The rainy and cloudy days of late this fall season have us reminiscing of the sunny days of late spring/early summer. After a full first day at Malheur NWR, we were rested and ready to hit the country roads again in search of what other awesome things we could find.
Brewer's Blackbird
Female Yellow-Headed Blackbird
We awoke to the haunting, mechanical sounds of the Yellow-Headed Blackbirds. And as we stepped out of our teepee to enjoy our cold, quick breakfast before heading out, we noticed some movement in the hot springs pond behind us. There were two lovely American Avocets lurking in the foggy mist blanketing the pond. We gazed upon them as they elegantly swished there slender up-turned bills to and fro in search of food.
We were already off to a great start and couldn’t wait to get out and really get our marathon birding in. Once again, Highway 205 gave us some cool birds on our drive to the refuge headquarters. Using our car as a moving blind, we were able to get some nice up close views of Willets and a Long-Billed Curlew out in the fields along the road. I never cease to be impressed by their long, curved bills that could seem so cumbersome, but yet is wielded with such poise.
Willet
Long-Billed Curlew
As we continued to drive, we halted suddenly and kicked it in reverse when we came upon quite a sight. Not only did we see two statuesque Sandhill Cranes, but they were in the middle of a confrontation with a nearby coyote! One of the cranes lifted and stretched out his wings, making himself appear larger and quite intimidating as he approached the coyote head on. The coyote didn’t appear to be afraid, but did seem to come to the conclusion that it wasn’t going to be worth the fight to take on these large birds. He casually kept walking in the direction of the cranes – the two parties agreeing to go on about their business. Amazing.
The confrontation. The coyote contemplates his next move with his tongue sticking out.
The Sandhill Crane's wings widen.
The negotiation.
The final resolution as they part ways.
When we go to Malheur NWR headquarters, we were greeted by a number of sunny little Yellow Warblers. The feeders again hosted lovely male Black-headed Grosbeaks.
Watch out for swallows on the bridge!
Yellow Warbler
Black-headed Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
We headed back to the water to see what we could see. Before we got to the blind, a handsome Lark Sparrow stopped us in our tracks as he hopped just feet away from us on the ground, allowing for nice views of his stunning plumage. Once back at the water, the Black Terns again dazzled us with their dapperness and smooth, gliding flight.
Lark Sparrow
Black Tern - under
Black Tern - over
Two Black Terns hanging out on a log
As we walked around the grounds of the headquarters a bit more, we heard and caught sight of a couple of Cassin’s and quite a number of Warbling Vireos. However, what stole the show were a couple of stealthy birds that were actually quite visible. A Common Nighthawk perched on a branch, sleeping the day away and only casually opening his eyes every once in a while as crowds were gathering to gawk at him. (And I do mean crowds. This place was like birder Disneyland!)
Warbling Vireo
Cabbage White on Lilacs
Common Nighthawk
We moved on just a little bit farther down the path to find another crowd forming to view a Great Horned Owl that was nesting in a tower on top of a hill. Even one of the fuzzball babies made an appearance later on taking a look at all the fuss of birders.
Great-horned Owl
Mountain Cottontail
We continued on our way to check out some new spots around the refuge, including P Ranch where we saw a very uncommon Least Flycatcher that had previously been spotted. It did its distinctive “che-bek” call. We also picked up our first state Bobolinks there!
Mourning Cloak
Black-tailed or Mule Deer
Abandoned Swallow nest under a low foot bridge
We then moved on to Page Springs Campground and were inundated with half a dozen Yellow-breasted Chats! This was quite unusual, for us anyway, as we usually only see (or hear) one, maybe two, in one place. It was otherwise pretty quiet there, so we started making our way back to our home base, making what we thought might be some quick pit stops.
Yellow-Breasted Chat
House Wren
Likely a Montane Vole? Or maybe Long-Tailed Vole?
We had heard that there were sightings for Short-Eared Owls in a field just off what was called “The Narrows.” We staked out the area for quite some time, enjoying the sights of some Say’s Phoebe. We were close to giving up after about 30 minutes of scanning the large open fields with no luck. But then, we saw our target bird! A Short-Eared Owl glided like a Northern Harrier over the grassland in search of prey as dusk was coming upon us. Whenever it would land, it seemed to just disappear in the tall grass. But for a few heavenly moments, it landed on a perch just above the grass line. It was a glorious 5 minutes or so as we looked so intently on this beautiful owl that we had only previously seen in the dead of night with a flashlight.
Say's Phoebe
We just couldn’t tear ourselves away watching this gorgeous owl through our scope. And just as we were feeling so fulfilled by this sighting, a Long-Eared Owl decided to join in the game… Incredible! This was also a lifer for us, so we lingered even longer as the light faded because this was just too amazing to step away from. They seemed to be content circling in their own patches of the grassland, but at one point, they did come face-to-face in a little, very short-lived tussle.
Short-Eared Owl
White Pelican flock
It was getting darker by the minute, so we decided it was finally time to jet to get back to our teepee to revel in another amazing day at the refuge. Malheur had other plans for us, though. We stopped at a tiny little pond in front of a large group of very loud cattle to find 36 Wilson’s Phalaropes swirling and whirling away! They not only fed upon whatever was in the water, but they would also look up and snap their bills at the bugs flying around them, catching them like Mr. Miyagi with flies. These gorgeous birds were in their full breeding plumage that we could barely appreciate as darkness was coming upon us and we were pushing the light-gathering capabilities of our optics to the max. Finally, it was time to go, but what a way to end the day!
As I noted in my previous post, we were well on the road to 100 species on our first day of our 3-day birding weekend in Titusville, FL. But we felt our Century Run slipping away from us as we headed into Black Point Wildlife Drive with only 60 birds under our belt. There seemed a glimmer of hope as we entered the drive, because when we've been down that way in the past we've found huge numbers of waterfowl and shorebirds. This time, however, the first thing we noticed was how dry it was, compared with our other visits.
Almost right off the bat, we saw large animals running together on the far side of some small trees. My gut wanted to say hippos (stupid gut, there are no hippos in Florida), but once we managed a better view, albeit a brief one, I cut myself some slack. It was a small group of feral pigs, one of which was massive! It all happened much too quickly for pictures, but fortunately, it was a memorable enough sight not to need them. Seeing them in person, it's easy to imagine the damage they can inflict, both on humans, and on their environment.
As we drove on, we did manage new trip birds, but they didn't come nearly as quickly as we'd hoped. Areas that we've seen jam-packed with ducks previously were devoid waterfowl, but did contain the occasional Pied-billed Grebe, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, White and Glossy Ibises, and an assortment of herons, including Reddish Egrets.
Greater Yellowlegs
When we came up to the first parking area, we joined a largish gathering of people to watch Roseate Spoonbills and Wood Storks feed. These two species feed similarly, but with obvious differences. As the videos below demonstrate, spoonbills are more active feeders, vigorously sweeping their bills from side to side. Wood Storks are more likely to open their bills and hope for the best, occasionally readjusting their position slightly. Doubling back toward the walking trail, Maureen found a Clapper Rail, which vanished before she could point it out. It did briefly reemerge, and I was able to see how much more dull the coloring was compared with it's Gulf Coast cousin, a Clapper Rail we recently saw in Galveston, TX. The good thing about the dull coloration is that it removes the trouble of trying to differentiate it from the nearly-identical King Rail.
Wood Storks, Roseate Spoonbills, White Ibises, and Snowy Egrets
Eventually, we did see large flocks of Lesser Scaup overhead, which ended up being our only ducks for the day. As we watched them fly in, formations of American White Pelicans also passed nearby. After watching flock after flock of Scaup vanish behind the same set of trees we were able to locate where they were gathering. The water almost seemed to be boiling, with all the bathing and splashing they were doing.
American White Pelicans
Flock of Lesser Scaup
Lesser Scaup
A rambunctious group of scaup
On the way out, we tried to locate a Bald Eagle, where her nest is known to be, but the nest was empty, and she was nowhere to be seen. As we met up with the main road again, we saw raptor perched on top of a telephone pole, and as we passed by, we were happy to see that it was her. Although we left Black Point significantly short of our goal, we were nevertheless glad for the great weather and for plenty of birds we don't find as easily at home, just a couple of hours south. With the sun fading, we returned to the shoreline where we ate lunch. A few minutes after we arrived, three Black Skimmers swept in and began skimming the shallow water along the shore. Even though we failed our ludicrous goal, we considered this a perfect end to a perfect day. 73 species is nothing to complain about, after all. Plus, we had two more days left of our weekend, and we had no intention of returning home without all 100.
