- Apr 30 4:17 pm
#63516
This is a high altitude area of Oregon where many good birds can be found.
I was there two years ago and one memorable location was an artificial u-shaped pullout from Highway 205 which went into Lake Malheur. I drove out and parked beside the road and was able to take reasonable photos of Clarke's Grebes swimming nearby.
This year I came upon this location and was amazed. No water. Two vans were parked beside the highway and they were filled with Birders. Someone from Idaho was leading a tour. I asked him what happened to the lake and he said "drought". Not only was water absent from the area of the u-shaped pullout, but I could see no water all the way to the horizon. The lake was gone from this area.
I also noticed that many roadside ponds that I had seen previously (filled with Avocets, Phalaropes et al) were also gone. I was there earlier this year than two years ago, though.
However, many Sandhill Cranes were about. In one field I saw about 500 of them. At the Malheur NWR I did see some White Pelicans and Avocets and a friendly Townsend's Solitaire.
So potential travelers be warned. A drought has impacted this area birdwise.
I was there two years ago and one memorable location was an artificial u-shaped pullout from Highway 205 which went into Lake Malheur. I drove out and parked beside the road and was able to take reasonable photos of Clarke's Grebes swimming nearby.
This year I came upon this location and was amazed. No water. Two vans were parked beside the highway and they were filled with Birders. Someone from Idaho was leading a tour. I asked him what happened to the lake and he said "drought". Not only was water absent from the area of the u-shaped pullout, but I could see no water all the way to the horizon. The lake was gone from this area.
I also noticed that many roadside ponds that I had seen previously (filled with Avocets, Phalaropes et al) were also gone. I was there earlier this year than two years ago, though.
However, many Sandhill Cranes were about. In one field I saw about 500 of them. At the Malheur NWR I did see some White Pelicans and Avocets and a friendly Townsend's Solitaire.
So potential travelers be warned. A drought has impacted this area birdwise.
- By GMcD