At 11:14 AM 3/28/98 -0800, Evelyn Greenberg wrote:
>Hi tweeters,
> We're planning a trip to Malheur in Oregon for next week (3/31-4/3), but
>I can't find out much from Oregon lists about what's going on there. I
>looked at some weather reports for the area for today and it looks mighty
>cold. Are we crazy to go this early?
> We only moved to the area last May and thought we could get early
>migrants about now but I'm beginning to thing we're too early. I'd
>appreciate any word from you Northwestern experts.

Yeah, it's early. Sage grouse at Foster Flats should be busy, and that's
worth a trip all on its own (you can get directions at the field station).
It is undoubtably going to be cold. You'll be too early for a lot of good
stuff, for instance western grebes have just begun to arrive at Bear River
NWR over in Utah (I have a photographer friend set up there to raise the
alarm when courtship gets underway in earnest so I can run out for a few
days). Waterfowl should be coming in. Don't expect much in the way of
songbirds.

But if you've never seen sage grouse on the lek, early to mid-April is
perfect and this lek can't be beat, as the road goes right along one
edge of it and you usually have displaying males on either side of
your car.


- Don Baccus, Portland OR <dhogaza at pacifier.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, and other goodies at
http://donb.photo.net