We headed into a popular birding place in the Deschutes National Forest a few miles north of Sisters, Oregon. The place is called Calliope Crossing due to the yearly visit of the Calliope Hummingbirds. They were gone south this time of year, but the birding in this little wetland with Ponderosa pine, willow, and aspen was great. We were in search of woodpeckers, hoping to see a species we've never seen before. Unfortunately that was not to be no matter how much we scanned the pines.
What we did see was a flock of Red Crossbills chattering on the pines wearing non-breeding plumage and with juveniles. Older birds have larger crossed beaks. Perfect tools for extracting pine nuts from cones.
Yellow-rumped Warblers buzzed around with White-Crowned Sparrows. A male Spotted Towhee made an appearance giving us excellent views.
A California (formerly Western) Scrub Jay landed a good distance away on a willow.
Western Wood-pewees perched on the power line running along the forest road.
A favorite find and a lifer for us was a Mountain Chickadee.
A tiny Orange-crowned Warbler flitted over the path, dashing from tree to tree catching insects in the wing.
We saw Pygmy Nuthatches but they were far too active and high up to get a decent photo. They're chatty little birds. This was the first time we had seen them too!
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