My wife and I left Ashland in southwesternish Oregon on a birding and daughter visitation trip April 26. We worked our way through Klamath Falls (the Grebes were dancing), Summer Lake (a notable wildlife refuge), and Sylvies Valley near Burns on our way to Enterprise, Oregon (home of the Zumwalt Prairie). We spent several days there doing house remodeling projects and cooking while trying to keep warm and out of the falling wet snow. We took a few days coming home, camping at Cabin Lake (no cabin, no lake) near Fort Rock (a volcanic formation in the middle of a prairie home to raptors and sagebrush dwelling birds), and at Malheur National Wildlife refuge (a special birding area). Here are a few images from these places. More comprehensive collections are posted at mrtk.smugmug.com for those interested in the wide variety of birds to be found in this part of Oregon. All pictures shot with a D850, 500mm/f4E, TC14E, either handheld or on a monopod with a Wimberley MH100. Picture 1: Clark's Grebes in Klamath Falls, Picture 2: Eared Grebe, Picture 3: Great Horned Owl, Picture 4: American Avocets, Picture 5: Ring-necked Pheasant, Picture 6: Sage Thrasher

My wife and I left Ashland in southwesternish Oregon on a birding and daughter visitation trip April 26. We worked our way through Klamath Falls (the Grebes were dancing), Summer Lake (a notable wildlife refuge), and Sylvies Valley near Burns on our way to Enterprise, Oregon (home of the Zumwalt Prairie). We spent several days there doing house remodeling projects and cooking while trying to keep warm and out of the falling wet snow. We took a few days coming home, camping at Cabin Lake (no cabin, no lake) near Fort Rock (a volcanic formation in the middle of a prairie home to raptors and sagebrush dwelling birds), and at Malheur National Wildlife refuge (a special birding area). Here are a few images from these places. More comprehensive collections are posted at mrtk.smugmug.com for those interested in the wide variety of birds to be found in this part of Oregon. All pictures shot with a D850, 500mm/f4E, TC14E, either handheld or on a monopod with a Wimberley MH100. Picture 1: Clark's Grebes in Klamath Falls, Picture 2: Eared Grebe, Picture 3: Great Horned Owl, Picture 4: American Avocets, Picture 5: Ring-necked Pheasant, Picture 6: Sage Thrasher

The photos are of the male and female woodpecker ferrying food to their young. I supply peanut suet all year and oranges while they are feeding their young. Interestingly, the woodpeckers visit the feeders frequently while feeding their young, and the rest of the year they only visit the feeders occasionally. When their fledglings leave the nest and discover the suet feeder, the male will limit their access to suet by running them off, so that the fledglings learn to fend for themselves.

Also, the woodpeckers are accustomed to seeing me near the feeders and pay little attention to me, but when I approached the nest, they were more than a bit concerned, so I did not hang around to take many pictures. The last image is a single frame extracted from a video. I thought it was interesting, although it is not something I would want to hang on a wall. I hope you enjoy the photos and thanks for viewing.