Bird survey time

Three of us hopped into the refuge Suburban vehicle this morning and headed out to do the weekly bird survey.  We travel to designated stops in the East Unit of the refuge to record bird usage of specified areas.  With over 100,000 waterfowl on the refuge at the present time, we saw lots of birds.  We saw the most birds on those sections that had been flooded for waterfowl use.  On the areas that had not yet been flooded, we didn’t see much of anything.

On one of the units that hadn’t been flooded yet, this young Northern harrier gave us quite a display as it floated just above the vegetation looking for lunch.  At the flooded areas we counted literally thousands of ducks and geese.  Because the marsh areas are vast, it doesn’t make for a very interesting picture, but the multitude of ducks and geese sure filled the view through our binoculars!

Along the way, we took a short detour along one of the levies to check out this tractor whose motor was pumping water from one of the bayous, over the levee, and into one of the moist soil units.  Colin and Travis kept their eyes glued to their binoculars in case anything interesting flew into the marsh.

We survey 7 different units, so half way through, we stopped back at the hunter check station for a bathroom break.  We found these tree frogs clinging to the vertical wall of the check station just under the small eave.  They were all lined up like little soldiers in the shade.  I don’t know if they were sleeping or just waiting for their next meal to fly by.  :)

At our last stop, we found this skull lying on top of the levee.  It had obviously been there for quite some time.  I don’t know what creature this was when it was alive…perhaps a muskrat or otter?  Any ideas out there?

 

We spent close to five hours doing the survey, and enjoying the outdoors.  It was hot and humid, but the brisk wind help keep most of the mosquitoes away.  I think I only got bitten about six times today.  :)

 

Thanks for stopping by…. talk to you later,  Judy