Cassin's Finch at Medicine Lake Highland, California's Largest Volcano

Our recent trip to the Cascades of Northern California yielded several "first" bird sightings, including the Pinyon Jay I noted a few days ago. After we left Lava Beds National Monument, we headed up the flank of Medicine Lake Highland. The Highland is a huge shield volcano, a basalt edifice with gentle slopes, but great width. MLH is actually the largest volcano in the state of California by volume. We weren't really expecting to see much in the way of bird life, as it was late September and birds are usually starting to migrate to lower elevations in preparation for winter. We actually saw quite a few, including the Hermit Thrush I posted on earlier.

We stopped for lunch along the shores of Medicine Lake itself. The lake occupies the caldera of the volcano, where the summit collapsed inwards after a series of voluminous eruptions. Normally the water would have sunk into the ground, but glaciers of the last ice age left large amounts of clay that sealed off the lake floor and keep water present year-round. It's a popular recreation area, with campgrounds and a few cabins, but no resort developments. It's a pretty quiet place on a Sunday afternoon. Sitting under some Lodgepole Pines, I saw a Cassin's Finch (Haemorhous cassinii) for the first time. They live in our region back home but mainly in the upland forests, and I haven't seen them there. It checked me out for a moment, long enough for a couple of pictures, and then moved on. So did we.

NOTE: If you are one of the literally dozens of people who've read this post, you might remember it being about a Purple Finch. Upon reflection and a revisit of the pictures, I decided it was a Cassin's Finch.

A Hermit Thrush on California's Largest Volcano

We had a marvelous trip over the weekend through the volcano country of Northern California. Part of the fun was exploring some new places and seeing all kinds of birds, including this Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) near the summit of Medicine Lake Highland, the largest volcano in California. It was a quick shot off the side of the road, and it was gone.

Medicine Lake Highland (or the Medicine Lake Volcano) is barely half the height of Mt. Shasta, but it is much wider, and contains around 130 cubic miles of lava flows, compared to Shasta's 108. It is a shield style volcano, similar in outline to the gigantic basalt mountains that make up the Big Island of Hawai'i, but it is composed of a variety of lavas, including rhyolite and andesite. The mountain is covered by deep forests and barren lava flows, providing a variety of environments for birds.

Medicine Lake Highland is the broad dome in the distance on the center-left. Shasta can be seen in the distance on the right.