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Tag Archives: Malheur

Burrowing Owls

The birding highlight at Malheur NWR may have been seeing Burrowing Owls. It’s been years since I’ve seen them. We saw two pairs. One pair was too distant for good photos. We did observe them exchanging food or maybe something else and also an attempt at copulation. The other pair had a burrow very near the gravel road so we were able to view and photograph them from the car.

In some of these images, you can see the male, the lighter one, attempt to give the female a gift. We decided it was a piece of watermelon rind. She was not impressed and retreated to the burrow and he dropped it and stomped on it! Males are lighter because they spend more time outside the burrow and their feathers get sun bleached.

A Few Shorebirds from Malheur

Shorebirds are always fun to watch. Their gangly legs and long beaks are just so interesting. The Wilson’s Phalarope is a bit different, mostly foraging while afloat in shallow water. Another difference is that the female is the more colorful of the pair and the male incubates the eggs and gets the youngsters off to a good start in life. I think the avocets enjoy looking at their reflection.

Long-billed Curlew, Black-necked Stilt, Willet, American Avocet, Wilson’s Phalarope.

There were Birds

As you might expect at a place like Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, there were birds. Lots of kinds of birds. Most of them were not close enough for photos but I did manage to see nearly eighty species. My favorite birdwatching was right in my campsite. I saw four kinds of warblers in the trees and shrubs over the creek and Cinnamon Teals drifted by pretty continuously. Willow particularly enjoyed watching the teals. Is it because she is the same color as the male? There was a Great-horned Owl nest in the campground. It was in a particularly large and dense juniper tree and the owls were nearly impossible to photograph. Many people stopped to look at them.

Basalt and Junipers

From the lands with few trees and granite and then sandstone, we drove to the land of basalt and junipers. Lots of junipers. So many that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is cutting down or pruning many of the junipers. I don’t know why – maybe to ease fire danger or provide more rangeland for cattle. I really like the junipers. They seem to grow right out of solid basalt with little dirt. There were some cottonwoods and willows along the river.

We camped south of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southern Oregon. It’s a very pleasant campsite with a river on one side and a spring-fed creek on the other. We were next to the creek. The dogs loved it. They could cool off any time they wanted. We toured the refuge and some areas around it and also walked and walked, right from the campsite. It was a very relaxing place.

One last post from the road (trip)

It’s time to move on. Not that the honeymoon is over, that’s for sure. But the road trip is. There is a lot to be said about enjoying life on the road and getting away from day to day tasks and worries. And there is a lot to be said about being home and enjoying one’s own bed and shower and waking up to familiar birds and devoted dogs. So here are a few more images from our trip to Oregon. All of these are from my phone.

Malheur’s vast water

One of the craters

On the road from Burns to Bend – 130 miles of Sagebrush and Juniper

Oh gosh, there’s the ocean!

The bridge at Newport

And another thing…………..

We liked the Rogue Brewery.

The trail to the beach through the rain forest.

Ken was like a kid at the aquarium.

I wonder if it’s still there?

At the beach. We considered doing all of our wedding photos in this style……..

We always ate well.

Watch out for tripping bikes.

That’s a good one.

Astoria

Over the bridge and into Washington again.

Klickitat oaks