Birders flock to Camp Sherman for festival

Last updated Jun 09, 2009 12:0pm0

Oenta Gentry count

Birders spot a Calliope Hummingbird’s nest.

Whether you call it a goshawk, northern goshawk, or by its Latin genus species of Accipiter gentiles, nothing compares to seeing the white fluffy head of baby goshawks peering out of the nest.

Seeing the goshawk as a chick, long before it reaches its full length of 19 to 25 inches, is a rare pleasure. If earlier in that same morning you had seen a baby calliope hummingbird, Stellula calliope, in its nest you would consider yourself twice blessed. The calliope is the smallest bird in North America and the smallest long distance avian migrant in the world.

Neither of these sightings were happenstance. They came after weeks of searching by trained field guides, many with the East Cascades Birding Conservancy, who went out looking last weekend for nests birders come to Central Oregon hoping to see.

Tours offered during the Woodpecker Wonderland Festival in Camp Sherman and along the Deschutes this past weekend brought many such sights, not just of the area's 11 woodpecker species, but of all area birds. Guides and birders called out one by one the names of the birds they heard long before they saw them. Hearing the bird call, everyone is poised, binoculars in hand searching for the fast movers in the sky or perched on trees.

Camp Sherman is a popular site for woodpeckers, being home to 11 species of breeding woodpeckers. As many as 10 species remain year-round. Dry Creek, which is on the tours, is one spot where all 11 species can be seen.

Local birder Madeline Landis took people on walking tours and saw seven species their first day. The Deschutes River Basin tour also saw seven species of woodpeckers, and 59 species altogether. Some of the birders saw all 11 species for the first time in their lives.

Time on a tour is spent learning birds' habits. The cow bird, who got its name because they used to follow the buffalo, is a parasite who leaves its eggs behind in other birds' nests, never returning to care for them in any way. The larger cow birds often take food from the hosts' chicks, thus killing them off.

The yellow warbler deals with the problem by building a nest over the intruding eggs, sometimes stacking nests as much as seven layers deep to protect its own survival.

Whether you're a front-porch birder or like to get all the tools of the trade, a good pair of binoculars is a good first investment. Prices vary, but the lesser magnification binoculars see wider, and the image looks brighter. Magnification of 8x42 is popular for birding. Viewing larger raptors from a distance is better accomplished with a stronger magnification, such as a 10x50.

Birds of a feather come together at Camp Sherman

Chuck Gates started birding in 1988, after 400 gulls landed on the Culver High School football field for a week.

As the school's biology teacher, people turned to him to find out why the gulls landed there. He didn't know. Since ornithology (the study of birds) is included in biology, he took it upon himself to find out.

Turns out they were blown off course by a storm while migrating.

Thus began his passion for birding. Now a guide, he frequently does research with Paradise Birding, sponsor of the Woodpecker Wonderland Festival, held June 5-7 in Camp Sherman. Gates is also the state coordinator for counting birds in 36 counties for the East Cascades Bird Conservancy, an Oregon non-profit committed to bird conservation.

Gates just returned from Point Pelee in Canada, a bird and butterfly migration corridor that juts into Lake Erie. It's the best place in America to see a large variety of species in one area and spring is the time to go. Over 360 species of birds have been found on the small island, many flying non-stop across Lake Erie, competing to reach land first to establish territory.

As a teacher, you never know how you are going to influence the life of a student. David Schas, a recent graduate, was a student of Gates'. Gates described him as someone always driven towards success. He worked all through high school, was on the track team, and graduated as Valedictorian in 2007. In spite of it being finals week for his second year of college, he was still out guiding for the Camp Sherman birding event. Schas admitted he did the same thing last year.

Schas' uncle was also a birder and, Schas says, pushed him into birding as a youth. He and his uncle went on a Christmas bird count four years ago, and he caught the bug. However, it was Gates, he says, who pushed him over the edge to a passion for birding. After going out on a long quest for a Virginia Rail, he got committed. He spent four months immersed in birding books. Gates had 300 pictures of birds on his office wall and Schas came in during his free time to test himself and learn them all.

Schas says he realized there was so much he was missing in the world - things he believes all people miss, because we don't take time. He started noticing all animals, not just birds. Studying plants and lichens was also key to understanding the big picture. Gradually, he started identifying more things on his own. He realized he could expand everything he learned about birds to biology, now his college major.

Schas' goal is to follow in his own teacher and mentor's footsteps and teach biology in middle and high school.