The Steens Mountains rise over Benson Pond and Great Basin desert landscape at Malheur NWR on 25 May 2009 by Greg Gillson.Spring is such a wonderful time for birding. The weather is improving; the sun rising earlier each day. The flowers and leaves are out. Insects buzzing. Birds are migrating through, even ones that winter far to the south and breed far to the north. Local breeders are arriving on territory and singing vigorously.
For birders, spring passes much too quickly. "Next spring I am going to do more birding," you promise yourself.
After not even going to Malheur NWR in extreme SE Oregon last year--an annual birding pilgrimage for most serious birders in the Pacific Northwest--this year worked out quite well for me. I was able to visit Malheur during the traditional Memorial Day holiday and spend 5 days, rather than 3. My wife, Marlene, joined me and we had a relaxed week of birding.
A pair of courting White-faced Ibis at Hines, Harney Co., Oregon on 24 May 2009 by Greg Gillson.Over the next few weeks I will go through my hundreds of photos from Malheur. I will cull the bad ones and work on the good ones (taken in RAW format for best processing--though not immediately available). As I digitally "develop" more of the photos over the next few weeks, I'll be adding them to my pBase photo archive: Harney County, Oregon, 23-27 May 2009.
In the mean time, you might like to read about other people's visits to Malheur this spring.
Lee Rentz blogged about his April visit in his blog titled: The Old West Lingers on in the Oregon Outback. He continued with Malheur in April, then Dawn on the Sagebrush Plain, and finally Visions of Hell Quenched.
Dave Irons wrote two posts in the BirdFellow blog: Memorial Day Weekend: "Going to Malheur?" and also Memorial Day Weekend Essay.
Mike Patterson blogged in North Coast Diaries a post Malheur in the Morning, then, logically, Malheur in the Afternoon, and followed it up with some non-bird wildlife in Fierce Creatures.
Please enjoy reading these other writings and photos until I am able to post more photos of my own.