We spent most of the day today at, or heading to, Malheur NWR, a really huge refuge that hosts millions of waterfowl on its lakes and grasslands. Now, let me ask, how many of you have ever been to a wildlife refuge? Let's see a show of hands. OK, I see that most of you have been to such a place. The first type of ecosystem you see there is water, right? Well, this NWR is about 95% bone dry right now. Everyone we talked to around here has asked us why we came in the fall, that the spring is the time to see the zillions of waterbirds. I was astonished! Not 250 miles from here is Tulelake NWR which Ivan and I used to visit every fall for many years and it has, literally, millions of Snow geese, White-fronted geese, hundreds of Tundra swans and thousands of various ducks in the fall. Ivan and I have been trying to figure out why this one is dry in the fall, wet in spring and Tulelake is just the opposite. If anyone out there knows, please let me know! Anyway, we did see many wonderful birds here, but most were too far away for photographing. Let me tell you though, we did see Sandhill cranes! Over 100 of the beauties! In fact, we were the ones who told the refuge folks where the cranes were hanging out! That sighting, for me, made the trip to the refuge a big plus.
As you might imagine, there are also mammals in this refuge. I have photos of 2 of the mammals. Check the next 2 posts.
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