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Silver Falls Fall Foliage, November 17, 2025

Summer Lake, June 5, 2025

Baskett Slough NWR December 4, 2024

Finally got out of the house yesterday and went out to Baskett Slough NWR to see the many changes made there recently by the US Fish & Wildlife Service. From what I have read online the change to the channel was made to create a more winding course and increase the area covered by water and it certainly looks as thought that has been accomplished. I saw lots of ducks and geese at the Narrows including a Northern Pintail straightening his feathers and a coot resting on one foot. The pintail had an interesting bi-colored bill.

On Smithfield Road there was a Bald Eagle in a tall fir tree behind a house looking all about. I waited and waited and finally looked up from my camera to relax a moment and of course that’s when the eagle took flight. I tried but only got a few fight shots and they were all in the lower right corner and were not sharp or lit very well but that’s how it goes. Just before the barn at the corner of Smithfield and Livermore were several Western Meadowlarks but by the time I backed up they were hidden in the grass. Things were quiet at the Morgan Lake parking area. It doesn’t look like the person who in past winters had been putting out bird seed has done so recently. While this practice is strictly against wildlife refuge rules and something I would not do myself it’s a situation I’ve taken advantage of in the past and which resulted in some great pictures of a number of bird species. See my new website if you want to see more of my photos: https://thrynsphotos.com/

From there it was on to Livermore Road. This road is near and dear to me from all the time I’ve spent along it and yesterday was another great day. A juvenile red-tailed hawk was perched in the top of a small tree but soon took off through the trees to settle in a field out of sight. Hope he caught his dinner. In the trees at the pond on the west side of the road and just before the turn into the bunkhouse was a Cooper’s hawk. I spent a long time watching and photographing it until it too took off. In the field next to the road was a flock of red-winged blackbirds feeding then taking flight only to settle again to resume feeding. Among this flock was a bird with white shoulders instead of red and orange. Only after looking at the photos later was I able to determine that it was a leucistic Red-winged Blackbird which is “caused by a genetic condition known as leucism, a condition that prevents melanin from being sent to some of the birds plumage” (source: https://wildlifeinnature.com/…/leucistic-red-winged…/)

Other birds see on Livermore included a small flock of Golden-crowned sparrows, three Great Blue Herons, two of which were perched in trees, one Great Egret, several Northern Harriers and American Kestrels and possibly a Rough-legged Hawk which was so far away to the north that I’m not certain of my identification. Just as the sun set I photographed the oak trees on the eastern ridgeline because I liked the diagonal lines in the field. And with the sun just down and dusk spreading a Norther Harrier tempted me to take a few more photos but my camera quit on me because the 2nd card was full. It was time to go home.

Malheur NWR and Steens Mountain – September 25 to October 1, 2024