Refuge Wednesday

A gorgeous day to be out in the wilds..the colors of the grass and trees, sky, water and a few birds to liven things up!

Yellowlegs, Avocets and Stilts hanging out together

Adult male Harrier hunting.

Green stuff everywhere on the water..

Snowy Egret..

Grasses dressed for fall..

Coot (aka Swamp Chickens) and Gull..

Western Grebe pretending to sleep..

Refuge Sunday

The refuge was beautiful late Sunday afternoon, changing light and colors. A light westerly breeze heralded the coming lower temps and the duck hunters were arriving in hopes of lower skies later in the day.
Not a lot of activity other than ducks yesterday. A couple of Harriers, a Kestrel and a Pheasant flyby. The Lesser Goldfinch are busy on the various dead flowers picking out the seeds. Mostly just a wonderful day to be outside.

Harrier on the hunt..

Coots on a small island in the channel..

Fall day..

Beautiful ducks (and a Pied Bill Grebe in the top photo) - I cannot remember their names so just enjoying their beauty..

Goldfinch at work..

The herons were joined by a crew of Great Egrets - unusual to see them all together. Maybe the hunting environment makes for intermittent behavior.

A typical fall shot - lots of bugs and fluff in the air, the Grey Ghost hunting, dead grasses below.

Part of a large visiting flock, the Common Grackle has such a striking eye..

A rose is a rose is a rose...

In the courtyard off our bedroom this first year rose grew gloriously. Here's a few different takes on the same flower with varying light..

Refuge Wednesday

A quick trip to the refuge this morning before getting new tires at Costco. Molly stayed home so I just  did what I wanted.
Not a lot of activity but a few shots. Just being there is worth the effort.

Yellowlegs still eating..

Lesser Goldfinch - often find these on the dead teasels eating the seeds in the fall and winter..

Snowy Egrets at play..

Heaven awaits..

Waiting..

Refuge Monday

Sounds familiar? It is!
After the kids left Molly and I visited the refuge to enjoy a sunny day in the outdoors. A beautiful day, only a few duck hunters as you might imagine with the clear skies. Harriers, retails and a kestrel or two - along with GBH and shorebirds. Molly and I took a nice walk through a meadow where she chased something around - real or imaginary!
Enjoy!

Avocets and gulls hanging out in the sun, warming up.

Greater yellowlegs feeding..

Northern Harrier hunting..

Teasels and stuff..

Fall in the refuge..

Redtail hunting..

Great Blue with a catch..

Scratch very carefully with talons like that..

Toss your catch in the air to swallow it properly..

Kestrel guarding the passageway..

The big black water monster...

Molly when she doesn't want to get back in the car...

Pied Bill grebe in the greenery..

Peek-a-boo....

The tall and short of the refuge..

Antelope Island

Saturday was a sunny beautiful day. We took Liz and Kirk out to Antelope Island to see what we might see - and it was great!
Starting out the coyote was walking the shoreline as we crossed the causeway. No fear, just cautiously picking up its pace a bit at times as I took photos.  After a tour of the Visitor Center we headed out around the island. First stop, just down from the center, we found a Burrowing Owl that seemed to be sunning itself. Then buffalo, mulies and antelope...pretty much a full day.
We stopped along the way and had cheese and crackers and wonderful chocolate chip cookies that Diana had made.

Enjoy!

Wily coyote...

Burrowing owl - cute little bundle..

This buffalo showed its ribs, something I hadn't seen before.

The boys just hanging out..

Mulies browsing in the distance.

Antelope -