Grant's Getaways: Guide to Wildlife Watching in Oregon , livre ebook

Grant s
Getaways
Guide to Wildlife Watching in Oregon
Grant McOmie
Text 2015 by Grant McOmie
Photographs 2015 by Jeff Kastner
Cover photograph of Grant McOmie 2015 by Don Best
Leaf photograph iStock.com/Claes Torstensson
Salmon photograph, front cover iStock.com/sekarb
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McOmie, Grant.
Grant s getaways : guide to wildlife watching in Oregon / Grant McOmie.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-941821-47-3 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-1-941821-75-6 (e-book)
ISBN 978-1-941821-83-1 (hardbound)
1. Wildlife watching-Oregon-Guidebooks. 2. Oregon-Guidebooks. I. Title.
QL201.M36 2015
590.72 34795-dc23
2015003675
Edited by Michelle Blair
Designed by Vicki Knapton
Map by Gray Mouse Graphics and Vicki Knapton
Published by WestWinds Press
An imprint of

P.O. Box 56118
Portland, Oregon 97238-6118
503-254-5591
www.graphicartsbooks.com
For Steve Medley-and the long-ago travels and wildlife adventures that we shared- they forever changed my course in life.
And
For my wife-Christine-my finest and favorite travel companion and the part of my life that I call happiness.
Contents

Map

Acknowledgments

Introduction
Spring Grant McOmie s Outdoor Talk-The Nature of People and Wildlife
April

1
Dancing Antlers and Oregon s Secret Garden
2
Lend a Hand at Oregon s All-Volunteer Hatchery
3
Home on the Antelope Range
4
Suburban Nature Parks
May

5
Yaquina Headland Is for the Birds!
6
Paddle for Peace of Mind
7
A Hospital for the Wild
8
South Fork Alsea River National Back Country Byway
June

9
Fernhill Gardens
10
Youth Outdoor Day
11
Gobble, Gobble, Gobble
12
Wild Owyhee Country
Summer Grant McOmie s Outdoor Talk-A Wildlife Dilemma
July

13
Christmas for Coho
14
Flying Trout
15
The Kayak Shack
16
Upper Klamath Lake Canoe Trail
August

17
East Lake Trout Are Back
18
Luckiamute Landing State Natural Area
19
Wildflowers on an Iron Giant
20
Creepy Crawly Crawdaddies
September

21
Songbird Science
22
Siltcoos River Canoe Trail
23
In the Heart of the Gorge
24
Lewis and Clark Paddled Here
Fall Grant McOmie s Outdoor Talk-Bullets and Greed
October

25
Salmon Watch
26
Where Cars Don t Roll
27
Fern Ridge Wildlife Area
28
Downtown Salmon
November

29
A Stroll Along South Slough
30
Sauvie Island Sandhills
31
Focus on Nature
32
Afoot and Afloat on the Nestucca River
December

33
Oregon s Dungeness Crab
34
White River Wildlife Area and White River Falls State Park
35
A Friend to the Critters
36
Backyard Birding
Winter Grant McOmie s Outdoor Talk-A Walk on the Wild and Woolly Side of Oregon
January

37
A Convocation of Eagles
38
The B-52s of the Waterfowl World
39
Cascades Raptor Center
40
A Bull Elk Romance
February

41
Eagle Watch
42
Lend a Hand at Jewell Meadows
43
Mussels for the Taking
44
Visitor-Friendly Hatcheries and Eggs to Fry
March

45
Higher Wildlife Education
46
Bobber Doggin Steelhead
47
Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area
48
The Last Wild Run

Index

Acknowledgments
When I sit behind the wheel of my truck to begin a day s travel to some new destination, I am always hopeful that at some point in the latest adventure I get to travel down a road or lane that somehow managed to fall off the map. Perhaps through chance, but more often with a county road map and curiosity, I have found some of my most interesting stories just wandering where the pavement leads. Charles Kuralt described it best: I fell in love with little roads, the ones without names or numbers. Put me in his camp, for it s often where you ll find me searching for adventures. Frankly, I am giddy as a kid to think that my office is some rural roadway that requires a bit more time to experience; especially the sort of pike that my dad, Grant Sr., relished when I was a kid-a roadway that s windy and springy and narrow. He would steer the family wagon close to the edge of a slim mountain road and yell, Whoaooooo!
Ah, Dad, stop that! would come the cry from each of the three little kids in the backseat-while Mom gave a furtive glance to Dad and then to the side of the road that seemed to fall away in a deep canyon.
Do it again, Dad! Do it again, we cried. We just couldn t get enough of his teasing-not reckless-just a feeling of freedom that comes from the open road on a day too nice to stay indoors. You must slow down to drive these types of roads and that s when the fun begins. Perhaps that s why I have such a love affair with backdoor byways; they always take a bit longer to get from this place to that and during the journey my youthful memories are reborn.
Reporters are charged with the task of shaping and funneling the facts, relying on gut instincts and insights about a place, a person, or an issue to tell their stories. Perhaps they will add in a bit of feeling to complement the pictures that really tell the story. You see, without the pictures, the television reporter might as well go fishing! Fortunately, my Grant s Getaways television production partner, photographer Jeff Kastner, enjoys doing both. He does a superb job capturing the finest getaway moments and his keen eye and artistic touch with a camera and film are humbling . . . all of which makes my writing much, much easier. I hope you enjoy the colorful images in this book. They are all Jeff Kastner s.
My sincere thanks to the Travel Oregon management team for their trust and confidence in me to represent Oregon-including CEO Todd Davidson, Mo Sherifdeen, Kevin Wright, and Emily Forsha. I also thank David Lane of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Ashley Massey of the Oregon State Marine Board, and Chris Havel of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. I appreciate their insights, advice, and story suggestions. Further, I extend my deep gratitude to the KGW-TV management team including DJ Wilson, Brenda Buratti, and News Director Rick Jacobs. Each continues to embrace and encourage our work at every turn. In fact, all of these folks support the Grant s Getaways endeavors and allow me the privilege of travel across the region. I also thank the folks at Graphic Arts Books for the chance to continue telling my stories from the great Oregon outdoors, including Doug Pfeiffer, Kathy Howard, Vicki Knapton, and Angie Zbornik. I especially thank Michelle Blair for her outstanding copy-editing skills and for improving my manuscript at every turn.
Introduction
Now, Grant, I want you to stay right on my tail, there s no room for mistakes in this cave, and as you can see by the opening, the space starts out fairly wide and tall but shrinks to elbow n belly-time real fast! Oh, and uhhh, you re not claustrophobic are you? Dave Immel, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist, half smiled as we stared into the pitch-black of a moss-shrouded cave in the Willamette National Forest. News photographer Mike Rosborough and I had joined Immel s research team in the dead of winter in Oregon s Cascade Mountain wilderness. The team s mission was to track down several black bears during winter hibernation to change out the batteries that powered the radio collars on each of the bears. The collars had been attached during previous summer trapping events and were a critical tool in monitoring black bear behaviors over the long term. Specifically, the scientists were trying to better understand the kinds of habitats that black bears preferred throughout the year. Rosborough and I figured this would be a fine story; it was not only timely, but offered a different slant on the Oregon snow country and provided unique video about seldom seen wildlife behavior. Viewers could also gain a better understanding of the lengths that wildlife biologists must go to learn more about species.
For the record, here s a significant lesson that three-plus decades of covering wildlife stories has taught me: expect the unexpected! Critters in the wild are the most daunting story subjects to capture with a camera and I ve plenty of photography partners in the TV news business who will testify to that frustration. We have spent countless hours-no, make that days-traveling across hundreds of miles, often in the worst winter weather, hoping to capture just the right moment when a wild animal might display some unique behavior: be it salmon jumping a waterfall, sage grouse strutting across their springtime desert leks (breeding grounds), whales breeching in the ocean, or a hike into distant, craggy mountains for the rare chance to see cougar juveniles. I have learned that when it comes to encountering wildlife, it often pays to be a lucky rather than an accomplished journalist.
Despite knowing that critters never keep appointments, I must have ignored that adage on this bear story because the story sounded like such a piece of cake! After all, Immel knew exactly where this bear was sleeping, deep beyond the maw of the cave s entrance, and his plan seemed simple enough: he and I would crawl inside the cave and find the bear. Immel would carry a tranquilizing injection dart on the end of a 6-foot-long wand, while I would handle a Minicam attached to a short rod that would allow us to see the action as Immel exchanged the radio collar s batteries. He would also inspect the bear s overall health and in all likelihood, we d capture a unique piece of video for an intriguing story that viewers would find educational and entertaining. This particular bear will be a good one for you to document, said Immel. We ve monitored his movements the past three seasons and he s particular