BURNS - City types might see this as a wasteland. Some locals do, too.  Mile after mile, knee-high sagebrush clings to the flats of Southeast Oregon's high desert. The prickly wind can seep right into layers of clothes. The sun and dry air can crack your lips on even the coldest days.

That's no deterrent for the people who travel to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge even now, as the teeth-rattling days and nights season into spring. They come to see birds. Hundreds of thousands of them alight on the lakes, creeks and pastureland, now that migration is under way.

Great sheets of snow geese ripple and billow from Malheur Lake and the nearby grasslands. Gray-towering sandhill cranes chortle from day's first light, their mating songs blending with the calls of meadowlarks, Oregon's state bird.

Biologists say the refuge is a feeding and, for many, breeding ground to 320 bird species. There are mammals, too, which can be especially interesting to children. Coyotes are a daily sight, loping across pastureland looking for a meal. Pronghorn and mule deer graze in the sage. And for an eagle-eyed few, an occasional badger might bustle around a den near a road.

Most birders will tell you May is the month to go. That's typically when there is a lot of water, it's warmer and birds seem to outnumber humans a million to one. (If you're in the mood to travel this weekend, the Burns community hosts the 26th-annual John Scharff Migratory Bird Festival on Friday through Sunday.)

Bring your field guides and checklists, not just for birds, but for insects, reptiles and mammals. Spotting scopes make it easier to ogle wading birds and maybe you'll see an uncommon ibis. If you plan to shoot photos, you'll likely want some long-range lenses. It's wise to include mosquito repellent, lip balm and sunscreen in the first-aid kit.

This need not be a lonely trip. Most folks traveling the refuge are friendly and willing to share their stories and tips. A stop at the refuge headquarters, where maps and brochures are available, is a must. Open daily, it offers up-close views of many of the most common birds and wildlife in a tiny natural history museum. Kids will enjoy the numerous ground squirrels that scamper along the lawns and pose on dirt mounds. Those rodents also are one reason birds of prey, such as golden e1agles and rough-legged hawks, also are numerous on the refuge.

Do pick up a refuge map. Do drive down the central refuge road along the Donner Und Blitzen River. Do go to the Diamond Craters Outstanding Natural Area. This volcanic monument is well worth the trip for anyone who wants to hike and learn more about the state's geologic past. Do stop at Peter French's Round Barn, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

For those who want to stay overnight in the midst of it all, the Malheur Field Station provides accommodations in dorms and trailers, along with recreational vehicle hookups. The field station used to be funded by a consortium of colleges and universities. These days it's managed by the nonprofit education and research-oriented Great Basin Society Inc. There's a small natural history museum and office with a bookstore, where the conversation with station directors Duncan Evered and Lyla Messick is informative and fun. Though, you should know, people at Malheur live on high desert time.

“Sorry I'm late. Traffic was heavy this morning. I had to wait for two jack rabbits and a cottontail to cross the road,” Evered is likely to announce as he arrives just a couple minutes late to unlock a door.

For early morning bird fanatics, ask Evered and Messick for directions and tips to the sage grouse “lek” to watch their romancing at sunrise, out Foster Flat Road off Highway 205.

The drive down the highway is scenic, routing visitors below rimrock and along marshland to the town of Frenchglen at the refuge's southern end. Nearby, there's a high desert hiking trail and the Steens Mountain Loop Road, and way around the southern end of the Steens, the road heads back up into the Alvord Desert.

But that's another travel story for later in the season, when the snow melts and the sun hangs higher in the sky.

- City Editor Elise Hamner can be reached by calling (541) 269-1222, ext. 239; or by e-mailing to ehamner@theworldlink.com.