Does history repeat itself? Ten years ago CDA Audubon members saw over 100 species on their visit to Malheur Wildlife Refuge the first week of May. This year’s trip will give us a chance to find out! Malheur is one of the best birding spots in the northwest and we will have two full days to look for birds and other wildlife.
Target Birds: waterfowl; migratory birds; shorebirds; wildlife
Access Considerations: 8 hour drive time. When birding, in and out of car frequently. Short walks 1-2 miles at a time.
RSVP at rsvp@cdaaudubon.org — you will receive emailed updates as the trip develops.
LODGING: We will stay at the historic Frenchglen Hotel and Drover’s Inn. There are limited rooms available; we recommended that you reserve a room asap for the nights of May 6, 7 and 8, noting the cancellation policy. The nearest hotel to this location is ~45 minutes away. There may be rustic lodging at the Malheur Field Station worth investigating if we fill the rooms at Frenchglen.
We will be heading back home on World Migratory Day 2026, a great way to honor this annual event, having learned and observed birds in the prime habitat of Malheur NWR.
Read member George Sayler’s field report from the 2016 visit to learn more about this special birding destination:
In late April, seventeen CDA Auduboners and their guests made the long drive to Malheur Wildlife Refuge in south-east Oregon. Some of us camped at campgrounds in the area, others stayed at the historic French Glen Hotel where we enjoyed a wonderful communal dinner featuring stuffed Cornish game hens. And no, we did not include them as one of our species seen! Malheur consists of over 185,000 acres of prime habitat, two-thirds of which is wetlands. Consequently it is a prime stopover for migrating waterfowl and shorebirds, as well as many passerines. It is also the breeding area for many species. With a record of over 320 bird species seen there, it is no surprise the trip was a big success. The final tally of species seen was 105. Many were shorebirds, many were various kinds of waterfowl, but many passerines, hawks and owls were also seen. Large numbers of shorebirds and ducks were seen in the flooded field outside of Burns, Oregon, which is a few miles from where Malheur begins. The fields were full of Long- billed Curlews, Black-necked Stilt, Avocet, Willet, Wilson’s Phalarope and eighteen species of swans, geese and ducks and egrets. There were many highlights of other species and examples of bird behavior – too many to list. However, species seen Burrowing Owl, Golden Eagle, Ferruginous Hawk, Sora, American White Pelican, Caspian Tern, Marsh Wren, Ruby- crowned Kinglet, Townsend’s and Wilson Warblers, Savannah Sparrow, Red-naped Sapsucker, Loggerhead Shrike, Cliff Swallow, Bushtit, Lazuli Bunting, and Evening Grosbeak. You can see from the many kinds of species seen that there is suitable habitat for a wide variety of species, which makes Malheur a special and highly recommended place to bird.