Headquarters, Malheur NWR Copyright © 1996, Don Baccus (dhogaza@pacifier.com)
Copyright © 1995, Don Baccus
All images copyright © 1995, Don Baccus
The Malheur Refuge Headquarters lies about six miles east of highway 205 just off of the Narrows-Princeton Road, on the southern edge of Malheur Lake. The grounds surrounding the headquarters buildings have been planted with numerous trees which attract large numbers of passerines. There have been numerous incidences of vagrant birds being seen here during the spring or fall migration seasons that have never been observed anywhere else in Oregon, and in some cases no where else in the entire Great Basin.
There is also a small, but excellent, museum containing mounted specimens of nearly all of the bird species regularly seen here, along with mammal skins and egg and nest samples. This museum is open to the public twenty-four hours a day.
The small visitor's center keeps a list of rare sightings and has maps and checklists, so it is well worth your time to stop in.
The trees surrounding the headquarters fill with vast numbers of passerines in such a variety that it is pointless to try listing them here. This is birding paradise. I've spent entire days here watching migrants come in, forage for a while, then leave.
Unfortunately, it is not a particularly good place to photograph birds, as the trees are large and the birds generally quite high in the canopy. Headquarters also fills with birders, and while I enjoy company while birding, I prefer solitude while photographing. The situation for me, personally, is made somewhat difficult due to the many years I've spent leading trips and teaching Elderhostels in the area - I'm well known so folks want to stop by and gab with me. As it happens, I love to talk nearly as much as I love to photograph, and find birding more compatible with chattering than photography!
Besides, you never know when that next rare vagrant warbler will drop into your favorite cottonwood!