Pedro and I went camping at the beginning of August in central Oregon at a campground called Ice Cap on the McKenzie River. It was our first time at the campground and our first time at that river. We loved it so much that when we returned home, we reserved another weekend there at the end of August.
A female Lesser Scaup or Redhead?A female MallardThe ducks remained wary and too far away from me to get a good ID.
I have many good photos, and I’m going to combine both weekends at the same campground. To make fewer photos for you to have to absorb, I’m going to break them up a little. This first post will be just the wildlife. It was all the usual stuff, and my photos aren’t great, but it was fun collecting them.
The Canada Geese loudly proclaimed their activities and were easy to identify even if hard to see.The American Dipper was not shy so I could ID her even in the low light.
Ice Cap campground is on the edge of a small body of water called Carmen Reservoir. Our campsite was high above it and we looked down onto the birds much of the time, and sometimes we walked down to the water’s edge to get a closer view of them.
The Cedar Waxwings are active, presenting a challenge in photography as they move rapidly.The Cedar Waxwings were my favourite of all of our visiting wildlife.We also looked down onto this beaver lodge. At least we are convinced it’s a beaver lodge. We did not see sign of beavers though.A Brush RabbitA type of Tiger Moth caterpillar.Steller’s JayWe were so bombarded with chubby chipmunks at our campsite that we named two of them. I don’t have a photo of the Yellowpine Chipmunk, but the fat Siskiyou Chipmunk was always close at hand.The next time I looked over here, two inches of a banana were missing, and a chipmunk was licking his chops. {photo by Pedro Rivera}We witnessed a Steller’s Jay and Bernardo the chipmunk squabbling like siblings over some crumbs we put on the stump. The Jay actually poked the chipmunk with its beak when he wasn’t looking. Then Bernie jumped at the Jay, causing it to fly off, as you see in the photo on the right.American Lady butterflyA Great Blue Heron flew on the other side of the reservoir, too far for my phone to capture well.A Red Squirrel scolded but did not give us a good view of her colours in the light.Through the windshield we spotted deer crossing the road as we left the campground.
The only other wildlife I know of out there are us people. We at least smelled like it at times. Some of the other campers did get wild one night. Pedro actually jumped into the ice cold water, and that was WILD. But I will cover all that in another post.
We were up and down the McKenzie several times over the years, Crystal. It’s a gorgeous river. My dad had a small house on the river and my brother had a larger house on it, at seperate times. Fun photos. The encounter between the squirrel and the Jay would have been a kick to watch. “Peck me, will you!”
I have heard people say the McKenzie is their favourite Oregon River and I didn’t see why it was so remarkable, but now that we have seen it, I totally get it. The river is GORGEOUS, the blue, all the falls, it’s just the right size, and the forests surrounding it all all rocky and mossy. I can’t say enough good. I’m sure you can picture all of that.
Especially as you work your way up the river, Crystal…
Yeah, I think I mentioned that the squirrel/Jay fight was one I would have loved to have seen. Peggy and I watched a pair of twitter-pated squirrels going after each other on a trampoline. It was the type of thing people videotape, put on YouTube and get a million views. Hilarious.
Beautiful photos and narrative, Crystal! I’ve been on the McKenzie before but haven’t checkout out this spot. I’ll add it to our camping wish list! We’re heading to Dorena Lake (east of Cottage Grove) for Labor Day weekend. Thank goodness we’re finally getting our first big rains of the summer to help clear the smoke and knock down the fires. I hope you have a safe and relaxing Labor Day weekend, my friend!
😊💛☮️🌻
I feel the same way you do about the rains helping put out the fires. Thank goodness they finally came. I hope you have a great weekend camping. Dorena Lake is another place I don’t think I have been, but maybe when I was a kid, since I grew up in Steamboat, east of Glide, which is not too far south of there.
We were up and down the McKenzie several times over the years, Crystal. It’s a gorgeous river. My dad had a small house on the river and my brother had a larger house on it, at seperate times. Fun photos. The encounter between the squirrel and the Jay would have been a kick to watch. “Peck me, will you!”
I have heard people say the McKenzie is their favourite Oregon River and I didn’t see why it was so remarkable, but now that we have seen it, I totally get it. The river is GORGEOUS, the blue, all the falls, it’s just the right size, and the forests surrounding it all all rocky and mossy. I can’t say enough good. I’m sure you can picture all of that.
The squirrel and jay fight was so funny.
Especially as you work your way up the river, Crystal…
Yeah, I think I mentioned that the squirrel/Jay fight was one I would have loved to have seen. Peggy and I watched a pair of twitter-pated squirrels going after each other on a trampoline. It was the type of thing people videotape, put on YouTube and get a million views. Hilarious.
Beautiful photos and narrative, Crystal! I’ve been on the McKenzie before but haven’t checkout out this spot. I’ll add it to our camping wish list! We’re heading to Dorena Lake (east of Cottage Grove) for Labor Day weekend. Thank goodness we’re finally getting our first big rains of the summer to help clear the smoke and knock down the fires. I hope you have a safe and relaxing Labor Day weekend, my friend!
😊💛☮️🌻
I feel the same way you do about the rains helping put out the fires. Thank goodness they finally came. I hope you have a great weekend camping. Dorena Lake is another place I don’t think I have been, but maybe when I was a kid, since I grew up in Steamboat, east of Glide, which is not too far south of there.
A wildlife wonderland, so many birds and great photos Crystal. Looks like chipmunks run the camp ground.
Thank you, Brian. You are absolutely right about the chipmunks!
Good to see you keeping up with the birds
Thank you, Derrick. I am happy to please. 🙂
How wonderful to camp in a place with so much wildlife, Crystal.