Birding
Klamath
Basin, a part of the Pacific Flyway is a birders' paradise.
Less than an hour's drive from Ashland up to 85% of the migrating
birds west of the Rockies come through and take up temporary
residence. November you may see tens of thousands of ducks,
geese and swans along with many other species. December through
February you can observe the largest wintering concentration
of Bald Eagles in the lower 48. This region hosts nearly 400
species of birds. Many are here all year round.
Butterflies
1953
Vladimir Nabokov finished writing "Lolita" in Ashland.
He came not for OSF: but for the butterflies! As an avid amateur
lepidopterist, he was drawn to this area for its extraordinary
number of butterflies. And it was he here, in Ashland where
his passion for butterflies transformed into a "genuine
mania," as he himself put it. A plaque at 163 Mead St.
(where Pearl St. crosses, just a block from the Chanticleer)
marks the location of the cottage in which Nabokov and his wife
lived and wrote.
Of the six butterfly hotspots in Oregon, Mt. Ashland (approximately
30 minutes from the B&B) hosts the most species of butterflies
-- more than 95. Across the other side of the
Rogue Valley, the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument hosts more
113 butterfly species. Many of these butterflies are
rare and endemic.
Wildflowers/Native
Plants
As soon as the snow melts, the flowers display a rotating parade
of blooms that continue well into September. With so many pollinators,
there are also flowers. Ask us for the best hikes to see the
wildflowers.
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 Henderson
Fawn Lily, photo by Ellen
Mourning
Cloak at Table Rock, photo by Ellen
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