Posted by Dennis Plank on September 18, 2011 at 12:07 PM
Hi all. This might make more sense in the Pacific Northwest forum, but since it's mainly for bird photographers, I thought I'd put something here. I just got back from a few days at Malheur and it it still very active for birds. The lakes are still very high with the raised section of 205 being surrounded by water at the north end. Lots of waterfowl (Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Glossy Ibis, White Pelicans, Clark's, Western and Pied-Billed Grebes, assorted Terns and Gulls, and unidentified ducks). Warblers are coming through and I saw 2 Great Horned Owls and heard a couple of others. There weren't many Sandhill Cranes around yet.
During the time I was there, clouds were building up in the late afternoons and bringing rain to the surrounding mountains and occasional rain t the valley. I was on the raise causeway tat the narrows when a squall blew in and I had to retreat to my truck just due to wind. However, it can result in some nice dramatic lighting.
Benson Pond provided some excellent opportunities for early morning light and would probably also work for evening. For morning, walk in the road beside it and turn right at the barricades out the old dike. The trees at the South East corner are heavily used by Great Egrets and great Blue Herons, so there are some nice opportunities for flight shots as well.
Note that if you like to camp at Page Springs, it got publicity in the papers recently and it's been filling up even in the middle of the week, so arriving there by early afternoon is a good idea (I hit it a bit after 5:00 last Monday and got the last site).
I'll be posting some images over the next week or two.
Discussion
3 repliesDuring the time I was there, clouds were building up in the late afternoons and bringing rain to the surrounding mountains and occasional rain t the valley. I was on the raise causeway tat the narrows when a squall blew in and I had to retreat to my truck just due to wind. However, it can result in some nice dramatic lighting.
Benson Pond provided some excellent opportunities for early morning light and would probably also work for evening. For morning, walk in the road beside it and turn right at the barricades out the old dike. The trees at the South East corner are heavily used by Great Egrets and great Blue Herons, so there are some nice opportunities for flight shots as well.
Note that if you like to camp at Page Springs, it got publicity in the papers recently and it's been filling up even in the middle of the week, so arriving there by early afternoon is a good idea (I hit it a bit after 5:00 last Monday and got the last site).
I'll be posting some images over the next week or two.
If you get a chance to go, it's worth it.
Sandy