Malheur 2017 - Day 1, Part 1

One thing we have done consistently over the past three years that we’ve lived in Oregon is go to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. I’m sure you all remember the occupation last year that threatened our beautiful piece of public land, but that was not enough to deter birders. We still went last year shortly after the refuge roads opened back up, although the headquarters was still closed for another year. However, this spring, the headquarters reopened with the great efforts of diligent workers and volunteers, and we were ready for another annual trip. 

White-Faced Ibis

Tree Swallow in a nest box

Desert Paintbrush

Upland Larkspur

This place is truly a natural wonder and unlike anything else. Each time we go, we are truly in awe of this place – its geology, the wildlife, the views, and, of course, the birds.

Sagebrush sea

Chipmunk

Juvenile Sage Thrasher

Before we arrived to Malheur, we spent the night in Bend and birded that area our first morning. We hit up the sagebrush areas in search of Green-tailed Towhees, Sage Thrashers, and Sagebrush Sparrows. We got the first two, but dipped once again on the sparrows – a sagebrush nemesis of ours. We also picked up Gray Flycatcher, watching it dip its tail and give its distinctive “chibit” call.

Gray Flycatcher

Green-Tailed Towhee

Green-Tailed Towhee blowing in the wind

Next stop was the Sage Hen Rest Area – a seemingly regular rest stop, but definitely far from it. There are nesting Mountain Bluebirds all over as there are several nest boxes posted around the grassy areas. It's hard to find any bluer blue than Mountain Bluebirds. It's almost impossible to truly capture their vibrant color in a photo. 

Male Mountain Bluebird

Female Mountain Bluebird

Male Mountain Bluebird

Juvenile Mountain Bluebird

This year, we were pleasantly surprised to find nesting Say’s Phoebes, too! There was a pair working hard to gather lots of grubs and bugs to feed three hungry nestlings. Their nest was perched atop the light fixture above the women’s restroom. They surely did not mind the comers and goers that passed through the rest stop. There were also quite a few of these huge and beautiful Columbia Silkmoths - they were a beautiful red velvet color with bold patterning. I couldn't believe the Phoebes hadn't snatched them all up to feed their chicks!

Say's Phoebe

Say's Pheobe with a butterfly snack

Sweet baby Say's Phoebe - look at that precious gape!

Say's Phoebe chicks snuggling

Columbia Silkmoth

Columbia Silkmoth - Ain't it a beauty!

In the back of the rest stop is a lovely little loop trail. It’s a nice hike to see some wildflowers, butterflies, and songbirds. We picked up Brewer’s Sparrow buzzily singing away. We were caught off guard when I heard this little nasaly call up in a tree. I know it sounded kind of familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Then out in front of our eyes popped a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher! We were used to seeing plenty of these guys in the Southeast, but this was an Oregon first for us.

Brewer's Sparrow

Brewer's Sparrow

Nelson's Hairstreak

Anicia Checkerspot

Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

Macro shot of a flower

After our rest stop hike, we were ready for the big leagues and headed over to the headquarters of the refuge. It was great to see this place back in action – plenty of birds and birders mulling about. There did seem to be a lack of hummingbirds compared to when we came the same time of year two years ago. Bullock’s Orioles were enjoying the nectar feeders with fewer hummers to hoard them. 

A peaceful moment at the Malheur NWR HQ

Black-Chinned Hummingbird

Bullock's Oriole

Bullock's Oriole

Red Admiral

Lazuli Buntings and Tree Swallows dazzled us with bright shades of blue. There seemed to be more Lazuli Buntings this year than our past two visits. The little females were plentiful - muted in color but still cute as a button.

A vibrant Male Lazuli Bunting

Male Lazuli Bunting

Female Lazuli Bunting

Female Lazuli Bunting

Tree Swallow

Steel blue Tree Swallow

There were plenty of pops of yellow all around the refuge. Bright and cheery Yellow Warblers and Western Tanagers lined the trees. And the Yellow-Headed Blackbirds were a lovely sight, although they sound like demons from hell – but still delightful.

Western Tanager

Western Tanager

Western Tanager

Juba Skipper

Yellow Warbler

Yellow-Headed Blackbird - beautiful bird, haunting call

Yellow-Headed Blackbird

It was so great to be back at the Malheur NWR Headquarters. Although some tension lingers amongst the locals, I know the naturalists and the birders can all agree that it's great to have this treasure up and running again. 

Juba Skipper

Juba Skipper

More of Malheur

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

Say's Phoebe

Great-Horned Owl hooting