Refuge Wednesday

We beat the clouds out to the refuge today, enjoying the sunshine despite all the smog. Lots of other birders out also..

It was Raptor day really - Kestrels, Harriers, Red-tailed Hawks plus a couple of eagles that sat way out on the ice.  Saw a couple of herons and a bunch of Tundra Swans...the swans were way out of the ice again, hanging out with lots of ducks in the limited open water.

Enjoy!

Here's an interesting sight..The Red-tailed Hawk sitting on the dirt on the top of Gooseberry Hill while several photographers have parked their vehicles and walked up to get a closeup photo. I'm not sure how long the Red-tailed waited but it sure seemed amiable.

Kestrel feeding...

Tundra swans mixing with ducks in a small patch of open water..

Northern Harriers - what beautiful birds and incredibly acrobatic...

This little cutie kept its eye on me despite not looking directly at me..

Young Red-tailed sitting in the bushes above a warm water outlet. I think it was observing the coots and grebes in the water, maybe thinking about making one a meal.

Refuge Sunday

A warmish but overcast day, we took off to the refuge. As always, we couldn't have anticipated what we saw.  

Red-tailed and Rough-legged Hawks greeted us on the way in. Then we spotted a coyote hunting in a field and spent 30 minutes or so watching it teach us how to hunt. Following along with the coyote were two Northern Harriers, apparently using the coyote as the point to flush out the prey. Fascinating. 

Kestrels, Pied-bill Grebes, Herons, and an unknown duck gave us the rest of the fun.

Enjoy! 

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk...

Rough-legged Hawk - comes here in the winters from Northern Canada and Alaska

The hunters..

American Kestrel - sat here while I slowly rolled past it in the vehicle and took photos as I moved by.

Here's the duck and the Pied Bill Grebe..

Beautiful GBH..

A Pied Bill tries to sneak past the Coot with a fish in its mouth..often the Coot or another grebe will chase the successful hunter hoping to get the fish away from them..

Smoggy day photography

 Thursday the air was so bad it stunk! So I wasn't at all assured any photographs would turn out worth keeping. But both Molly and I needed to get out so we went to the refuge. 

In fact it wasn't all that bad, thanks in part to the processing software that helps clean up the pictures. The juvenile Red-tailed Hawks were out and posing for us, several Herons hung around also. Harriers and Kestrels did their fly byes and a couple of Bald Eagles hung out on the ice. Way out, too far for a photo. So the day was enjoyable and a couple of good photos. Enjoy!

The Harrier photo looks much better than reality thanks to the new Replace the Sky tools in Photoshop. 

Kestrel cutie..

Juvenile looks like it's just woken up!

This Heron flew west past me, then a few minutes later - and a few squawks later - it came back flying East with another one on it's tail!

So beautiful...

Bear River Refuge visit

 We took advantage of another sunny day...and made a lunch and drove to the Bear River Wildlife Refuge. So nice and quiet to get off the freeway and begin the drive to the refuge. Kestrels on the power lines, plenty of water in the river as it moved small pieces of broken ice along, glistening and shining as they moved in the current. 

Stopped to eat lunch where we could see small white dots in the distance - tundra swans a long ways away. Molly investigated with a lot of sniffing around. We later got a bit closer to some swans but still a long shot. 

A Bald Eagle and a Rough-legged Hawk on the way in; Northern Shovelers, Swans and Harriers along the way.  One GBH.

A long drive..think I'll stick with Farmington Bay..

Male Harrier - aka Grey Ghost

Male Northern Shovel walking..

Rough-legged Hawk

Tundra swans..

A few memories...

 Diana and I were fortunate enough to be able to spend time at Sea Ranch, CA with friends. No shortage of beauty there, just time and energy to immerse yourself in it.  Here's some shots that I like..

Up and down the hills by the water these little birds are always moving..

Luscious beauty to be found close by..

Moss to remind you of the moisture in the air, in case you needed that reminder..

Otherworldly dancers in front of the Sea Ranch main lodge ..

More beauty on the ocean cliffs...