After our first partial day in Malheur NWR, we were ready for another full day. The day started with lovely views of low-lying fog over the wide open marshes, and a Sandhill Crane starting its early morning foraging for its breakfast. We also saw a large herd of Pronghorn prancing up a hill after taking a quick glance down at us.
We drove through the country roads searching for some grassy sparrows, particularly Sagebrush Sparrow, which would have been a lifer for us. But that lifer would have to wait. Instead, we saw a number of White-Crowned sparrows, the dominant sparrow of this whole trip, which is funny since we hadn’t seen any when we visited Malheur last year. But the timing was a bit off as we were here mid April this year versus the end of May last year. But some birds we did see again, and gladly so - like Swainson's Hawk.
Swainson's Hawk
Cabbage White Butterfly
Old wagon at Frenchglen
We did manage to see more of our other sagey friend, the Sage Thrasher. We even found one that had a bill deformity. I had been watching it with my naked eyes trying to figure out if it was the one singing because the sound was coming from that direction, but I couldn’t see its bill move. And then once I looked at it through my bins, I could see that it was indeed opening its bill to sing, but it barely looked like it since its bill was crisscrossed. I thought out loud, “Oh, that poor guy is never gonna land a mate looking like that.” He obviously survived this long to feed himself, but I don’t foresee any females cozying up to him. We also saw another male Sage Thrasher doing some really cool wing displays, likely to either attract a mate or deter competing males.
Sage Thrasher with bill deformity
Another view of deformed bill
Sage Thrasher doing wing display
We saw some other usual suspects as we rounded these back roads, including a lovely pair of California Quails. I never get tired of seeing these anxious little pudgies scooting around – the male with his distinguished head plume and the subdued female with her stylish little top knot.
Male California Quail
Female California Quail
Majestic looking, curious horses running towards us to check us out
As we kept driving past field after field on Ruh Red Road, I suddenly shouted out, “STOP! I think I see a Burrowing Owl!” We had to back up a bit, and I was right! I knew that silhouette anywhere. And right before the owl ducked down into his hole, I noticed a second one! They both gave us that “I’m not feeling it” staredown, but we giggled in delight for finding not just one, but TWO Burrowing Owls on our own. I recall scanning every field in Malheur last year with no luck, but we got them this time!
Burrowing Owls
Northern Flicker
We rented a Tamron 150-600mm lens for this trip, and it had paid off well so far with the great shots we got of the Mountain Bluebirds on our way to Malheur. And now we were also able to capture the brightest shades of yellow on the demon-sounding Yellow-Headed Blackbirds, the adorable, mischievous-looking Horned Larks, and the sing-songy Western Meadowlarks. Malheur seems to be the optimal location for getting great shots of Western Meadowlarks, as was evident last year, too.
Yellow-Headed Blackbird among yellow flowers
We also got our best looks at Canvasbacks and Redheads swimming around a flooded field. These are definitely some of the prettiest ducks with their glossy red heads. Canvasbacks especially have such a commanding presence about them with their large bodies and long, tapered bills. Oh, and just for good measure, we got an awesome glimpse of a Wilson’s Snipe at eye level sitting up on a pole right off the road. Surprisingly, he stayed there a good minute to let us snap pics of him.
Pair of Canvasbacks
Pair of Redheads
Wilson's Snipe
After a nice full morning of birding in Malheur, we headed down to Fields, OR – population 7. This tiny town is known for being a literal tiny oasis in the desert, and it can turn up a number of crazy migrants in the little stand of trees. On our way down there, we saw a Badger scrambling among the rocks as we drove, which was super awesome! She disappeared so quickly that we didn’t get a shot of her, but what a cool, unexpected surprise. Another surprise was all of the free-roaming cattle. At one point they caused a bit of a traffic jam.
Old-timey looking photo of a traffic jam between Frenchglen and Fields
Cow Close-up
I think we were still too early in the season and late in the day as we didn’t see much more than a few Yellow Rumps and a Killdeer, as well as a cool little lizard – likely some type of Whiptail. And we also got to enjoy their well-known milkshakes. EVERYONE we met who suggested to come here said we had to get the milkshakes. Not knowing that each one was about 2 pints of ice cream each, we mistakenly each ordered one. And no, we did not finish them.
We got back to our tiny hotel in Frenchglen and wandered around a bit after dinner time. We enjoyed more good looks at a couple of birds we saw quite a bit this trip – Black-Billed Magpie and Say’s Phoebe. We also kept hearing a couple of Great-Horned Owls hooting at each other, and we finally turned them up – one in a tall tree and the other on top of a school building. This one we captured as his throat puffed up while hooting across to his likely mate. I was so glad to finally see this pair after not being able to locate the hooting owls at P Ranch the evening before. It was a great way to end another great day at Malheur.
Sunset view
Finally capture a good pic of a Black-billed Magpie
On our third full day of the Winter Wings Birding Festival, we headed out to the Lava Beds National Monument on our own, just as we did a year before. It was a beautiful morning drive, with snowy Mt. Shasta glowing in the distance. It wasn’t super foggy like it was the last time we were here a year ago, so we were able to pull over onto the narrow shoulder of Hwy 161 running along the Oregon-California border to check out the waterfowl hanging out in Lower Klamath Lake.
Mount Shasta as the sun rises
Lower Klamath Lake
Bald Eagle
The serene waters were dotted with black, white, and gray with pops of red from lovely Redheads. The clear blue skies were happily interrupted with flocks of Tundra Swans flying by the mountainous backdrops. It was just a really fantastic scene with a somewhat busy freeway cutting right between it.
We hit up Captain Jack’s Stronghold, a fun rocky hike with lots of nooks and crannies perfect for hiding and imagining what it may have been like when it was used as a natural fortress in battles in the Modoc War. We had great views of Mt. Shasta, but unfortunately, we only had a handful of birds, and none of the wrens (Rock or Canyon) we had expected.
Walking around Captain Jack's Stronghold
Cool, colorful lichen
Mt. Shasta
On the drive along Tule Lake, we stopped at a couple of pullouts, getting nice views of a juvenile White-Crowned Sparrow and juvenile Red-Tailed Hawk. We also got to admire the mightiness that are Canvasbacks. These big ducks are some of my favorites with their striking red heads and big, sloped bills.
Juvenile White-Crowned Sparrow
Juv. White-Crowned Sparrow
Juvenile Red-Tailed Hawk
Canvasbacks
Our next main stop was Petroglyph Point. As expected, we saw Prairie Falcons circling the large rock island. Nick and I were able to get a few nice shots, including some with a little morsel of what was likely a Belding’s Ground Squirrel. I didn’t quite get the awesome shot of tandem ones in flight like before, but still very happy with this sighting.
Prairie Falcon
No, not an extra set of furry legs - the legs and tail of its prey!
Belding's Ground Squirrel - likely prey item
We also got a few other surprises here, like TWO different nesting owls. A Great Horned Owl was nicely poised on its nest, giving us a stare down. It didn’t seem too bothered by us or the van-load of photographers who stopped here on one of the Winter Wings Festival guided photography tours. The Barn Owl, on the other hand, was content to keeps its back turned towards us. How I found it in this tiny crevice, I don’t know. But once I saw it, I knew for sure it was a beloved Tyto.
Great-Horned Owl
Barn Owl
We got a quick glance at a Rock Wren before it darted out of sight. But we did get good looks at some other critters at Petroglyph Point, including this strapping Yellow-Bellied Marmot and this tiny wolf spider of some sort. Arachniphobes - beware of awesome up-close photos!
Yellow-Bellied Marmot
Wolf Spider
Wolf Spider
Time restraints prevented us from exploring the lava tube caves last time, but this time we were able to check them out. I discovered that I’m a bit freaked out by caves. Pure darkness without knowing how deep the cave is and not knowing if some dangerous critter is just around the corner was a bit unnerving. But it was totally cool and fascinating to walk around and see the super cool textures remaining from ancient lava flow (from 10,500 to 65,000 years ago).
Entering a cave
Cave Ceiling
I call this my "X-Files" Photo
Exploring the cave
More cool lava tube cave textures
This trip was filled with Townsend’s Solitaires. We saw them at just about every stop, and quite a few at a time around the caves. We got great looks at one in particular – such great looks that one even came down within a few feet from me on the ground, but it was too close for my telephoto lens to capture it! I cursed like a sailor about this missed opportunity, as I knew it would NEVER happen again. But I have since mostly calmed down about the whole thing (haha) and enjoy the memory and these pics.
Townsend's Solitaire
Townsend's Solitaire
Our day ended at Big Painted Cave where we expected to see some pictographs. We did not find them, but we found something even better – a PIKA!!! It was super cooperative, and I think we must have watched it run back and forth from its hay pile to its feeding spot for at least half an hour. We knew they could be around, but we did not know that we’d be lucky enough to find one, and such a cooperative one at that. I don’t even need to tell you how adorable these guys are. Just look at this one and see for yourself why this has got to be one of the top cutest animals on the planet!
(For best quality and full Pika effectivness, select to watch in 1080p HD)
It was such an amazing way to end the day. Oh how I just love this beautiful desert!
