Hinrichs. Driving over to Riis' at dusk a barred owl flew in front of the car. We walked West from the lodge. Initially it was quite windy, but as we got further along the Timberline trail the wind eased. We had a saw-whet respond, and got brief views of it in flight. Behind us we both had the impression that a largish animal was walking near by. It was an unnerving feeling and I was thankful not to be alone. Alas we never found any boreal owls.
Sep 22-23rd. Maile and I headed out to Timothy Lake after dinner. We hiked into the North Arm and heard a saw-whet sing a very slow song. Next we hiked down to Meditation Point. In the night I head a couple of distant barred owls calling. Just before my alarm went off, a couple of saw-whets started calling-both the bark, and later a brief song. Despite my efforts I could not get a view of the saw-whets, but did see a handsome pair of great-horned owls singing from a tall snag.
Oct 6th. I refound the great horned owl at Coffee Creek Scablands.
Oct 7th. Tui and I took a hike around Milo McIver Sate Park. We found a big dark great-horned owl perched low in a maple tree.
Late that afternoon, Charlie, Maile and I drove out in the Rav to Broken top. We stopped along the way at Trillium Lake, where we cooked dinner. We arrived at Broken top well after dark and set about searching for Boreal owls. At our second stop, we heard a boreal owl singing! I have searched for this species about 20 times over 22 years, and this is the first time I have definitively found one in Oregon. The bird soon fell silent, and we were unable to locate it, or find any other owls despite numerous stops.
Oct 8th. While walking Maile after dark in the neighborhood, I heard, then saw a singing great-horned owl.
Oct13-15th. George and I decided to take a trip to the South Coast of Oregon to visit the Prehistoric Gardens-a forest populated with concrete dinosaurs. We camped on the way South, in the hills above Elkton. We heard a great-horned owl singing from the tent. In the morning we briefly heard a singing pygmy owl, but could not find it.
After visiting the Prehistoric Gardens (which George found a bit underwhelming) we ventured inland, Northeast of Port Orford. We camped on an old gold mining claim. The forest was a beautiful mix of tall firs and evergreen oaks. At dusk we had a singing pygmy owl near the campsite. That night we drove the back roads searching for spotted owls. All we heard was a single great-horned owl singing far away across the valley.
Around four in the morning I was awoken by the sound of snapping branches, concerned it might be a bear, I stayed awake for a while. Then I heard a male long eared owl sing for a few minutes! This is the first time that I have detected this bird in the coast range.
Oct 22nd. While walking Maile past Lake Ridge school at dawn, I heard a distant great-horned owl singing up by Cooks Butte.
Nov 5th. Tui, Charlie and I took a midday walk along Anderson Rd, when we flushed a short-eared owl from the roadside. The bird was carrying prey and crossed the road and dropped into the far field. I was incredibly happy to find this bird in Clackamas, the last report was in the last millennium and it was my most wanted Clackamas bird.
Nov 11th. Tui, Charlie and I took a walk through Brown's Ferry Park. I had just commented on the lack of barred owls, and 10 seconds later I saw a very plump looking barred owl roosting in a big leaf maple tree.
Nov 14th. While walking Maile past Lake Ridge school at night, Charlie and I heard a great-horned owl singing up by Cooks Butte.
Nov 18-19th. Charlie and I went camping near the mouth of the Metolious River. We stopped at Timothy lake and saw a goshawk hunting killdeer. Near Black Butte Ranch we heard a barred owl, a first for me in Jefferson County. We spent a damp night camped under a fir tree. In the morning we woke to an inch of wet snow.
Nov 24th. While driving Barbour Blvd at dusk I saw a great-horned owl fly above the road.
Nov 25th. Maile and I hiked Cook's Butte at dawn. A gang of scolding Stellar's Jays led me to a roosting great-horned owl.
Dec 14th. I visited Wilhoit Springs after dark with Joseph Blowers and Mike Anderson. Mike had been doing a county big year and wanted to find a saw whet owl. We were not disappointed, and the owls were vocal, singing briefly, screeching and barking. I saw three saw-whets, all briefly and heard a possible 4th owl.
Dec 23rd. At the top Cook's Butte, I heard a pair of great-horned owls duetting an hour before dawn. I received a text from Riis, letting me know about a saw-whet. I headed over to Tryon. By the time I arrived, the saw whet had fallen silent, but I was able to hear a singing great-horned owl.
Dec 24th. I drove out to Luscher farm and saw a hunting barn owl. I then headed out to Mary S Young park, where I heard a great-horned and saw-whet owl. Next stop was Powell Valley Nature Park, where I eventually found a calling screech owl. I stopped at the South end of Tryon, where I hoped to find a barred owl, but non where calling. I met up with Riis and his friend Owen, where we found a calling saw-whet and got to watch a singing pygmy owl at dawn.
Dec 27th. George and I were enjoying a noisy hot tub under a full moon, while a great-horned owl sang nearby.
Dec 28th. I got up early and drove to Wilhoit springs, arriving there about 615am. I found a barred owl lurking in a cedar tree, and nearby a great-horned, perched conspicuously high in a fir tree. Nearby a pygmy owl sang, but remained out of sight.
Dec 31st. I got up early and headed out to Coffee Creek Wetlands, where I heard a barn owl calling. I then drove to Anderson Swale Rd, where I saw one or two hunting barn owls, and heard a pair of distant great-horned owls singing.
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