Larch Mountain Part II

Larch Mountain was so much fun the first time, I made a return visit the following day.

Round two proved worthwhile just from the drive up. Elk! It’s been years since I’ve seen elk in the wild, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen them this far from the coast. There were others with this one, but they ran off pretty quickly when I squealed the car to a stop on the road. Pretty neat sighting.

Not long after – CHICKEN!

Just kidding, it’s a Sooty Grouse.

I’ll admit it, ever since the Ring-necked pheasant at Sauvie Island, when I see these kinds of birds by the road, my first reaction is to call them chickens (blame early mornings). There have been a handful of “chicken events,” but I rarely manage to get photographic evidence enough to make an ID, so I was pretty happy even with this sub-par snapshot.

Moving right along.

The usual flycatchers were on set, as were Cedar Waxwings, Hairy Woodpecker, a rough-looking Red-breasted Nuthatch (juvenile?), and a shining MacGillivray’s Warbler.

Oops…not that one…

Yeah! Better.

Mr Hermit was still hanging around the parking lot, but less vocal and showy this day.

The rockstar show-off bird of this trip was a Dark-eyed Junco.

Mustache mania.

And finally, LOLZ.

What a goofball.

Pretty much sums up this trip!

Tweets and chirps,

Audrey