The Rest of Malheur -- Birds Etc....AND A NEW GAME!

Ok I am going to get the last day of Malheur on here and then introduce a new game for the grandkids.

But first beautiful Eastern Oregon


The view from out the front of the French Glen Hotel is of this old dilapadated barn with the Steen Mountains in the background. It honest seems as if there is nothing looking almost forever, but if you get out into the desert, it is teeming with life.


Pair of Northern Pintail


Say's Phoebe


A Pair of American Avocet

Not just birds either. A number of small mammals like this ground squirrel and the next one were watching carefully to avoid becoming lunch for the next two birds!



Either of the next couple of birds would be glad to find these two juicy morsels out in the open.

Prarie Falcon


Northern Harrier

Everything was nesting and breeding. One of the biggest nests was this Black Billed Magpie nest.




Even the wild horses were in the mood for celebrating the spring.



The blue bill on many birds is a sure sign of breeding season. This Ruddy Duck was doing the "impression dive" for his chosen babe!





Ok, all your life you have heard of going Snipe hunting. Well, did you know that there actually is such a bird. Here is a Wilson's Snipe.


And a Loggerhead Shrike. About 4 inches but a big name!


Another little cutie is the Pied Bill Grebe. Can you tell where it got it's name?


Ok, here is the new game. This is a game for the all the Grandchildren. I am going to put a critter on the blog, and the first grandkid to comment on the blog with the correct answer as to the critter's name will get a $10 bill in the mail! Game is open to any of our grandchildren 15 and under. The critter today for example is :



that's right, a snake. But the winner has to tell me what kind of snake. I will always tell where I took the picture so that you can narrow down the possibilities. This one was taken at the visitor center for the Malheur National Wildlife Center in Harney County Oregon.

Here are a couple more pictures. Hint, it was about 2 feet long.


A couple of last photo's. Another from the steps of the French Glen Hotel in the evening,


And an early morning picture from the location of the Sage Grouse Lek.


Who is going to win the first $10.

Malheur Greater Sage Grouse

One of my primary reasons for going with these photographers out to Harney County was the opportunity to see the Greater Sage Grouse on the Lek. This is a rare thing now as these birds are considered endagerd by many and have recently been considered for listing. The Lek near the MNWR is like many way out in the sage brush, and although it has been in the same place for apparently many years, is still hard to find. We set out before dawn in a light snow, and sat for a long time without seeing them. Another carload of photographers came by (see photo below), and after we all moved quietly in the area, we found them.

A lek is a gathering of males, of certain animal species, for the purposes of competitive mating display. Leks assemble before and during the breeding season, on a daily basis. The same group of males meet at a traditional place and take up the same individual positions on an arena, each occupying and defending a small territory or court. Intermittently or continuously, they spar individually with their neighbors or put on extravagant visual or aural displays (mating "dances" or gymnastics, plumage displays, vocal challenges, etc.).

Lek mating arena, modeled on the sage grouse, in which each male, alpha-male (highest ranking), beta-male, gamma-male, etc., guards a territory of a few meters in size on average, and in which the dominant males may each attract up to eight or more females.^[1] In addition, each individual is shown with variations in personal space (bubbles), where by higher-ranking individuals have larger personal space bubbles.^[2] Common bird leks typically have 25-30 individuals.

Our lek had about two dozen males and maybe 5 females on it.

It seriously make me wonder how they could get the job done when a female finally chose them. They were expending so much energy displaying, I can't imagine that they weren't worn out.















So here is a bit of video that I shot with the D90. I shot most of the photos with the D3, my 400mm 2.8 and a 1.4 teleconverter. I was shooting out the car window with no tripod, so it is a bit shaky. The grouse were out about 150 feet or so. Pretty fun stuff.

Malheur Day 2, April 30, 2010

One of the really fun things about going out with others who have wildlife experience is learning where to find certain birds. Birds are very territorial, and in some cases will spend time in the same area for decades. That is the case with a family of Great Horned Owls who have inhabited the willow grove at Fields Oasis in remote southeastern Oregon.

Fields is a gas station, four unit motel and cafe with the best hamburgers and milkshakes ever! Across the road from the gas station is a spring that I am sure was the reason for the settlement in the first place. It is surrounded by nothing for miles and miles. It is in the willow grove surrounding the spring that the owls live.

As long as you are careful, the mother doesn't get too agitated when you approach, and although they are a bit tough to photograph because of the dense foliage, you are really pretty close.


We started out taking some pictures from a ways away, and then gradually got up a bit closer.





The chicks were awake much of the time we were there, but mom was all but oblivious to us as long as we didn't get too close. The nest was about 15 feet up in a tree, well hidden by leaves and sticks, and easily defended from predators. There were 4 babies in the nest, and we never saw the male. He was probably roosting nearby, but we couldn't find him.





Our trip to Fields started at the historic Frenchglen Hotel. This is another oasis in the desert that has been around for 150 years. It serves the most amazing chicken dinner with a salad that is out of this world. All you can eat for $20. The birding around the area is pretty amazing. One of my favorites is the White Faced Ibis. There are gigantic flocks of them in the wetlands that are all along the roads to the north and east of Frenchglen.



It is incredible to see this huge billed bird, and think about it's cousins around the world. The Sacred Ibis in Africa, the Glossy in Florida, etc. All of them are very gregarious and fun to watch.

The following video was taken with the D90. Although not nearly as fast as the D3, it is really fun to have video when birds are active.




I have been working on my technique for flight shots. These are a real challenge for me since I don't have the eyesight I used to and therefore have to trust the camera to do the focusing for me. I am getting better however and love it when I get one.





I love birds!