Malheur NWR Trip (May 17-22, 2010) Highlights

This NWR is one of the largest in the U.S. and is rated as one of the 10 best birding areas in the U.S. It is obvious why when you visit there. I have been there 9-10 times and it is always a wonderful experience with beautiful scenery and excellent birding.

May 17 (Monday) – We drove I-90 to I-82 to Hwy 395 on our way to Burns. After getting gas tanks filled up at Biggs, we drove about 15 miles south of Biggs, OR, for lunch at DeMoss Park. We recorded 30 species for the day, including: Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Turkey Vulture, American Kestrel - Belted Kingfisher & Warbling Vireo, the only ones on the trip - Townsend’s, Yellow, Yellow-rumped and Wilson’s Warblers, Western Tanager, Western Meadowlark, Mountain Bluebird and House Wren.

We stayed at a motel in Burns and went to the NWR each of the next four days, with 73, 83, 91 & 92 on each of the days. Total for four days was 129. Malheur Lake could not be seen from the Narrows, no water was at the Narrows or in what is supposed to be Mud Lake. The second year in a row that water was very low. The weather was the coldest of all the times I have been there, temperatures were from low 30s to mid 40s most days, with mid 50s one day. We had light rain and some snow flurries on three days.

Birds we saw each of the four days included;

Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, White-faced Ibis, Turkey Vulture, eight geese/duck species (Canada Goose, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Canvasback, Redhead, Ruddy Duck), Northern Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, California Quail, American Coot, Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Willet, Long-billed Curlew, Wilson’s Snipe & Wilson’s Phalarope, Franklin’s Gull, Black Tern, Great Horned Owl, Say’s Phoebe, Western Kingbird - Tree, Cliff & Barn Swallows - Marsh Wren, American

Robin, Starlings, Yellow & Yellow-rumped Warblers, Western Tanager, Chipping Sparrow, Brewer’s & Lark Sparrows - Red-winged, Yellow-headed & Brewer’s Blackbirds – Brown-headed Cowbird, Bullock’s Oriole

DAY ONE - May 18 - we drove the 35 miles to the refuge headquarters while stopping at many of the wetlands to view hundreds of waterfowl and shorebirds. We then drove to the Round Barn for lunch, visited Lava Pit Crater and ended at the Buena Vista Overlook. Highlights include:

White-faced Ibis by the hundreds & many Yellow-headed Blackbirds

Black-crowned Night-Herons

Golden Eagles – 2

Wilson’s Phalaropes – very numerous

Willet – hundreds, calling and displaying in flight

Franklin’s Gulls were numerous

Swallows – 6 species at one location

Black Terns – a few gracefully flying over some of the ponds

Eurasian Collared-Dove – in Burns

Great Horned Owl – 1 adult and 3 young at headquarters and 2 adult and 2 young in Lava Pit Crater

Lewis’s Woodpecker – good views at headquarters

Rock Wren – gravel pile area at top of Wright’s Point and one at crater

Flycatchers - Western Wood-Peewees, Willow Flycatchers, Say’s Phoebe, Western & Eastern Kingbirds

Lazuli Bunting

DAY TWO – May 19 – we visited Malheur Field Station, then drove the Center Patrol Road to Buena Vista ponds, Upper Krumbo Pond & Krumbo Resvoir and ended at Benson’s Pond. Upper Krumbo Pond was especially good with 21 species.

Clarke’s Grebe among a number of Western Grebes

Virginia Rail, Sora & American Coot

Northern Flicker

Sage Thrasher

Cedar Waxwing

Common Yellowthroat

Mourning Dove

Forster’s Terns

Trumpeter Swan – 1

Pied-billed Grebe

Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Greater Scaup, Bufflehead

Ring-necked Pheasant

DAY THREE – May 20 – We started at Benson’s Pond and drove Center Patrol Road down to P Ranch for lunch and then to Page Springs CG to walk trail to Yellow-breasted Chat area, and lastly at Frenchglen. The following new species were recorded:

Burrowing Owl – a little north of Narrows

American Wigeon

Spotted Sandpiper

House Wren

Townsend’s Warbler

Spotted Towhee

Savannah & Lincoln’s Sparrows

Pine Siskin

Ross’s Goose – one all by itself

Bonaparte’s Gull – one still in non-breeding plumage

Dusky & Cordilleran Flycatcher

Bobolink – one car saw two briefly perched on fence

Yellow-breasted Chat – took quite a while to get one to respond, but all got to see it.

DAY FOUR – May 21 – We drove to headquarters again and saw the owls again and our first Black-chinned Hummingbird. Then backtracked to OO Ranch Road which connects with hwy 205 a little north of the Narrows. Another Golden Eagle was perched on a pole. After the road turns north, we saw our first Osprey and Vesper Sparrow. We continued north to hwy 20 west of Burns. We drove back to Burns to hopefully eat lunch at the City Park just north of Burns. But with the cold and snow flurries we decided to eat lunch in our motel rooms. Then drove north to Idlewild CG. We didn’t have any success finding the usual White-headed Woodpecker, but we did get a number of new species – all three nuthatches, Pygmy, Red- and White-breasted Nuthatches – Black-capped and Mountain Chickadees, Dark-eyed Junco, Cassin’s Finch

May 22 (Sat.) We woke up in the  morning to find about 1” of snow and ice all over the cars. On May 22 we drove north on hwy 395 as we headed home. We stopped at Idlewild CG about 20 miles north of Burns for

one last attempt to see the White-headed Woodpecker, without success. There was snow on the ground and it was 28 degrees F.

Despite the cold weather, it was a very enjoyable trip and we ended up with a respectable total of 129 species for the four days. Another three species were seen to/from Burns for an overall total of 132. If anyone wants the complete list email Hugh Jennings. To view photos taken on the trip go to the following link.

http://picasaweb.google.com/hughbirder/Malheur2010May1722