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North Fork Wenas Creek, Wenas Wildlife Area
June 2016
Synopsis
It’s no wonder the Wenas Wildlife Area is taken by storm over the Memorial Day weekend by birders across the state. The birding is fantastic in the campground and local surrounding areas. Plus taking over the campground and traveling as a large pack of innocuous birders tends to flush away the ATVer, hunters and other people who in the area to screw around. We did not partake in the Wenas Campout with all the other birders, but visited at the end of June.
Located on Hog Ranch Road right off of the North Fork Wenas Road, the campground itself was somewhat ill-defined - a large open area under the open Ponderosa Forest and spilling to the riparian edge of Wenas Creek. There were other campers in the area, but there was plenty of space to spread out and maintain some privacy. Driving to the Wenas campground (not sure if that’s even an official name for the area) is a tad bit bumpy, but doable in a passenger car if you go slow enough. The roads beyond the campground - the ones that go up to the ridges are harrowing - and require high clearance and 4-wheel drive.
Even a month after the Wenas Campout, the birding was great - many singing Veerys, Red Crossbills, Gray Flycatchers, MacGillivray’s Warblers, Western Wood-Pewees and Cassin’s Finches throughout the campground. In the evening as the sun began to wane, we were treated the the aerial acrobatics of many Common Nighthawks over the forest.
We spent the day hiking a long route along the roads in the area. We followed the North Fork Wenas Road and climbed up Hudson Road to where it wrapped around along Manastash Ridge then dropped back down off the ridge to North Fork Wenas Road. It was long and some what strenuous hike, especially given how rocky, steep, and uncomfortable it is to hike along some of parts of the road. North Fork Wenas Road was the most productive in terms of birds. The road followed along Wenas Creek - the riparian area thick with aspen and bog meadows bordered with Ponderosa and Doug Firs. Townsend’s Solitaire and Cassin’s Vireos called from the trees while the creek happily burbled and rushed over rock and roots. Away from the Wenas campground, there were many more dispersed campsites long the North Fork Wenas Road accessible by passenger car. Onto Hudson Road, the road climbed up and away from the creek through open dry grass meadows filled with yellow desert daisies and rock gardens full of blooming tapertip onions. Along the ridge we were treated to views of the Wenas Valley below and Yakima far off in the distance. Toward the west was a view of the snow capped Cascades. The descent back down to North Fork Wenas Road was not very pleasant on the knees or feet. The road was worn away to large slopes of sharp rocks. Going up and down Hudson Road would have been a much better option both for the interesting environment and for saving knees.
So long as you’re prepared to share the area with ATVs and the occasional gun shots, the North Fork Wenas Creek area has great opportunities for camping, birding, nature viewing and hiking.
Top
| Ruffed Grouse |
2
|
flushed one, heard one |
| Sooty Grouse |
1
|
heard |
| Great Blue Heron |
1
|
|
| Turkey Vulture |
1
|
|
| Accipiter sp. |
1
|
either Northern Goshawk or Coopers |
| Red-tailed Hawk |
1
|
|
| Mourning Dove |
1
|
|
| Western Screech-Owl |
1
|
heard |
| Common Nighthawk |
11
|
many flying in the evening |
| Black-chinned Hummingbird |
2
|
|
| Rufous Hummingbird |
3
|
|
| Belted Kingfisher |
4
|
family |
| Lewis's Woodpecker |
1
|
|
| Red-naped Sapsucker |
4
|
|
| Downy Woodpecker |
3
|
|
| Hairy Woodpecker |
2
|
|
| Northern Flicker |
3
|
|
| American Kestrel |
1
|
|
| Western Wood-Pewee |
10
|
|
| Willow Flycatcher |
2
|
|
| Gray Flycatcher |
6
|
|
| Dusky Flycatcher |
2
|
|
| Pacific-slope Flycatcher |
2
|
|
| Eastern Kingbird |
1
|
|
| Cassin's Vireo |
4
|
|
| Warbling Vireo |
3
|
|
| Steller's Jay |
1
|
|
| Common Raven |
2
|
|
| Violet-green Swallow |
3
|
|
| Mountain Chickadee |
6
|
|
| Red-breasted Nuthatch |
2
|
|
| White-breasted Nuthatch |
4
|
|
| House Wren |
2
|
|
| Western Bluebird |
2
|
|
| Mountain Bluebird |
3
|
|
| Townsend's Solitaire |
4
|
|
| Veery |
10
|
many calling and singing throughout the day |
| American Robin |
12
|
|
| Gray Catbird |
1
|
|
| Cedar Waxwing |
3
|
|
| Nashville Warbler |
4
|
|
| MacGillivray's Warbler |
2
|
|
| Yellow Warbler |
7
|
|
| Yellow-rumped Warbler |
4
|
|
| Chipping Sparrow |
10
|
|
| Lark Sparrow |
4
|
|
| Dark-eyed Junco |
8
|
|
| Song Sparrow |
2
|
|
| Spotted Towhee |
2
|
|
| Western Tanager |
8
|
|
| Black-headed Grosbeak |
5
|
|
| Western Meadowlark |
1
|
|
| Brown-headed Cowbird |
4
|
|
| Cassin's Finch |
12
|
|
| Red Crossbill |
10
|
|
| Pine Siskin |
2
|
|
| American Goldfinch |
1
|
|
| Evening Grosbeak |
3
|
|
|
|
||
|
Other critters
|
||
| Mule deer |
|
|
| Coyote |
|
|
|
California Ground squirrel
|
||
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Douglas Squirrel
|
||
|
Golden-manteled squirrel
|
||
| Chipmunk |
|
|
|
western fence lizard
|
||
|
|
||
| butterflies |
|
|
| fritilliary |
|
|
|
checkerspot
|
||
|
western tiger swallow
|
||
|
great arctic
|
||
|
|
||
|
Flowers in bloom
|
||
|
Green-banded mariposa lily
|
||
| pine drop |
|
|
|
wild mountain mint
|
||
| dog bane |
|
|
|
large-flowered collomia
|
||
|
tall meadow larkspur
|
||
|
matted cryptantha
|
||
| alfalfa |
|
|
|
great northern aster
|
||
|
sticky geranium
|
||
|
tall buckwheat
|
||
|
lewis's monkeyflower
|
||
| yarrow |
|
|
|
seep spring monkeyflower
|
||
| self-heal |
|
|
|
birchleaf spiraea
|
||
|
harsh paintbrush
|
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|
oregon sunshine
|
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yellow desert daisy
|
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chelan penstemon
|
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woodrush pussytoes
|
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tapertip onion
|
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| scarlet gila |
|
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northen desert buckwheat
|
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fan-leaf cinquefoil
|
||
|
large-leaf lupine
|
||
|
dwarf larkspur
|
||
|
dusty maiden
|
||
|
curve-leaf stonecrop
|
||
|
fescue sandwort
|
||
|
oregon catchfly
|
||
|
white-veined wintergreen
|
||
|
streambank globemallow
|
||
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