Malheur part 1

The most epic trip of all time!  Not an easy trip by any means, the transmission of my husband's car went out on the way there.  Things went wrong, but the birding was amazing.  We had lifers running out in front of us!


The breakdown:  4 days, 29 lifers, 78 species
Who: My cousin and I (so sad my bro and hub couldn't make it, but all the more reason to revisit!)


7.02.12 - Day 1

• Red-Tailed Hawks
• Common Ravens 
• Western Meadowlark
• American Kestrels
• Belted Kingfisher
• American Robin
• Red-Winged Blackbirds
• Cliff Swallows
• Northern Flicker
• Bullock's Orioles*
• Great Blue Heron
• Eurasian-Collared Dove
• Lesser Scaup
• House Sparrow
• Brown-Headed Cowbird
• American Crow
• Western Scrub-Jay
• Turkey Vultures
• Osprey
• Mountain Bluebirds
• Savannah Sparrows
• Yellow-Headed Blackbirds 
• White-Faced Ibis* - one almost flew into the car
• Sandhill Crane
• Franklin's Gulls*
• American Coot
• American White Pelicans
• Black-Necked Stilts* - My favorite bird of the trip!
• American Avocet*
• Canada Geese
• Common Nighthawks*
• Loggerhead Shrikes*
• California Quails
• Black-Billed Magpies*
• Say's Pheobe* 

And this was all before we got checked into the cabin!  We were so tired and getting so overwhelmed with all the new birds on the way in, we had to start ignoring them so we could make it to our destination.  That was difficult to do! 

Female Bullock's Oriole

hill that looks like an owl face

Jack Rabbits everywhere there! So cool!

Sunrise in Malheur

White-Faced Ibis - a weirdo looking nerd bird, soooo neat!

A Forster's Tern making it's way across the sky.