Hi tweeters,

This is a quick report on our trip to Malheur via the Potholes, Blue
Mountains, and backroads of eastern Oregon.

Highlights:
a female BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER, gently calling and tapping on a blackened
log, right off the Kamela exit of I-84 in the Blue Mountains. There was a
bit of burned-out timber along this very rugged FS road, and at this spot
also spotted a couple of cute Western Gray Squirrels, Red Squirrels,
Yellow-rumped Warblers (Audobons), a Brown Creeper, Ruby-crowned Kinglet,
Downy Woodpecker and some Mountain Chickadees.

A female WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKER in a stand of pines along the highway, east
of Lakeview, OR

Singing LAZULI BUNTINGs both at Malheur Headquarters and Columbia NWR. Also
a pair of LEWIS WOODPECKERS at Malheur HQ, and at Columbia, two close GREAT
EGRETS and 4 warbler species.

Warbler convention along the service road to the Detroit Dam along Hwy 22 in
central Oregon: lots of singing BLACK-THROATED GRAY, a feeding flock with
NASHVILLE, MACGILLIVRAY'S, YELLOW-RUMPED, ORANGE-CROWNED in some low bushes,
and a single male TOWNSEND's in a fir nearby.

Nice singing GRASSHOPPER SPARROW at Malheur, and lots of LARK and SAGE
SPARROWS, ROCK WRENs, SAGE THRASHERs and HORNED LARKs at Hart Mountain
Antelope Refuge, .

Two GREAT HORNED OWLs sitting conveniently in a big oak tree right by the
road, right in the town of Silver Lake, Oregon.

Great looks at FERRUGINOUS HAWKS, SWAINSON'S HAWKS, GOLDEN EAGLES, and a
PRAIRIE FALCON in southeastern Oregon. Of course, lots of WHITE-FACED IBIS,
LONG-BILLED CURLEWS, AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS at Burns and/or Malheur (most
of the ibis very close to town), along with lots of waterfowl, etc.

Lowlights:
No orioles, and only 1 hummingbird (a single male Rufous at the Detroit Dam)

An afternoon spent searching the Blue Mountains on bumpy FS roads, producing
only a single Clark's Nutcracker, a tree full of Mountain Bluebirds, juncos,
robins, robins, juncos and juncos, oh - and a Mountain Quail that turned out
to be a stump :-)

An idea of how bumpy the roads were: the scope-tripod attachment came apart,
and then my sunglasses fell apart! True story :-(

It was a great trip - the weather was nice, and the drive was very relaxing.
I hope to have a few photos posted by Tuesday.

Regards,
Christine Vadai
Mill Creek, WA
christinevadai at sprynet.com
http://www.christinevadai.com

The list:

Common Loon (Potholes Reservoir WA)
Pied-billed Grebe (Othello WA ,Burns OR)
Clark's Grebe (Potholes Reservoir WA)
Western Grebe (Potholes Reservoir WA)
American White Pelican (Malheur NWR OR)
Double-crested Cormorant (Columbia NWR WA ,Malheur NWR OR)
Great Egret (Columbia NWR WA - 2, Burns OR)
Great Blue Heron (Columbia NWR WA ,Malheur NWR OR)
White-faced Ibis (Burns OR, Malheur NWR OR)
Canada Goose
Gadwall (Malheur NWR OR)
Green-winged Teal (Othello WA ,Burns OR)
Mallard
Northern Pintail (Othello WA ,Malheur NWR OR)
Northern Shoveler (Othello WA ,Malheur NWR OR)
Cinnamon Teal (Othello WA ,Malheur NWR OR)
Redhead (Othello WA ,Malheur NWR OR)
Ring-necked Duck (Malheur NWR OR - 3)
Lesser Scaup (Othello WA ,Malheur NWR OR)
Bufflehead (Othello WA ,Malheur NWR OR - 1 female)
Common Merganser (Burns OR - 1 female)
Ruddy Duck (Othello WA ,Malheur NWR OR - 1 female)
Turkey Vulture (pretty much everywhere except the Blue Mts)
Osprey (Cle Elum WA - 1, Detroit OR - 1)
Northern Harrier (Othello WA ,Malheur NWR OR)
Golden Eagle (SE Oregon - lots)
Bald Eagle (Ridgefield NWR WA - 2 adults & 1 juv. flying overhead)
Red-tailed Hawk
Swainson's Hawk (Summer Lake OR - 1 dark phase)
Ferruginous Hawk (Adel OR - 1)
American Kestrel (eastern WA, eastern OR, Ridgefield WA)
Merlin (Pendleton OR - 1)
Prairie Falcon (Hart Mountain NAR OR - 1)
Ring-necked Pheasant (Crab Creek WA - 1 male, Columbia NWR - 2, Malheur NWR
OR - 1 male)
California Quail (Potholes Reservoir WA ,Lakeview OR)
American Coot (Othello WA ,Burns OR, Malheur NWR OR)
Killdeer (Crab Creek WA ,Umatilla OR ,Burns OR, , Malheur NWR OR)
American Avocet (Othello WA ,Malheur NWR OR)
Black-necked Stilt (Othello WA ,Malheur NWR OR)
Willet (Burns OR - lots)
Long-billed Curlew (Fox OR - 2, Malheur NWR OR)
calidris sp. (Least Sandpiper?) (Othello WA)
Upland Sandpiper (Seneca OR - 1)
Long-billed Dowitcher (Othello WA ,Burns OR)
Common Snipe (Burns OR)
Wilson's Phalarope (Othello WA)
Ring-billed Gull (Hanford WA ,Burns OR)
California Gull (Othello WA, Summer Lake OR)
Caspian Tern (Columbia NWR WA - 2)
Black Tern (Malheur NWR OR - 1)
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl (Silver Lake OR - 2)
Northern Pygmy-owl (Ukiah OR - 1 on wire)
Rufous Hummingbird (Detroit Dam OR - 1 male)
Belted Kingfisher (Columbia NWR WA - 1)
White-headed Woodpecker (Lakeview OR - 1 female)
Lewis' Woodpecker (Malheur National Forest OR ,Malheur NWR HQ OR - 2)
Northern "Red-shafted" Flicker (Columbia NWR WA ,Blue Mountains OR)
Downy Woodpecker (Blue Mountains OR - 1 heard calling, Detroit Dam OR - 1
female)
Black-backed Woodpecker (Blue Mountains OR - 1 female)
silent empid (Willow Flycatcher?). (Columbia NWR WA - 1)
Gray Flycatcher (Malheur NWR HQ OR - 2)
Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Ellen Pt. Park Portland OR, Ridgefield NWR WA)
Say's Phoebe (Crab Creek WA - 2)
Ash-throated Flycatcher (Umatilla OR - 1)
Western Kingbird (Columbia NWR WA ,Malheur NWR OR)
Eastern Kingbird (Potholes Reservoir WA)
Loggerhead Shrike (Crab Creek WA - 1,Malheur NWR OR - 2, Hart Mountain
NAR - 1)
Warbling Vireo (Marion Forks OR - 1)
Stellar's Jay (Blue Mountains OR ,La Grande OR)
Gray Jay (Blue Mountains OR)
Clark's Nutcracker (Blue Mountains OR - 1,Seneca OR - 1)
Western Scrub-Jay (Salem OR, Ridgefield NWR WA)
Black-billed Magpie (Ellensburg WA ,Blue Mountains OR ,La Grande OR)
American Crow (Snoqualmie Pass WA ,La Grande OR ,Burns OR)
Common Raven (Cascades, Blue Mountains - lots)
Horned Lark (Othello WA , SE Oregon - lots)
Tree Swallow (Fox OR, Ridgefield NWR WA)
Violet-green Swallow
Purple Martin (Ridgefield NWR WA - 1)

Cliff Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Columbia NWR WA ,Ukiah OR, Malheur NWR OR)
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee (Ellen Pt. Park Portland OR)
Mountain Chickadee (Blue Mountains OR)
Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Marion Forks OR)
Bushtit (Ridgefield NWR WA)
Brown Creeper (Blue Mountains OR - 1)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Marion Forks OR)
Winter Wren (Detroit Dam OR, Ridgefield NWR WA - pair feeding young)
Bewick's Wren (Columbia NWR WA - 1, Ellen Pt. Park Portland OR - 2)
Rock Wren (Hart Mountain NAR OR - 2)
Marsh Wren (Crab Creek WA ,Malheur NWR OR)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (Blue Mountains OR)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Blue Mountains OR - 1 female)
Western Bluebird (Lakeview OR - 1 male)
Mountain Bluebird (Blue Mountains OR - lots,Lakeview OR - 2)
Townsend's Solitaire (Blue Mountains OR ,Malheur National Forest OR)
Swainson's Thrush (Ridgefield NWR WA - 1)

Hermit Thrush (Marion Forks OR - 1)
Varied Thrush (Marion Forks OR - 1 heard calling)
American Robin
Sage Thrasher (Hart Mountain NAR OR)
Eurasian Starling
Cedar Waxwing (Crab Creek WA ,Blue Mountains OR ,Malheur National Forest
OR)

Orange-crowned Warbler (Columbia NWR WA, Detroit Dam OR - 3)

Nashville Warbler (Detroit Dam OR - 3)
Yellow-rumped "Audobon's" Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler (Detroit Dam OR)
Townsend's Warbler (Columbia NWR WA - 1 male, Detroit Dam OR - 1 male)
Yellow Warbler (Blue Mountains OR - 1 male)
MacGillivray's Warbler (Columbia NWR WA - 1 female, Detroit Dam OR - 1
male)
(Wilson's Warbler (missing until one male located in our backyard this
evening - Mill Creek WA))
Western Tanager (Ellen Pt. Park Portland OR - 1 male)
Spotted Towhee (Ridgefield NWR WA)
Chipping Sparrow (Blue Mountains foothills OR - 1)
Lark Sparrow (Hart Mountain NAR OR)
Sage Sparrow (Hart Mountain NAR OR)
Grasshopper Sparrow (Malheur NWR OR - 1 seen/singing)
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow (Crab Creek WA)
White-crowned Sparrow (Columbia NWR WA ,Ukiah OR, Detroit Dam OR)
Golden-crowned Sparrow (Columbia NWR WA - 2 in a flock of white-crowns,
Detroit Dam OR)
Dark-eyed Junco (Blue Mountains OR, Marion Forks OR)
Lazuli Bunting (Columbia NWR WA - 2 ,Malheur NWR HQ OR - 2)
Western Meadowlark (eastern WA, eastern OR)
Yellow-headed Blackbird (Columbia NWR WA ,Burns OR, Malheur NWR OR)
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Cassin's Finch (Blue Mountains OR)
House Finch (Ellensburg WA ,Fox OR)
American Goldfinch (eastern WA, eastern OR, Ridgefield NWR WA - lots)
House Sparrow (Ellensburg WA ,Malheur NWR OR)