Bird Migration – Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Area
In April of 2009, I met up with several friends for a week of bird photography during the migration that goes through eastern Oregon and centers around the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. We stayed in Hines which has a Best Western and used that as a home base to fan out every morning looking for Snow Geese, Northern Pintail ducks, White-fronted Geese and raptors.
Initially we were disappointed that the accessible portions of Malheur Lake were completely dry. We didn’t research enough to know that the lake level is controlled by man and uses a series of waterways and dikes to flood the fields of the neighboring area. Even Google Maps satellite image shows a big, blue lake where there was nothing by dry ground and grass. It took me a few days of driving past the same spot in The Narrows to realize that in another season we would have been driving over water.
This image was made just at that spot. This tree is an icon of The Narrows, and is the threshold of the refuge. We were far enough away that stopping the car didn’t disturb this pair of Canada geese. Perhaps my personal favorite image from the trip.