Friday 25 March
A word about timing. The refuge is open sunrise to sunset. This
is somewhat fuzzy and varies with location and weather. Last night, the
sunset over Iron Mountain and Harney Lake was at 7:00 pm. Spectacular color
in thin horizontal cloud layers started well before and lasted well after
7. With a clear sky and a nearly full moon it never got so dark that you
could not go walk-about. Tonight I will watch two sunsets. The brilliant
orb disappeared over the rim south-east of the Krumbo Boat ramp at 4:55 pm.
It disappeared again over the Iron Mountain horizon at about the same time
as last night. Without clouds the darkness arrived far more quickly.
Today I will explore the Central Patrol Road. I have never had
time to drive the north section from Headquarters to the Buena Vista
junction. Please note that this route does not currently start at
Headquarters. There is a big road sign to the west of the Headquarters that
asks people to take the older direct route past the Field Station, thereby
avoiding the bypass road that starts at the Headquarters. Duncan Evered has
posted a picture and additional information on the Malheur Field Station
Facebook page. This is not my favorite gravel road. It is one lane with
pullouts. The material is a dark 1-1/2 inch minus that is notorious for
causing flats. The first and last several miles are badly washboarded.
Driving about 30mph smooths out the shudder. The road is well packed which
means the sharp edges of the oversized crushed rock have been tamped down
flat. I suspect that grading would re-expose the sharp edges that are such
a tire hazard. The older layers and side roads show that several materials
have been used. My favorite is the red cinders which I presume were
quarried northeast of the 205 and Rockford Lane junction.
The good news about this road is that the center section is
smooth and you can drive at a birding pace. At first glance this section is
playa flats with sage steppe vegetation. However there is some topography,
with the sage growing on the high areas. From an overlook and in early
morning light it appears that the sage is growing atop wind-sculpted dunes
that overlie the playa. As I approach some small cinder cones there is an
increasing amount of water in the low spots and the sage gives way to a
wetland with willows. Two Short-eared Owls flushed from the roadside near
Auto Tour Route stop #5. They put on quite a show, circling and looking
indignant that I am using their road. There is a Great Horned Owl calling
to the west in the distant willows. There are Dabblers present, including
Cinnamon Teal. It looks good for Rails but they are not calling yet. I am
watching for the white geese that I observed circling down in this area
yesterday in late afternoon. They are not apparent and I presume they do
not have a night roost/loafing area on the refuge.
South of the cinder cones I find the Rockford Lane junction. To
the west it is closed and you cannot cut through to 205. On the east there
is an open gate to BLM land that is signed as a hunting area. To the south
is a diversion dam that is splitting the Donner und Blitzen so that
approximately a third of its flow goes through a fish screen into Busse
Canal, which leads toward the butte south of headquarters and perhaps
around its east side toward what I call Vanguard Bay. The river flow is
also split between spillover and a shiny new fish ladder. It appears that
this flow meanders into the area which the Owls were using. Although I did
not observe it, the eBird topo map feature shows that slightly upstream
(south) there is also a ditch diversion that could be used to distribute
water to the west side of the Refuge and then southward to the 205–Jack
Mountain Spur area or northward to the Field Station area. A couple of
miles to the south there are leveled hay fields on the east side of the
Patrol Road that are starting to flood and appear to be receiving water
from the Steens via Kiger Gorge and the wet meadows around Diamond.
After the turn toward Buena Vista, a Rough-leg flushed from the
roadside. Two government trucks with equipment boxes are entering the
Refuge and getting their workday started. At Buena Vista Overlook I linger
over coffee and ask myself the important questions of the morning. How
could only two Sandhills make that much noise? Will these two Say’s Phoebes
ever work out a peace treaty? How deep is the snowpack up by Kiger Gorge?
Is that really a Long-billed Curlew? How did the Refuge become so degraded
that the white Geese prefer Burns/Hines and the Poo Ponds?
I decide not to grind down the rest of the Patrol Road with the
sun in my eyes, and instead take the 205 pavement south to Frenchglen. The
hotel is cleaning up after serving breakfast and I feel welcome. There are
Crows, Blackbirds, and Ravens at the feeders, and a Flicker is hammering
across the street. The grocery/gas station is closed although you can call
for gas service ($40 minimum). I hope they will install the self-serve
pumps that are now legal in Oregon’s rural areas. This is not the first
time that gas has not actually been available in Frenchglen.
A backhoe has worked its way along the ditch toward P Ranch and
the spoil mound appears to be open as a walking trail. Steens Mountain
Resort is open. You can camp, buy a shower or rent a cabin, but better call
ahead for a cabin reservation.
Page Springs Campground is also open. It appears that about 10
sites are being used. There are Cinnamon Teal in the ditches, and they
don’t mind vehicles that are moving but will flush if you stop to gawk.
Most pedestrians are geared up for fishing. Some are practicing open carry,
but don’t mind being joshed about terrorizing trout and bullying redband. I
did not feel threatened and they waved while walking away. A torrent is
flowing over the diversion dam. I watched for the resident Water Ouzel but
dipped. The west ditch toward P Ranch is dry. The east ditch toward Benson
Pond is running full enough to attract a trio of River Otters. A pair of
Bushtits is declaring territory noisily. The Tree Swallows are exceeding my
speed of focusing. They were all Tree. There is one bush I am unable to
identify that has fresh green leaves that are shaped like cartoon duck
tracks. I found one willow with buds starting to swell. It is not birdy and
is too early for passerines.
Returning to P Ranch and the Patrol Road I spot a Bald Eagle
who had harvested a big branch near the bridge and flew east to the
farthest grove of cottonwoods. I could not spot a nest mass. It is quite
dry and there is no sign of the wet meadows that are so beloved by the
Bobolinks. This winter’s cattle are gone and have left behind be-chewed and
trompled reed beds. Reminds me of an account by William Finley or his
photography partner Herman Bohlman that described leaving the big bulky box
cameras in the canoes overnight and sleeping on drifting islands of reeds
that gradually sank overnight. This was how they got the dead Egret and
other pictures they used while campaigning for the Refuge to be created.
Peter French discovered what great winter feed these reed beds make over a
century ago. I have enjoyed Nancy Langstrom's deftly written history of the
Refuge, “Where Land and Water Meet.” The last of the reed beds in Malheur
Lake were destroyed during the mid ’80s flooding. Her accounts of the
historical transfers of federal lands (wagon roads, swamp lands,
reclamation) demonstrate that the corporations and swindlers were the
primary beneficiaries, not the Family Rancher/Farmer. Clearly the current
transfer movement is barking up a tree that was harvested over a hundred
years ago. Benson Pond and about four units to the north have been filled
with water from the Page Springs dam and are hosting this spring’s crowd of
Dabblers and growing next winter’s cattle feed. One surprise was a Barrow’s
Goldeneye in Benson Pond. One of the first Refuge employees, Benson’s hobby
was collecting and preserving the collection of birds on display at the
visitor center. I hope they will be there (and intact) when the center is
reopened.
Instead of walking back to the Benson Pond grove, I drive past
Hammond Ranch Road to Krumbo Reservoir. Lots of divers but no Grebes, one
Double-crested Cormorant and a Golden Eagle doing a roller coaster display.
The vandalized rock is still beside the road and showed no contemporary
graffiti. The sun has already set and it’s time to head for a campsite.
Saturday 26 March
My fuel check light came on as I approach the Narrows. Soon it
is a relief to pull up to the pumps 30 miles later in Crane. (Turns out
that Hines is closer, 26 miles.) The bustling waitress gives me a
country-friendly welcome and I enjoy a decent cup of coffee until she can
pump my gas. They have a normal snowpack this year and hope the 4-year
drought is over. The patrons eating at the booths are shooters who have
traveled a considerable distance to practice on sage rats. I keep quiet.
They don’t want hear my opinion that Belding Ground Squirrels have a right
to live or that switching to non-toxic bullets could save the lives of our
national symbol and countless other raptors and scavengers.
At Hines I find a huge flock White Geese south and east of
Hotchkiss Road. The closer birds are mostly Ross’s, with the Snow Geese
behind them. There is another car full of birders watching, and their
smiles are as big as mine. This is why we love Harney Basin!
Fini
--
*Happy birdingClay*
*There's more Birders than Golfers*
