LCBAS Far Away Field Trips will be traveling to Malheur Wildlife Refuge
60 miles from Burns, Oregon on Friday, May 11, 2012. You will need to provide
your own transportation. Car pooling may be possible. Please be sure and
fill your gas tank in Burns or Hines before heading for the refuge.
We will be staying in the newly refurbished "E" Dorm at Malheur Field Station. The dorm has rooms with 2 beds or more with 2 shared bathrooms. There is one side for the boys and one side for the girls with a large cooking and lounge facility in the middle. Since we will probably be arriving at different times, Friday evening dinner will be chili dogs, applesauce and cookies.
The real stars of the show at Malheur are the water fowl and shore birds.
We will see Cinnamon Teal, Northern
Shoveler, Ruddy Duck, Sandhill
Crane,
White-faced Ibis, Wilson's Phalarope, Trumpeter
Swan and many more. Sora,
American Bittern and Virginia Rail are often see alongside the road. We
will watch for Turkey Vulture, Short-eared
Owl, Northern Harrier, and Golden
Eagle.
 
Saturday, May 12, 2012
We will have breakfast and make our picnic lunches.
We will travel out into the refuge. Car caravans are not the most desirable
way to see the birdlife, so we will break up into groups for the morning
and meet for lunch at Page Springs around noon, Together we will bird
the grounds at Page Springs for roosting Common Night Hawk, House
Wren, Yellow-breasted
Chat, Cedar Waxwing, Say's
Phoebe and Willow Flycatcher. We can also
hike up Juniper Canyon for other birds such as Western
Tanager, Chipping
Sparrow, and Bush Tit. The rest of the afternoon
will be birding the spots not visited in the morning.
Saturday evening we will be dinner and a movie. We will have a Spaghetti
dinner with all the trimmings. If you have a favorite DVD movie, bring
it along. We will have "The Big Year" to
select from also.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
After breakfast and preparing our picnic lunches,
as a group, we will travel to the Malheur Headquarters and bird the grounds.
This is where we could find unusual species such as Rose-breasted
Grosbeak, Blackburian
Warblers, Cat Bird and Black
and White Warbler.
Sunday afternoon we will make our way back to the Tri Cities. Either
coming or going from Malheur, a place not to miss is Idlewise Camp Ground
north of Burns. This is the best location to see White-headed
Woodpecker,
Red Crossbill and Evening Grosbeak. The
flooded fields outside of Burns are a must also. Watch for Curlew, Willet, Yellow-headed
Blackbird, Marsh
Wren, and Red-winged Blackbird.
You will need to bring a sleeping bag or
bedding, pillow, towels and washcloths, warm clothes, sun screen, insect
repellant, hat, flashlight and water bottle. Cost of this trip is $100.00
per person and includes 2 nights lodging in dorm accommodations, breakfast
Saturday and Sunday mornings (coffee, tea, juice, cereal, and toast),
Saturday and Sunday picnic lunch makings (sandwich, fruit, chips, cookie
and bottled water), Saturday evening dinner (Spaghetti with meat sauce,
salad, vegetable, garlic bread, dessert, and a beverage), and a bird
list for the Malheur Wildlife Refuge. Donations of cookies for Friday
evening and lunches would be most appreciated.
$50.00 deposit will hold your place. Full payment is due by April 24,
2012. Please indicate if you have special food requirements. Tour cost
does not include transportation to and from Malheur and personal items
such as alcoholic beverages.
If you are interested,
call Barbara Clarke at (509) 588-3362, or email: Barbara
Clarke.
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