RE: [MDOsprey] RFI on Malheur NWR
Zucker, Paul A. (ZUCKEPA1@central.SSD.JHUAPL.edu)
Tue, 1 Jun 1999 17:36:02 -0400
It has been very many years since I visited Malheur on a memorial day
weekend, but it is still vivid in my memory as an extraordinary birding
site. There are two lakes: the lower one is highly saline and of little
interest for birds (there may be snowy plovers there however), and the upper
lake is teeming with wildlife. The upper lake is mildly saline, emptying
some of its water in rare wet years into the lower lake. Around the upper
lake are also marshlands which support many breeding ducks and (at the time
I was there) Trumpeter Swans. As an oasis in the great basin desert of
eastern Oregon, Malheur and the surrounding stream valley are excellent
places to find many of the birds of that region--a very different avifauna
from the coastal areas such as Dungeness or Olympic National Park (both of
which I love to bird as well).
Ospreyers who head out West would do well to consider a visit to Malheur,
even though it is a few hundred miles away from the coast.
Paul Zucker
Potomac, Maryland
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robert & Glennis Wasmer [SMTP:rgwasmer@gateway.net]
> Sent: Monday, May 31, 1999 8:09 PM
> To: MDOsprey@ARI.Net
> Subject: [MDOsprey] RFI on Malheur NWR
>
> The death of my brother-in-law makes necessary a trip to Walla Walla, WA
> on
> this Wed. to attend his funeral on Friday. We plan to extend our trip by
> several weeks after the funeral to visit other parts of Wash. and Oregon,
> including North Cascades National Park (drive through from east to west),
> Whidbey Island, Dungeness Spit and Port Angeles, all of which I have
> birded
> before. We plan to finish up by visiting Malheur NWR in Oregon before
> finally ending up back in Boise, ID to fly back home to Takoma Park.
>
> I have never been to Malheur before. We will spend one night in Burns,
> then the next night at the hotel in Diamond (both reservations already
> made), then return by way of Burns to Boise the next day. I would
> appreciate any information from those of you who have been to Malheur,
> especially re. sites to visit given our somewhat limited time, special
> birds to be on the look out for, etc. I will try to pick up a copy of The
> Birder's Guide to Oregon tomorrow, or at least look it over to see if it
> might be helpful.
>
> Thanks,
> Bob Wasmer
> rgwasmer@gateway.net