Malheur NWR: The Second Half
On Tuesday morning we drove from headquarters to the Burrowing Owl spot my friend had mentioned, which is a few miles from the old spot I had visited before. It took a minute but eventually we found one hanging out.
A ground squirrel popped up and demanded attention also.
Next we drove back down the road to head north into town and pick up some supplies. Many things distracted us along the way.
Sage Thrasher
Loggerhead Shrike
White-faced Ibis
After our supply run we wanted to look for phalaropes because we had only seen some on ponds with nowhere to stop. I remembered Alan Contreras mentioning a flooded area down Ruh-Red Road that had a lot of birds, so we decided to check it out.
Success! Wilson's Phalaropes were swimming close to the road with ten or so Red-necked farther out, about 40-50 total ropes.
From there we headed south to check for a well-known Golden Eagle nest near the Narrows. Before we could get there we found a rattlesnake relaxing in the road.
I jumped out to ta…
A ground squirrel popped up and demanded attention also.
Next we drove back down the road to head north into town and pick up some supplies. Many things distracted us along the way.
Sage Thrasher
Loggerhead Shrike
White-faced Ibis
After our supply run we wanted to look for phalaropes because we had only seen some on ponds with nowhere to stop. I remembered Alan Contreras mentioning a flooded area down Ruh-Red Road that had a lot of birds, so we decided to check it out.
Success! Wilson's Phalaropes were swimming close to the road with ten or so Red-necked farther out, about 40-50 total ropes.
From there we headed south to check for a well-known Golden Eagle nest near the Narrows. Before we could get there we found a rattlesnake relaxing in the road.
I jumped out to ta…
