Ranch Along Narrows-Princeton Road
Copyright © 1996, Don Baccus (dhogaza@pacifier.com)
Copyright © 1995, Don Baccus
All images copyright © 1995, Don Baccus
This road intersects State Highway 205 just south of The Narrows, heads east past the turnoff to the Malheur Field Station, and after passing the Malheur Refuge Headquarters, meanders for miles through sage-steppe habitat until it reaches Princeton. Most vistors to the area take the turnoff to Round Barn and Diamond just west of this small town, however.
The private ranches bordering the road between the turnoff to the field station and headquarters usually is filled with waterfowl, American avocet, black-necked stilt, and other birds that like flooded fields. The drier fields sometimes fill with flocks of long-billed curlew.
Near headquarters, large herds of mule deer often congregate.
East of headquarters, the road first passes through a sterile crested-wheatgrass conversion ironically named the Big Bird unit by the BLM. After a few miles of this, though, the road enters decent sage-steppe habitat. This is a good area to stop and listen for the endless, mumbly, warbling song of the sage thrasher. Once heard, they're quite easy to find as they sing from an exposed perch. Watch the powerlines and fencelines for northern shrik.
From about a mile west of the turnoff to Round Barn to Princeton, the road is bordered on the north by irrigated alfalfa fields. These fields support vast numbers of Belding ground squirrel, which in turn attract a large number of raptors. This area, dubbed "Raptor Alley" by some birders, is a great place to spend a morning, when the air is still somewhat cool and when many of the raptors are perched on poles, powerlines, irrigation pipes and the ground itself. Generally golden eagle, ferruginous hawk, red-tailed hawk, prairie falcon, American kestrel, and Swainson's hawk can be seen.
As an added bonus, many of them nest on the vertical face of the butte which rises to the southeast of the turnoff to Round Barn, along with an inevitable pair of great-horned owls.
Just east of these irrigated fields is a drier field which is often used as a creche by pronghorn, which drop their young most years just before or after Memorial Day Weekend. Watch for coyotes trying to take unwary young pronghorn.
