to sunny and warm Oregon. We had a late morning flight out of Anchorage down to Portland and arrived there late in the afternoon and made the hour and a half drive down to our Airbnb in Independence. The Airbnb was perfect with lots of open space and a marsh nearby and very quiet. No warblers as we arrived fairly late in the day but did have lots of other birds (and bats).
Wilson's Warbler, OSU McDonald-Dunn Forest--Lewisburg Saddle, Corvallis, OR, Jul 20, 2026
Monday was a full day free around the Independence area before heading further south the following day. I was out early in the morning and headed down to
Lewisburg Saddle (part of a forest managed by Oregon State University) to try to get some better photos of Hermit Warblers for the year. I spent almost two hours there and had a couple Hermit Warblers but no opportunities for photos. Other warblers around including Wilson’s Warblers and Orange crowned Warblers. We then headed for the coast and eventually made it there after a few traffic issues. The coast was a bit cool and cloudy but once we worked our way back inland the sun was blazing and it was near 90. Although there were few warblers for the day I at least had some and also added some ice cream and wine before the day came to an end. We spent the remainder of the warm afternoon around the Airbnb.
MacGillivray's Warbler, Forest Peak, Corvallis, OR, Jul 21, 2026
MacGillivray's Warbler, Forest Peak, Corvallis, OR, Jul 21, 2026
Common Yellowthroat, Forest Peak, Corvallis, OR, Jul 21, 2026
Common Yellowthroat, Forest Peak, Corvallis, OR, Jul 21, 2026
Sunrise, Forest Peak, Corvallis, OR, Jul 21, 2026
Salt Creek Falls, Lane County, OR, Jul 21, 2026
Tuesday was our day to travel from Independence over the mountains to La Pine. My goal before we
started the three hour drive was to head out early to try to find a MacGillivray’s Warbler and hopefully get some photos (I had only heard the species for the year while out in Arizona in April). I headed to a series of forest roads and managed to find at least three MacGillivray's Warblers and one actually stayed out just long enough to get some photos of this less than photogenic species that loves to stay hidden in dense, low brush. I also had multiple Common Yellowthroats and singles of Black throated Gray Warbler and Wilson’s Warbler. I then headed back to pick up Sherri so we could get a walk in before it got too hot (it eventually got into the low 90’s). Although it was getting warm the walk was a success with a few Northern Yellow Warblers heard and briefly seen plus a few other warbler species. By late morning we were on our way to La Pine with a short stop off at Salt Creek Falls (the second highest waterfall in Oregon). Bird activity was low there given the time of day but did have at least one Hermit Warbler around. We finally arrived at our Airbnb in La Pine in the mid afternoon and got settled in. The day turned out to be my best day for warbler diversity for the stay in Oregon with seven species overall.
Hermit Warbler, Paulina Lake, La Pine, OR, Jul 22, 2026
Hermit Warbler, Paulina Lake, La Pine, OR, Jul 22, 2026
Hermit Warbler, Paulina Lake, La Pine, OR, Jul 22, 2026
Yellow rumped Warbler 'Audubon's', Paulina Lake, La Pine, OR, Jul 22, 2026
On the first full day in the La Pine area I was out before dawn and made the drive up to an area of forest near Crane Prairie Reservoir and arrived there around little before sunrise. Warblers were few and far between with just some ‘Audubon’s’ subspecies of Yellow rumped Warblers around and all stayed fairly high up in the pines. After nearly an hour and half there I headed back and then we went up to
Paulina Lake and took a few hikes there. I finally managed some better photos of Hermit Warbler for the year and had more ‘Audubon’s’ Warblers. I also managed to add a Common Yellowthroat late in the day near our lodging, so a three species day. It was another warm day with temps near 90 by late morning and then some thunderstorms in the afternoon.
Yellow rumped Warbler 'Audubon's', Crater Lake NP, OR, Jul 23, 2026
Yellow rumped Warbler 'Audubon's', Crater Lake NP, OR, Jul 23, 2026
Hermit Warbler, Crater Lake NP, OR, Jul 23, 2026
Hermit Warbler, Crater Lake NP, OR, Jul 23, 2026
Yellow rumped Warbler 'Audubon's', Crater Lake NP, OR, Jul 23, 2026
Wizard Island, Crater Lake NP, OR, Jul 23, 2026
For the last full day in Oregon we made the drive south to Crater Lake National Park. Before we left I was out early and headed down to an area known as
Gilchrist Crossing. It is a known area that has Northern Waterthrush as a breeder..a very rare occurrence in the state. I arrived a bit after sunrise with some fog hanging down. I immediately had both Common Yellowthroats and Northern Yellow Warblers quickly followed by at least one (possibly two) Northern Waterthrush. Initially it called a few times and then eventually sang a little. I had brief looks and got some recordings. Would have loved to stay longer to track more stuff down but we wanted to get down to Crater Lake as early as possible to beat some of the crowds. We arrived in the park right around eight and the views were spectacular with mostly clear skies (except for a little wildfire smoke off to the north). I was last at Crater Lake in 1999 and it is just as impressive as I remember it. The complete loop around the lake was not open as road repairs kept a small portion closed so the day involved a little backtracking at times. We made our first walk the one we knew would get crowded later and that was the Castle Crest Wildflower Trail. I had three species of warblers along this walk (Yellow rumped Warbler ‘Audubon’s’, Hermit Warbler and Orange crowned Warbler) and these would be the only three species I would find in the park for the day. By the time we finished that walk it was getting busy so we headed out to circle the remaining part of the park with a few brief stops at various lookouts before arriving at the Plaikni Falls Trail where we hiked the mile out to the falls. We finally left the park in the early afternoon to drive back up to La Pine. Tally for the day was a respectable half a dozen species of warblers.
Northern Yellow Warbler, Gilchrist Crossing, OR, Jul 24, 2026
Yellow rumped Warbler 'Audubon's', Gilchrist Crossing, OR, Jul 24, 2026
Friday was the final day of the trip and would end with a red eye flight back to Boston. I started my morning by heading back down to
Gilchrist Crossing in a vain attempt to get some photos of Northern Waterthrush (I heard one singing repeatedly and another calling but never got a look at one). After about two and a half hours there I had added half a dozen species of warblers for the day. I returned to our rental house to pack up last minute stuff and we headed out to make the long trek back toward the airport. The numerous wildfires modified are plans a bit and we had to hot some different places than originally planned. I didn't find any new warbler for the day beyond the ones I had during the early morning.
During my time in Oregon I had a total of ten species of warbler and my state total stands at eleven species of warblers.
