Have you ever seen the masked witchety? How about the oompalump? Living deep within the marsh, oompalumps can be a challenge to see.

The 2009 Oregon Outdoors Wild Bird Photo Contest is under way.

It's time again for bird lovers and nature photographers to show their stuff. We're kicking off our annual wild bird photo contest today, which could be your ticket to adventure and fame.

Late August and early September are wonderful for many reasons, but bird song is not one of them. It's the quietest time of the year. Only the occasional mourning dove drones on, and even then it sounds more like a job requirement than real enthusiasm. Bewick's wrens still utter a few songs from the bramble patches along the Bear Creek Greenway warning off other males, and the irrepressible house finch still offers a couple of songs. But that is about it.

When the environmental crisis exploded into American consciousness, it was heralded by birdsong, or rather the lack of it. Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" woke people to the environmental challenges of the modern age. The result: birdsong was something Americans did not want to do without.

Ashland is recognized throughout the West for its Shakespeare plays. The Rogue River is noted for its rafting and fishing. But Southern Oregon is even more widely known among birders.

Oh, to be a bird now that August is here. I confess I am miserable in the heat of summer. When the thermometer tops 100 degrees everything outside is a chore. The wall of heat greets me as I step from the house to weed or to mow or even to head for the car to run a few errands.

It's not often that a new bird becomes established in the Rogue Valley. There have been few in the last 30 years. The barred owl has made its way slowly down from Canada. Their numbers in Jackson County are not large, but they are causing concern because of their interactions with spotted owls. Northern mockingbirds have established a modest breeding population after working their way north from California.

It seems everybody loves an omelet. Crows, jays, raccoons, weasels — even squirrels and mice — love to eat eggs. They are a complete meal and don't have a lot of defenses, other than mom. They can't run and they can't fight back.

Those who arise early or tend toward insomnia are fully aware that many spring birds begin the day painfully early. The impending day may be showing only the barest hint of pale sky on the eastern horizon, but tree and violet-green swallows have already taken flight to serenade the countryside from pitch black skies. Soon American robins join in with a flute-like song delivered at a deliberate pace.

The Tule Lake and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuges will host its Migratory Bird Festival on Saturday, marking the movement of several bird species through the area with a series of exhibits and tours.

ASHLAND — Clucking like ducks, screeching like ospreys and perhaps even chattering like the newest local arrival — the Bullock's oriole — are all ways Rogue Valley residents Saturday can help celebrate migratory birds while learning more about them.

Killdeer look as intelligent as any other bird. Indeed they can be downright crafty. Yet when it comes time to raising young, it is hard to imagine any bird being more addled.

Wally and Betty DeVries of Medford were pretty sure the bird in their backyard was a robin, but it wasn't like any robin they'd ever seen before, so they broke out the camera.

Few enjoy the morning commute. There are drivers on cell phones drifting along 10 miles per hour below the speed limit, traffic lights that conspire against you, and the school bus that stops every 100 yards to pick up one more eager student. Before you complain too much, consider the commute of the black-footed albatross.

Solo is back.

It looks like a woodpecker. Well, sort of. And it acts like a woodpecker "» sometimes. Simply put, acorn woodpeckers are oddballs.

There are legions of bird watchers but not so many mammal watchers. Whale watchers are an exception. Many people put up bird houses, but only a few put up bat houses. You can purchase any number of field guides for birds, but your choices for mammals pretty much max out at two at bookstores.

Weeks before the region’s record snowfall, Frank and June Potter were enjoying a “white” Christmas in the front yard of their Spokane Valley home.

They decorate the utility poles of the valley, waiting patiently for some mouse or ground squirrel to venture a bit too far from cover. These ornaments with the bright-orange tails are found on seemingly every 10th utility pole or treetop and never appear to move.