Towheeblog

Barn Swallow nest on building at Malheur Field Station.

Burrowing Owls along Sodhouse Lane. Strange cowbirds, no?

Female California Quail bustles into sagebrush at Malheur Visitors Center.

White-faced Ibis along Diamond Loop. One of the most abundant birds at Malheur this spring.

Wilson’s Phalarope in small pool along Diamond Loop.
These bright birds are females as the males are the drab ones in this genus.

Sage Thrasher pair along Harney Lake Road. This is one of the most abundant song birds at Malheur. Perhaps the greatest songster of the sagebrush steppe with a large repertoire.

Willow Flycatcher above, Yellow Warbler below. They were near one another at Benson Pond. I never manages a shot of the singing Chat at Page Springs.

WHITE PELICANS ABOVE

When they swirl about as if movingon the wind, I think of them as a hurricane of white birds, that is “pelicane.” They are not really driven by the wind but simply ride the thermals on a wingspan that nears 9 feet (ab out double a Red-tailed hawk).