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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 2020)
B Saturday, February 8, 2020 The Observer & Baker City Herald THE JOY OF ORIENTEERING Map + compass = fun in forest My son Max was so focused on following the heading on his new compass that he didn’t notice he had dropped one of his black ski gloves. Neither did I. This was a problem. Max, who is about a month shy of his 9th birthday, tends to develop an instant, and intense, affection for objects which don’t normally carry much sentimental value. Black ski gloves, for in- stance. (They were, to be fair, a Christmas gift.) He has misplaced items as ordinary as a bookmark and thrust our household into the sort of search more typically associated with lost nuclear codes or vast fortunes in Spanish doubloons. As we stood in a snow- bound ponderosa pine forest near Phillips Lake on a re- cent Saturday morning, Max clutching his one remaining glove lest it too get loose, I deployed one of the parent’s most versatile tools — dis- traction. I pointed out to Max that at least he hadn’t lost his newest possession, the compass. (It, unlike the glove, came attached to a handy loop of cord. Ever mindful of epi- sodes such as the bookmark debacle, I had insisted he slip the loop around his neck.) I also pointed out that if we retraced our route, looking for the glove, we’d have to climb the steep slope we had just descended. Also, we were less than half a mile from where we had parked. The tactic was marginally ON THE TRAIL JAYSON JACOBY successful. Max went along, albeit grudgingly. I had to reassure him several times that his mom and I would buy him a new pair of gloves. He ac- cepted the offer but continued to mourn the missing gar- ment, saying, with a rather touching wistfulness, that the remaining glove would forever be without its mate. Dropped glove notwith- standing, our modest excur- sion through the pines served to introduce Max to orienteer- ing. And it rekindled my enthu- siasm for the hobby. I’ve never been especially devoted to orienteering. I hike most of my miles on trails or roads; and when I head off cross-country it’s usually in an area where I’m intimately familiar with the topography. Still and all, I think it’s a worthwhile skill — to be able to use a compass and map to plot a route and then follow it and end up approximately where you expected to. The ubiquity of GPS has of course made traditional ori- enteering if not obsolete then at least quaintly nostalgic. But batteries die. And electronic devices fail. Besides which there is a certain satisfaction that comes with properly employ- ing decidedly analog items such as a paper map and a compass in a largely digital world. Most importantly, Max had that new compass and he was keen to try it somewhere other than his bedroom. It’s a fi ne instrument, made mostly of metal rather than the plastic I expected based on its $8 price, and with a fetching camou- fl age pattern on the case. Max, who bought the com- pass with a gift card (another Christmas present) picked a lensatic compass, a type I don’t have much experience with. I told him I would bring along my orienteering com- pass, a Silva I’ve owned for close to 30 years, because I was more familiar with how to use its baseplate to plot a course on a map. After we strapped on our snowshoes I calculated the bearing on my compass, set the same number on his com- pass, and off we went. As I hoped, Max was fascinated with the procedure — lay the compass on the map, twist the rotating dial to align its vertical lines with those on the map, then adjust the bearing to account for declination (the difference be- tween magnetic north, which the compass needle points to, and true, or geographic, north on the map). He seemed relieved that both my compass and his aimed us in the same direc- tion. After a week or so of gener- ally benign weather the snow was spring fi rm, and our snowshoes in places scarcely scratched the icy crust. This makes for easy walk- ing but hard talking, as the shoes with every stride make the sort of crunch you might get if you stepped on a pile Jayson Jacoby / Baker City Herald Max Jacoby checks a bearing on his compass near Phillips Reservoir. of corn fl akes. An unlikely scenario, to be sure, but you get the point. Because the terrain near the reservoir is relatively gentle, lacking prominent peaks that would be ideal destinations when navigat- ing by map and compass, we had to settle for a nearby power line, and then a modest ridgetop barely tall enough to be depicted on the topo- graphic map. From there I plotted a course back to the car. The key to navigating, I told Max, is to pick out a landmark that’s on the proper heading, walk to that, recheck the bearing and choose anoth- er landmark. In the forest, naturally, these intermediate goals tend to be particularly tall trees. Max enjoyed this selection process — he seemed espe- cially pleased when I had the good sense to agree with his preferred tree. We were getting close to the road when Max, who was walking about 10 feet behind me, uttered a sort of half cry, half moan. I turned around and, see- ing the crestfallen look on his face, assumed that only the loss of his compass could provoke such anguish. My immediate thought was that the snow crust was so fi rm that at least the compass probably hadn’t plunged out of sight. When he told me the missing item was a glove I was relieved. And after just a few minutes I glimpsed our Toyota through the pines. Max’s sorrow turned to en- thusiasm as he realized that the compass really worked. A few days later I drove back to the reservoir, followed our backtrail and within 15 minutes I came across the glove, dusted with snow. I took a photo of the glove and texted it to my wife, Lisa, so she could let Max know his gloves would soon be reunited. The next day a major storm dropped more than a foot of snow — more than enough to have buried the glove, making that reunion all but impossible. Results from Northeastern Oregon Christmas bird counts The annual Christmas bird count in Baker County yielded 71 species and thousands of individual birds. Twelve volunteers fol- lowed a route near Salisbury Junction, south of Baker City, on Dec. 21, and 14 people con- ducted the Baker Valley count Jan. 4, said Bruce Raffety, who helps organize the count. The routes are within 15-square-mile circles set by the National Audubon Society. Raffety said that although searchers didn’t see any gray- crowned rosy fi nches during the offi cial counts, he and his wife, Wanda, saw a fl ock of more than 100 of the fi nches the day after the Baker Valley count, in the northeast part of the valley. “It was truly amazing,” he said. Following are lists of species and individual birds tallied during three Baker County counts, as well as counts in Union and Wallowa counties. Baker Valley Canada geese, 551; American wigeon, 2; mallard, 241; Northern pintail, 4; ring-necked duck, 5; common goldeneye, 7; California quail, 70; wild turkey, 11; pied-billed grebe, 2; bald eagle, 9; Northern harrier, 3; sharp-shinned hawk, 2; Cooper’s hawk, 2; red-tailed hawk, 34; rough-legged hawk, 15; Ameri- can kestrel, 4; rock pigeon, 115; Eurasian collared dove, 540; great horned owl, 6; downy woodpecker, 4; hairy woodpecker, 2; Northern fl icker, 16; Steller’s jay, 6; California scrub jay, 1; black-billed magpie, 75; American crow, 15; common raven, 211; black-capped chickadee, 27; mountain chickadee, 16; pygmy nuthatch, 3; brown creeper, 2; Townsend’s solitaire, 6; American robin, 9; European starling, 1,231; song sparrow, 6; white-crowned sparrow, 1; dark-eyed junco, 104; house fi nch, 44; house sparrow, 1,066; cedar waxwing, 12 Salisbury Mallard, 24; common mergan- ser, 156; California quail, 145; wild turkey, 154; great blue heron, 2; bald eagle, 7; Northern harrier, 2; red-tailed hawk, 9; rough-legged hawk, 1; golden eagle, 2; American kestrel, 3; Eurasian collared dove, 51; great horned owl, 2; downy woodpecker, 4; hairy woodpecker, 1; Northern fl icker, 3; Steller’s jay, 11; black-billed magpie,73; common raven, 35; black-capped chickadee, 9; mountain chickadee, 17; brown creeper, 5; Townsend’s solitaire, 15; American robin, 8; European starling, 39; spotted towhee, 1; dark-eyed junco, 102 A Fast-Growing Hobby Photo and caption by Jim Ward Birdwatching is one of the fastest growing outdoor activities in the nation. More than 51 million Ameri- cans — one in six of us — participate. A study by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows that bird- watching-related activities added over $80 billion annually to the U.S. economy and employs over 666,000. Like our own Bird-a-thon at Ladd Marsh, birdwatching festivals are conducted at thousands of communities across the nation. E-Bird.com, an online birding website, gives updated bird observa- tions from thousands of hotspots. The photo depicts a male wood duck showing off his gaudy plumage to a nearby mate. Although not common, the birds are present in many sloughs and backwaters of Northeast Oregon. shinned hawk, 2; Cooper’s hawk, 5; Northern goshawk, 1; bald eagle, 17; red-tailed hawk, 165; rough- legged hawk, 34; ferruginous hawk, 2; buteo species, 1; Virginia rail, 3; killdeer, 1; Wilson’s snipe, 1; rock pigeon, 828; Eurasian collared dove, 315; mourning dove, 35; barn owl, 1; Western screech owl, 2; great horned owl, 14; Northern pygmy owl, 4; Northern saw-whet owl, 1; belted kingfi sher, 3; downy woodpecker, 9; hairy woodpecker, 4; white-headed woodpecker, 1; Northern fl icker (red-shafted), 43; American kestrel, 21; prairie falcon, 8; Northern shrike, 4; Steller’s jay, 17; black-billed magpie, 674; Ameri- can crow, 18; common raven, 66; horned lark, 53; black-capped chickadee, 111; mountain chicka- dee, 13; red-breasted nuthatch, 7; white-breasted nuthatch, 5; brown creeper, 2; Pacifi c wren, 3; marsh wren, 24; Bewick’s wren, 42; Ameri- can dipper, 1; golden-crowned kinglet, 5; Townsend’s solitaire, 7; American robin, 82; European starling, 2,272; American pipit, 10; cedar waxwing, 18; yellow-rumped warbler, 1; American tree sparrow, 25; dark-eyed junco (slate-colored), 6; dark-eyed junco (Oregon), 357; white-crowned sparrow, 85; Harris’ sparrow, 1; song sparrow, 313; spotted towhee, 1; red-winged Union County, Dec. 15 Snow goose, 3; cackling goose, blackbird, 581; western meadow- lark, 21; Brewer’s blackbird, 88; 1; Canada goose, 919; tundra pine grosbeak, 3; house fi nch, 398; swan, 93; wood duck, 1, gadwall, pine siskin, 14; lesser goldfi nch, 8; 7; American wigeon, 14; mallard, 5,713; Northern shoveler, 40; North- American goldfi nch, 256; evening grosbeak, 4; house sparrow, 752 ern pintail, 1; green-winged teal, 11; redhead, 6; ring-necked duck, 140; lesser scaup, 6; buffl ehead, 6; Wallowa County, Dec. 22 Snow goose, 3; cackling goose, common goldeneye, 7; Barrow’s goldeneye, 2; common merganser, 1; Canada goose, 595; mute swan, 1; wood duck, 31; gadwall, 4; 25; ruddy duck, 6; California quail, American wigeon, 50; mallard, 344; ring-necked pheasant, 39; 630; Northern shoveler, 1; Northern gray partridge, 5; wild turkeys, 88; pintail, 8; green-winged teal, 22; great blue heron, 6; golden eagle, redhead, 1; ring-necked duck, 60; 7; Northern harrier, 19; sharp- Halfway area, Dec. 28 Canada goose, 73; American wigeon, 2; mallard, 116; green- winged teal, 54; ring-necked duck, 4; hooded merganser, 2; California quail, 754; ring-necked pheas- ant, 13; wild turkey, 225; great blue heron, 5; golden eagle, 1; sharp-shinned hawk, 1; Cooper’s hawk, 8; bald eagle, 20; red-tailed hawk, 16; rough-legged hawk, 11; Eurasian collared dove, 81; mourning dove, 4; great horned owl, 6; belted kingfi sher, 3; downy woodpecker, 8; hairy woodpecker, 3; Northern fl icker (red-shafted), 21; pileated woodpecker, 2; American kestrel, 6; merlin, 1; Steller’s jay, 18; blue jay, 7; black-billed magpie, 155; American crow, 14; common raven, 32; black-capped chicka- dee, 159; mountain chickadee, 23; red-breasted nuthatch, 12; brown creeper, 4; Pacifi c wren, 2; golden- crowned kinglet, 3; Townsend’s solitaire, 1; American robin, 92; European starling, 286; American tree sparrow, 4; chipping sparrow, 23; dark-eyed junco, 572; song sparrow, 5; red-winged blackbird, 5; house fi nch, 32; Cassin’s fi nch, 2; pine siskin, 67; American goldfi nch, 43; evening grosbeak, 7; house sparrow, 42 buffl head, 30; common golden- eye, 10; Barrow’s goldeneye, 3; hooded merganser, 2; common merganser, 8; California quail, 125; ring-necked pheasant, 18; gray partridge, 15; wild turkey, 31; pied-billed grebe, 1; great blue heron, 6; golden eagle, 7; Northern harrier, 5; sharp-shinned hawk, 2; Cooper’s hawk, 4; bald eagle, 38; red-tailed hawk, 116; red-tailed hawk (Harlan’s), 2; rough-legged hawk, 24; buteo species, 3; eagle species, 1; Virginia rail 1; American coot, 5; rock pigeon, 73; Eurasian collared dove, 200; mourning dove, 31; barn owl, 2; Western screech owl, 1; great horned owl, 7; Anna’s hummingbird, 1; belted kingfi sher, 3; downy woodpecker, 11; hairy woodpecker, 2; Northern fl icker, 14; Northern fl icker (red-shafted), 5; pileated woodpecker, 4; American kestrel, 4; merlin, 2; gyrfalcon, 1; prairie falcon, 6; Northern shrike, 2; Steller’s jay, 11; black-billed magpie, 266; Clark’s nutcracker, 1; American crow, 8: common raven, 89; black-capped chickadee, 51; mountain chickadee, 39; chestnut- backed chickadee, 4; red-breasted nuthatch, 23; white-breasted nut- hatch, 6; pygmy nuthatch, 3; brown creeper, 14; Pacifi c wren, 1; marsh wren, 1; Bewick’s wren, 1; Ameri- can dipper, 8; golden-crowned kinglet, 2; Townsend’s solitaire, 32; American robin, 159: European starling, 517; Bohemian waxwing, 1; cedar waxwing, 66; snow bunting, 7; American tree sparrow, 3; dark-eyed junco, 30; dark-eyed junco (slate-colored), 1; dark-eyed junco (cismontanus), 5; dark-eyed junco (Oregon), 34; Harris’ sparrow, 1; white-throated sparrow, 1; song sparrow, 17; red-winged blackbird, 32; pine brosbeak, 1; house fi nch, 306; common redpoll, 4; American goldfi nch, 53; evening grosbeak, 51; house sparrow, 457.
