The drive down was interesting – snow and rain showers through the mountains. We didn’t really take warm enough clothes for that sort of weather, so all we could do was hope it would be better the next day. It was better, not much precipitation, but cold and windy. On well, that’s the way it goes sometimes. It was still really good birding!
Along Lake Roosevelt we saw a flock of twenty White Pelicans, the only pelicans we saw on the whole trip.
The water levels as Malheur were the lowest we’ve ever seen and Dan has been going to Malheur since the late 1960’s. The narrows were dry!! And Krumbo Reservoir was also dry. Really surprising how low the water was all over the refuge. I wanted to drive over to see Harney Lake but the winds were kicking up huge clouds of alkaline laden dust clouds so we decided that didn’t actually sound like that much fun to go driving into those conditions.
Driving down to Frenchglen we saw a Prairie Falcon riding the winds next to the lava cliffs overhanging the road. And we saw the first of what was to be many Short-eared Owls. Those were two exciting bird species to see prior to our planned day of birdwatching.
Black-crowned Night-Heron.
We’ve tried to find these herons on the last several trips, without success. So we were very happy to find them right off the bat.
Adult and baby Great-Horned Owls. The baby is peeping at us over his parents' shoulder. The adult opened one eye.
Never really thought of owls as cuddling, but this baby was definitely cuddling with the adult.
Two babies and two adults were occupying a large Cottonwood tree in a small copse of woods next to a beaver dam. They were all pretty sleepy and mellow, and didn’t seem particularly disturbed by us visiting their home and taking pictures.
American Bittern.
We haven’t seen a Bittern in many years and it was so surprising to see one sitting out of the reeds, pretending to be invisible. One time when we were at Malheur, one of these birds was sitting right next to the road, singing. Well, technically they were singing, but the song is described as a pumping a rusty hand pump on a well. It was a sight and sound we’ll never forget.
Sandhill Crane.
A large number of Sandhill Cranes flock through Malheur on their way north to their breeding grounds in Alaska and Northern Canada. And some stay here and raise their babies at Malheur. There is a hen sitting on a nest at the Malheur headquarters pond, and that’s the first time we’ve ever seen a Crane on a nest. We were wondering how much they were paying her for her reality TV appearance. We also saw a Common Raven sitting on a nest she’d built in the upper rafters of the Round Barn. For the first time in years we were able to walk into and around the Round Barn. It was high and dry. The last time we would have needed hip waders to get around in the water.
Great Egret.
Lots of Egrets were stalking around in the grass, looking for something tasty to eat.
Off to find greener pastures. Literally.
A Badger busy digging for ground squirrels. These animals are not usually seen, so it was exciting watching her (most likely), go about her business.
Dan read up on this Badger, and it was most likely a female foraging for her babies.
And we weren’t the only ones interested in watching the Badger.
A Burrowing Owl was keeping a close eye on the Badger, as well. These little ground dwelling owls are on the menu for a Badger.
We’ve looked for Burrowing Owls for many years, without success. But thanks for our friends Casey and Carmen, the losing streak of trips to Malheur without seeing a Burrowing Owl came to an end.
Other birds we saw, more or less in the order in which we saw them:
Vaux Swift
Osprey
Willet
White-faced Ibis
Snowy Egret
Long-billed Curlew
Cinnamon Teal
Avocet
Loggerhead Shrike
Swaison’s Hawk
Horned Lark
Sage Thrasher
Black Tern
Great Blue Heron
Wilson’s Snipe
Blue-wing Teal
Yellow Warbler
California Quail
Northern Shoveler
Ring-neck Duck
Marsh Wren
Brewer’s Blackbird
Red-wing Black Bird
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Pintail
Gadwall
Common Yellow-throat
Yellow-breasted Chat
Forester Tern
Capsian Tern
Sora
Trumpeter Swan
Pied-billed Grebe
Western Grebe
Redhead
Canvasback
Rock Wren
Wilson’s Phalarope
Ruddy Duck
Plus a lot of other bird species we’d already seen this year, at home, and which I didn’t list. Malheur is such a great spot to go birding. Already thinking about a trip next year. We didn’t see any of the waders or peeps, and no geese except for Canadian Geese, which had flotillas of babies following them around. Fun place!!!