Lightning Strike, Mud Lake, Oregon
Copyright © 1996, Don Baccus (dhogaza@pacifier.com)
Copyright © 1995, Don Baccus
All images copyright © 1995, Don Baccus
Just north of The Narrows, a gravel road signed "OO Ranch" heads west. This road skirts the northern edge of Mud and Harney Lakes, and a spur leads to the OO Unit of the Malheur Refuge. If one drives past the spur, the road drifts northward and eventually intersects with Highway 20 about ten miles west of Burns, providing a shortcut to home for visitors who live in Central or Western Oregon and Washington.
There's no public access to the two lakes, as snowy plover, a species experiencing severe declines in numbers in recent years nest along the shores.
The OO Unit of the Refuge, which consists of the once-private OO Ranch, has a fair amount of marsh containing typical birds of that habitat.
This road has recently been the most reliable place to find burrowing owl, which have made use of a couple of culverts along the road which have convenient milage markers nearby for owls to perch when on "guard duty".
In high-water years, Harney Lake often comes right up to the road, and in such years snow plover nest and forage on dry ground within sight of the road, and can often be seen scurrying across it. During such years, birds such as American avocet also nest near or alongside the road.
As the picture heading this page shows, there are often huge thunderheads towering over the landscape in springtime, which are a lot of fun to photograph.
