Written by Sally Works, Volunteer and 2024 CBC Participant
Photos by Sally and John Works, Volunteers and 2024 CBC Participants
It all began in April of 2019 with our very first volunteer gig at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. That month was a true life-changer, and we have returned every spring since. Our most recent Refuge adventure would have been unfathomable back then. In December we had the opportunity to be part of the Refuge Christmas Bird Count (CBC). We were stationed for three nights at the historic P Ranch with Rick Vetter and Joan Suther, two of Harney County’s finest birders, and Henry Burton who developed his excellent birding skills and his love of the Refuge by coming with his family ever since he was a small child. John and I spent three days from early morning to late at night celebrating the three magnets that keep drawing us back to the Refuge: the birds, those ancient unchanging vistas, and the friends who have become our new community.
Ever since I first read Noah Strycker’s account of winter birding with his dad down the CPR, I have really wanted to see the Refuge in the winter. Coming for the CBC was the perfect opportunity. Since the southern end of the Refuge is one of my favorite places in all of Oregon, being able to start and end my days at P Ranch was such a treat. We watched six bald eagles settle in for the night in the tall cottonwoods, and in the morning I walked to the Long Barn, coffee in hand, to check for owls.
We arrived in Burns to snow the Sunday before the CBC. Wright’s Point with its sentinel outcroppings softened by snow was particularly lovely. By the time we got to Frenchglen, the weather was mild and there was no snow.
On the day of the CBC, fifteen people showed up for their assignments. Joan, Roy, and I were given the area around Frenchglen and the southern half of the CPR. It was sunny and 56 degrees. As you can imagine, wandering around my favorite part of the Refuge with Joan on a blue-sky winter day WAY exceeded my hopes and expectations for our trip!
Before coming to Malheur in 2019, we knew nothing about birds. We’d never had a hobby together in our almost 50 years of marriage. By the second week of volunteering, we’d fallen for birds. Our passion for these creatures only grows as we spend time learning and exploring riverbanks and forests, wetlands and beaches, and especially the magical high desert country of the Refuge. It has generated many hours of conversation and contemplation. To be sure, it has been a steep learning curve but good, no doubt, for our brains at this stage of our lives!
Finding other people who share this passion has been the best part of our Malheur experience. Rick and Joan have been birding in Harney County for 35 years and we have learned so much from them. After all those years, birds in their backyard thrill them as much as my five years of birding thrills me. Recently I got a text from Joan saying “Sally!! We have a juvenile goshawk eating a quail in our backyard! Rick is sneaking around trying to get a photo without annoying the bird.” As you can imagine, it was a delightful scene for me to picture as I sat in my metro home on a drab day and confirmed to me once again that birding is one way that we adults play. (Joan also knows how much I want to find a goshawk).
In a few short months we will once again pack up our motorhome with all of our warm clothes, hiking boots, binoculars, cameras, and the frozen soup I’ve stashed all winter. We can hardly wait to see our volunteer buddies and immerse ourselves in life at “Nature Camp” (Michele’s affectionate nickname for volunteer quarters). There will be tales of the wildlife sightings of the day and lots of laughter around the dinner table each night. How often in our adult lives do we get to be kids again, open and eager to make the most of each day! It is a unique privilege, and we value every minute of our time in this high desert place.
