Tweets (& other birding friends)

This is a late report from my trip with the University of Idaho Ornithology
Class to Malhuer NWR/Burns, Oregon area. This was my first trip to this area
since moving out west last year and I can say that it certainly lived up to
everything I have heard about it. The birding was really excellent with
loads of waterfowl, shorebirds and raptors, Sage Grouse and other Sage birds.

We had great weather and seem to have hit it just right in having lots of
waterfowl around and also lots of returning summer residents and other
migrants. The highlight was seeing the Sage Grouse on the lek Saturday
morning, 16 males and 3 females were counted and we spent at least 2 hours
watching them do there strange but very cool courtship displays. Some of our
group saw a male copulate w/ 2 different females which promptly flew off.
Othe highlights: In a single flooded field near the old mill south of Burns
we saw all the puddle ducks listed below (most of the regularly occurring
dabblers in N.A. I estimate), lots of other ducks in flooded fields. Many
curlew, Willets, and Sandhill Cranes in this area also and some avocets and
stilts. A big group of Snow Geese in the distance many of which were Ross's
when we got close to them. In the Sage Brush and dry country east of Burns
and the refuge we saw lots of raptors including great looks at 3 Ferruginous
Hawks, a pair of Golden Eagles near their nest, ~5 Prairie Falcons, good
numbers of Red-tails and lingering Rough-legs, also Common Raven and Turkey
Vultures nesting close together on a rock outcrop (vultures were in a small
cave).

Anyway you get the idea - I could go on and on. I am already looking forward
to my next trip down there! See the annotated list that follows. BTW we
stayed at the Malhuer Field Station which was rustic but fine and reasonably
priced and right in the middle of Sage Brush (lots of Cliff Swallows and GH
Owl nesting right there). It is open to the general public not just
organized groups (I think all units have kithens which is a plus).

Cheers,
Charles.

Malhuer National Wildlife Refuge, Burns, OR & vicinity. April 17-19, 1998.

Pied-billed Grebe
Western Grebe
Clark's Grebe
American White Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
White-faced Ibis - arrived in number 4/19
Trumpeter Swan
Greater White-fronted Goose - several flocks of ~15-20 birds
Snow Goose - thousands
Ross's Goose - hundreds, many on the edge of the big Snow Goose flock it
appeared
Canada Goose
Green-winged Teal
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
Eurasian Wigeon - 1 near old Mill, completes sweep of WA, ID, OR in the past
month
American Wigeon
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Common Goldeneye
Bufflehead
Common Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier - loads
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Swainson's Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk
Ferruginous Hawk - 3 including great overhead looks
Rough-legged Hawk - at least 4
Golden Eagle - 2 differnt pairs
American Kestrel
Prairie Falcon -
Ring-necked Pheasant
Sage Grouse - 16 males/3 females (life bird)
California Quail
Sora - brief but good looks of 1 along Centerline Rd.
American Coot - loads
Sandhill Crane - several hundred in area south of Burns
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Greater Yellowlegs - only a few
Willet - common, noisy, and obvious!
Long-billed Curlew - many, 40 counted in one field south of Burns
Common Snipe - heard in a number of places calling and "winnowing"
Franklin's Gull - a few groups of 1-3 (life bird)
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Caspian Tern
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl - pair seen at refuge HQ
Burrowing Owl - 2 in colony east of Burns
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Say's Phoebe
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Rock Wren
Canyon Wren
Marsh Wren - loads! singing from every cattail marsh
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Sage Thrasher
American Pipit
Loggerhead Shrike - well seen pair near HQ
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Brewer's Sparrow - decent looks and good listen to interesting song
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird - many on territory and ~30 in mixed blackbird flock
Brewer's Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Total Species: 95

^__^ ========================
(0 0) Charles E. Swift
| \/ | charless at umich.edu
\ / Moscow, Idaho
\/ I'm for the birds!
========================