From: hoyerr@ucs.orst.edu (Richard Hoyer)
Subject: Malheur NWR Birding Weekend Report
Organization: University Computing Services - OSU
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1992 05:03:33 GMT

I'd like to share a short birding trip that I took with a friend last weekend
(October 2-4), as well as introduce you to a wonderful area for birders
planning to travel to Oregon (or maybe entice you to do so!).  I have a trip
report for Ecuador yet to write (I was there for three months this summer),
which I plan to post to BIRDCHAT, but I thought I others might be interested
in hearing about what we see here in the Northwest, as least while the news is
fresh.

This trip was to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in the southeastern
corner of Oregon, in the northern Great Basin.  It is a very special place, a
beautiful oasis in the middle of dry sagebrush country.  It supports huge
numbers of nesting birds as well as providing an important habitat for
migrating birds of all kinds.  Malheur is sort of shaped like a "T", the stem
being the Blitzen Valley from south to north (60+ miles long) and the top
being Harney and Malheur lakes, two very large, shallow, land-locked mud lakes
(40+ miles wide).  Seven years ago, the lakes, normally many square miles
large, flooded beyond their borders, washing away roads and ranch houses.
This year, one of the lakes has completely dried up, and the other is only a
few acres in size way out there in the middle of a dry mud basin.  The valley
provides a home for marsh-,  willow-, and grassland-nesting species (ducks,
swans, warblers, Bobolink, etc.), while the lakes are important for birds such
as American White Pelican, White-faced Ibis, Double-crested Cormorant and
shorebirds such as American Avocet, Black-necked Stilt, and Snowy Plover.

Here and there throughout the refuge are small patches of trees, planted by
the original ranchers many decades ago.  These tree clumps (consisting mostly
of elm, black locust, Russian olive, willow, poplar, and spruce),  are often
located near man-made ponds and really attract migrating passerines.  It is
this that brings the birders to Malheur in the spring and fall.  Since
passerines for miles and miles around concentrate in these clumps of trees
(often only 3-4 acres in size), the vagrants are relatively conspicuous--if
they happen to be there. (Imagine trying to find a Townsend's Warbler in the
middle of the Ozarks!)  Every year, some truly exciting eastern wanderers are
sighted at Malheur, and the refuge boasts many first (and only) state records.

The Memorial Weekend "Trek" to Malheur is an annual tradition for many birders
in this area, with the lucky ones able to visit the refuge through mid June.
The same goes for fall, with the last two weeks in September and the first
week or two of October being the most productive.  Oregon Field Ornithologists
(our state birding organization--I have the address if you would like it)
sponsors an annual Fall Weekend at Malheur in late September.  This has the
function of being a concentrated (and often successful) effort at vagrant
finding, and the participants benefit by having a lot of other observers
around.  The activities (a slide show and countdown) are held at the Malheur
Field Station, a small complex of trailers and bunkhouses for people
interested in lodging while on vacation or during study (I have the address of
this too, in case you are interested in reserving accommodation or in becoming
a member of the Field Station)  There is also a campground at the southern end
of the refuge, and plenty of BLM land surrounds the area.

I went to the OFO Malheur Fall Weekend last year, for my first fall ever at
Malheur.  It was the slowest birding that any could remember ever experiencing
at Malheur.  A couple people saw a Magnolia Warbler, but that was at some
isolated tree clump miles away from the refuge, and no other vagrants were
found.  There were very few of the common migrants.  This year, we couldn't
make it to the weekend event, so we went the following weekend.  We had heard
that an Ovenbird was the only good find the weekend before, and we hoped our
weekend would be better.

It turned out that migration was going strong, with lots of birds moving
through; but we never did find a knock-em-out vagrant.  We did see some really
good birds, however, and it was by far a better trip than last year.

We left Corvallis on Friday the 2nd, at about 11:00 a.m.  The trip normally
takes about 5 hours from there, but we almost lost a wheel due to loose and
lost lugnuts!  We had to waste an hour (and $5) finding a place that sold the
right kind of lugnuts.  The weather did not look promising, with mist and
drizzle spread clear across the state.  We got to Headquarters (one of the
best vagrant traps) shortly after 6:00 p.m., and it was quickly getting dark.
Little was active, but we did flush a Barn Owl out of the trees (a refuge-bird
for both of us), and we watched a covey of over 100 California Quail take
roost.

We camped at our usual secret spot on BLM land beneath an old eagle eyrie.
There we saw a Prairie Falcon fly from the cliff.  It rained pretty heavily on
and off all night, and that had us worried.  Sometime in the middle of the
night we were awaked by a scratching on the top of the VW bus--it turned out
to be a Great Horned Owl!  By dawn the rain had subsided and the remaining
light mist disappeared by mid morning.

We birded HQ from about 7:30 until 10:30.  During that time, we noticed how
things were moving through.  Some of the birds we saw early on were not
present later; and every once in a while something new would show up and then
leave.  A couple Townsend's Solitaires flitted among the Western Junipers,
being very tame but inconspicuous.  One House Wren was pretty late, and a
Winter Wren was a good find.  Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warblers were
everywhere as were Ruby-crowned Kinglets.  Last year there were tons of
White-crowned (Gambel's) Sparrows, two Golden-crowns, and 3 White-throats (a
very large number).  This year, the flocks of "Zonos" were around, but
completely different in composition.  There were fewer individuals overall,
with 2/3 being White-crowns, 1/3 Golden-crowns, and no White-throats at all!
One female Western Tanager was present, a single "Western" Flycatcher
appeared, one Warbling Vireo came through, and 2 or 3 Solitary Vireos (race?)
hung around.  The finches included a handful of Evening Grosbeaks, and half a
dozen American Goldfinches and Pine Siskins.  A Coopers Hawk tried to hide in
the western tree clump all morning long, but we kept flushing it.  A large
swarm of Barn Swallows briefly worked over the pond which held a few ducks and
grebes.  At one point, an immature Bald Eagle sailed past HQ.

Our next stop, about 1/3 of the way up the refuge was the Buena Vista station,
which has a very large, reed-rimmed lake.  The usual Trumpeter Swans were
there, as were a few ducks and American Coots.  Along the creek there in the
willows were large numbers of yellow-rumps and rc kinglets, along with a few
last Common Yellowthroats.  Two or three Orange-crowned Warblers were also
moving through along with one Empidonax sp., and a Lincoln's Sparrow was on
the road with the American Pipits.

We then went to Benson pond, 1/2 way up the refuge.  Benson pond has a good
vagrant record from its tree clump.  In the spring this place is great for
Black Terns and Franklin's Gull, but the water was very quiet this time.
There were very few birds around, and the only things new for the trip list
were a Short-eared Owl, a single Violet-green Swallow with the 50+ Barn
Swallows, and a group of 4 Lesser Yellowlegs on the exposed mud of the nearly
dried-up Donner und Blitzen River.

We continued on to P Ranch, an old homestead, and site of Oregon's only
Red-headed Woodpecker record.  No red-head (rats!), but we did see a Hairy (of
the really white eastern race), and we found an immature Red-shouldered Hawk,
very rare for this part of Oregon (it breeds on the SW coast and wanders
occasionally up the western valleys).  A few more orange-crowns were in the
willows and the last four or five Turkey Vultures were still sitting in the
tower, their traditional roosting spot during the summer nights.

We made our way back to HQ by 4:30 to see what new had shown up.  There were
some Cedar Waxwings with the American Robins, and a male Cassin's Finch had
shown up.  One Hermit Thrush was sneaking around. One other birder showed up,
with nothing rare to report.  The bird register in the museum at HQ told of
the treasures we missed in the preceding weeks:  Broad-winged Hawk, Blackpoll
Warbler, Ovenbird, Chestnut-sided Warbler...  Who knew what we'd miss in the
following weeks?  (Last year, two LeConte's Sparrows, the second state record,
were found after we had left!)  

The next morning was high overcast, and it became sunny by 9:00.  It was
really beautiful.  The species composition at HQ was completely different.  A
flock of Red Crossbills suddenly appeared, and a Lesser Goldfinch was there.
A late Vaux's Swift careened over the pond, which now hosted a Horned Grebe,
not present among the Eared Grebes earlier (it must have tunneled its way
underground, as everyone knows that grebes don't fly).  Also new to HQ that
morning was a birder from Idaho passing through, and a large Audubon group
from Portland.  With the added observers, more birds were being seen.  The
Idaho birder yelled out "Green-backed Heron" soon enough for everyone to see
it fly over the pond.  This bird is common in western Oregon but is listed as
being accidental on the refuge.  Lots of Hermit Thrushes were around, and one
Varied Thrush stopped by.  There were several Townsend's Solitaires now--they
are one of my favorite birds, so peaceful looking.  The one Cassin's Finch had
found a few more to keep him company.  We left around 11:30 for home.

We made a couple short birding stops on the way home since the weather was so
nice.  We stopped at the Sage Hen Hills rest area several miles west of Burns,
where there wasn't much (in the breeding season it is good for Brewer's
Sparrow, Gray Flycatcher, and Mountain Bluebird); but we did add one immature
Golden Eagle to our trip list.  Our second stop was at Indian Ford Campground,
way up in the high Cascade Mountains not too far west of the town of Sisters.
This place is located in the dry Ponderosa Pine forest where White-headed
Woodpeckers, Pygmy Nuthatches, and Green-tailed Towhees occur.  We saw the
nuthatches right away, peeping in the tops of the pines.  Along the Indian
Ford Creek are a lot of willows and quaking aspen, good habitat for migrants.
We walked quite a ways downstream, not seeing much except for a few Song
Sparrows and Golden-crowned Sparrows.  At one spot, there was a flush of
activity, when a Yellow-shafted Flicker (uncommon here) flew by and sparrows
and yellow-rumps in the willows began making noise.  I heard one unfamiliar
sound coming from the willows, thinking it must be a rare warbler.  It was a
very sharp, short "peep", a call I simply did not recognize.  I pished, and
out came a Swamp Sparrow!  This apparently represents a first for Deschutes
County, and one of very few records from east of the Cascade crest.

In our absent-mindedness on the way home, we took a wrong turn (I don't know
how--we both know this area very well--then again, perhaps too well) and ended
up going all the way to Eugene!  (We both remarked that we had never noticed
the Three Sisters all in a row like that before...  And we became quite
confused when a small reservoir appeared where none had been before!)  It was
a hilarious end to a very pleasant weekend!

A list of what we saw at the refuge will appear right after this.

Rich Hoyer
hoyerr@ucs.orst.edu

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