In late April, I visited my mom for a week – we’re getting in visits while we can! We spent much of our time together exploring the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and surrounding areas in Eastern Oregon (but we did find time for (early) birthday cake, too! YUM!).

At the refuge, it was spring migration season and interesting birds were coming through the flyway as they headed north, taking advantage of the lakes and marshy areas to rest and feed before heading on.

The first afternoon, we went to the visitor center and one pond area – I was so impressed with the birds – they were big enough to easily see! And interesting colors and shapes, including the bills. These were not the sparrows and finches I see at my feeder. I was clearly going to get to test out my new binoculars and camera lens.

Taken under the wing

The next day, after exploring historic sites and eating lunch, we headed up the center road towards some ponds. Right away, we came upon a woman who excitedly asked us if we’d seen the long-billed curlews… why, no, we hadn’t. So, she told us where to look and we backed up 100 yards or so and found them. Amazing long curved bills!

For the next hour or more, we followed her up road. Occasionally, I’d get out of the car to see what she was looking at or she would come back to us to point something out. At one point early on, she asked how long we’d been birding, my mom and I looked at each other – about 36 hours!  

Surprisingly, I got a couple of almost decent pics of birds in flight, so here’s a flying duck.

The Round Barn

As we began our way home, we stopped at the Round Barn. This barn is the last remaining example of this style of barn that was used to break and train “wild” horses. The horses are actually feral, not wild, as they were released by people, sometimes accidentally, sometimes intentionally. Back to the barn – the center part of was used for working with the horses, and the outer ring for exercising them. Now a great horned owl lives in the center of the barn.

Since the weather was providing a “wintery mix” and we had some time before the nearby museum opened, I used the outer ring for some exercise myself – I counted my steps around and figured 20 rounds was close to a mile. Round and round I went!

It was good to see my mom and a fun trip, but alas, time to get home for more paperwork!

Cover Photo

The cover photo is two sandhill cranes. They were huge! Looked almost like deer out munching on the grass. Beautiful creatures!