Christmas Valley Raptors
Seasons
Checklists
Location
From Fort Rock, travel east on County Road 5-10/Fort Rock Road for 5.7 miles. Turn right (south) to remain on County Road 5-10/Fort Rock Road (going straight here on County Road 5-12 is an option. You will end up in the same location and it’s only 4 minutes longer). Travel 10.2 miles and turn left (east) on County Road 5-14/Christmas Valley Road. Go 11.5 miles to Christmas Valley. You can take Old Lake Road south from here for 15 miles to Hwy 31 and then on to Summer Lake.
DirectionsHabitat and Birds
This is mainly a raptor route as it winds through farmland. Golden Eagle, Swainson’s Hawk (Summer), Rough-legged Hawk (winter) and Prairie Falcon are joined by the more common raptors. Don’t close your eyes to other birding possibilities. There is plenty of sage habitat along this route so look for Brewer’s Sparrow, Sagebrush Sparrow and Sage Thrasher along your route. Horned Larks can be plentiful and you might get lucky and come upon Sage Grouse.
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