Birders at Fields Oasis, Fields, OR Copyright © 1997, Don Baccus (dhogaza@pacifier.com)
Copyright © 1995, Don Baccus
All images copyright © 1995, Don Baccus
The town of Fields consists of a store, cafe, gas station, and four-unit motel. The town is famous for two things: old-style milkshakes and the small spring that lies across State Highway 205.
The cafe also serves hamburgers and other lunchtime fare, makes decent breakfasts and has a limited dinner menu. The folks are very friendly and the milkshakes very good. The motel is cheap (about $20 for one), and a bit funky but more relaxed and cheaper than the nearest alternative, Denio Junction at the Oregon/Nevada border about 25 miles south. The town provides a convenient base for exploring the Alvord Desert, and the Trout Creek and Pueblo mountains.
The spring is surrounded by a stand of very large (Black?) Willow, and can provide excellent birding during the spring migration.
During the spring migration in most years, at least one or two eastern warblers rarely seen in Oregon will drop into the Oasis for a day or two. I've seen a dozen male lazuli bunting with about a half dozen male western tanager in one binocular view in the trees here. All of the common migrants which prefer to roost or forage in trees pass through during migration. Bullock's oriole and western kingbird nest here.
This oasis also has a pair of great-horned owls which are very tolerant of people.
Where else can you enjoy a great milkshake and simultaneously photograph great-horned owls from six feet away?
