Malheur NWR, Part Four.

Ok, I'm almost done!

I got lots of bad pictures of warblers up in the trees at headquarters... Don't ask me what they all are..





I had been seeing Black-billed Magpies since John Day, but this was the first good photo I got of one... I love how they look when they're flying..

It was a beautiful morning...

The ibises never got old...

Lots of Black Terns were flying over this pond..

Ruddy Ducks and a coot. 

Pied-billed Grebe. 

I assume this is an off-duty herding dog taking a stroll by the water.  Hopefully he's okay and not lost.

This bright yellow bird flitted from bush to bush and disappeared.  I wish its head had not been stuck in the sage for this photo...

Near the Buena Vista Ponds is this building housing tons of swallows..

Looks like mostly Cliff Swallows..


I drove back down the road towards Benson Pond and looked down to discover this giant beetle in my cup holder... Eek!

Is it a Japanese beetle?  Whatever it was, I scooped it up with my refuge map and tossed it out the window.

A Great Egret near Benson Pond.

Is this a beaver?  It was like 10 feet from me gnawing away... I took a couple shots and figured it was just a nutria or something.. Plus little deer mice were running towards my feet making me jumpy.  Now looking at the picture I don't think it's a nutria after all.  Hmm.

Barn Swallow perfectly perched. 


In addition to the mice running around were snakes..  Funny enough, I'd rather have snakes slithering around than mice popping out at me.

Cedar Waxwings up in the trees...

I'm a moron!  I took this one picture while looking for the Blackpoll Warbler and discounted it as a blackbird.  Of course had I looked at it more closely I would have realized it was the Lewis's Woodpecker again. 

My final bird of the trip was another new one for me:


A Bullock's Oriole!  Too bad he wouldn't sit still. 

What an amazing trip!  I don't even know how many kinds of birds I saw...

Comments

  1. Your comment about the Lewis's Woodpecker has me want to note that we should never be in a hurry when observing wildlife. While devoting a lot of time recently to seeking out one species, the greater thrill was what was seen in the process.

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  2. My first trip to Malheur yielded over 20 new birds for me. I never tire of going there....but wasn't able to this year. Thanks for taking me there!

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  3. What an amazing location. Thanks for sharing all your magical moments from Malheur NWR. FAB.

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  4. I'm reading your posts backwards so I read this one first. Love all the awesome birds you saw. It's a treasure of a place.

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