More Refuge

A few more shots from the refuge trip yesterday. I surely enjoy the peace and quiet in the refuge.

Grumpy old man..

Young pelican enjoying itself..

Kingbird with lunch..

B&W rendition

Snowy Egret

An adult Black-crowned Night Heron..

Refuge Thursday..

Windy at the refuge, glad there was open water to help keep it cool. Still plenty of birds around, Snowy Egrets, Black-crowned Night Herons, GBH, Sandhill Cranes plus the shorebirds and ducks, mostly Mallards it seems.
The night herons tend to hang out in about three willow trees, so when you walk under them there is a lot of squawking and branch movement as they fly out. Mostly they just circle around and land in another tree. These seem to be all juveniles so far. Wonder when they will migrate, if they will.
As another example of anything can happen, I was driving out from the refuge ready to go home and looked straight in the eyes of two Sandhill Cranes by the side of the road. Not sure who was most surprised!
Enjoy!

It was a big sky day out in the wetlands....

A dragonfly chasing a great blue heron!

Teasels in fall color..

Hanging out..

Juvenile Night Heron

Natures water painting.

Hitchhikers..

Snowy egret in the wetlands..

The Sandhill Cranes..

More backyard beauties

This is an active time of year for birds and bees as they prepare for their travels and hibernation, if they do that. The light is changing, more color morning and evening (sometimes due to smog and smoke), and the cooler air seems to stimulate the wild beings.

I've not seen a Chickadee eat a peanut, but this guy did!

Jays are back..

So are the Canadian geese and the ducks. But they don't land in my backyard and eat peanuts! And look goofily at me...

Checking me out before taking the last leap to the peanuts.

Looking closely

In our enclosed front courtyard we have a small temple with an opening in the middle. I've watched this over time and looked for photos that might fit and finally found one.

Fence sitter

We get a lot of different birds sitting on the fence in our backyard.  Here's a gentle beauty..

Morning visitor

We had a room overlooking the pond at Boulder Mountain
Lodge and watched for visitors. This is my first Great Blue Heron at the pond. Lots of Coots live there along with a few Pied Bill Grebes and the ducks and geese stop by in season to have their kids.

Cottonwoods..

Walking under old cottonwood trees always yields some neat surprises, sometimes animal bones, sometimes patterns and sometimes transcending leaves!

Hiking by the Fremont River

We took a hike yesterday morning in the sandy country through and next to the Fremont river just below Calf Creek campground. A nice breeze in the cottonwoods coupled with their shade made that part quite nice, but the sun in the open was a bit warm.
On the way back we met a family at the river crossing and a small girl who excitedly captured a small frog! Much fun to watch and see her glee!

One more hummer...

The hummer appears to have bent his beak(s) perhaps due to too much sword fighting! Cute little mean guy!

Feeding Frenzy

We're at Boulder Mountain Lodge for two nights with friends and as I checked in there was this going on outside the window....

Morning visitors..

A couple of backyard visitors this morning - Sharpie and Rufous!

More from the zoo

There are a lot of subjects to photograph at the zoo and we made the most of it - in between dodging strollers and kids. Here's a few more for your enjoyment..