.

.
Borrego Springs, CA

Friday, November 18, 2011

Watching for a red bird of a different feather

I’m a pretty planful person, and my schedule for today was to pick up the road closure maps I forgot yesterday at headquarters, post them at the VIS on the refuge, and do grocery shopping in the afternoon.  My morning went pretty much as planned.  While I was at the VIS, fellow volunteer Bob helped me get into the storage pod to get a five gallon pail for trash pick up, and showed me the electric vehicle that volunteers have been asked to make use of when doing things on the refuge.  I’ll show you a picture of that tomorrow if I get it running for a drive down the refuge roads.  I may try to use it next week to do some salinity testing.  I’ve been told not to stomp on the accelerator pedal or you’ll do a wheelie!  Could be an exciting ride.

I came back to the rig for lunch, and that’s when my plans changed.

_MG_4064As I was getting ready to go shopping, Stephanie gave me a call and asked if I’d like to go on a field trip with her.  Patrick, the refuge biologist, was doing an aerial survey of the waterfowl using the refuge.  We would be on the usually closed East Unit watching for the big red bird to fly over.  Hmmm… go grocery shopping or observe birds?  You know my answer!

_MG_4052As we spotted the plane in the distance, it began to kick up the snow geese.  There are about 83 geese in this small flock.

_MG_4042

As the plane got closer, it seemed to be enveloped in the flock as more and more geese took to the air.

_MG_4046

This bunch alone appeared to have close to 10,000 geese in it.  (click to enlarge)  These birds were about a mile away from where we were stationed. 

_MG_4061

Then they buzzed the moist soil units where we were parked.  This area had thousands of ducks resting and feeding on it.  They rose in a huge cloud.

_MG_4060

What a sight it was to see!  I couldn’t even guess how many thousands of ducks were in this one picture frame.  Without the refuge, there would be no place for these true Texas “Snow” birds!  These numbers boggle the mind.  It’s like watching the ‘Great Migration’ shows I’ve been DVRing.  I truly feel lucky to be able to observe this awesomeness. 

_MG_4074On our way back to the rigs, we got a brief view of one of our sunset seranaders.  This was a rather scruffy looking coyote compared to others I’ve seen on the refuge.  Perhaps the drought has effected them as well.  So, do you think I should have gone grocery shopping instead?  Ha Ha…not on your life!

_MG_4073

                                                                                     THE END!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

23 comments:

  1. George Stoltz said

    Today'a activity certainly made up for yesterday's day of drudgery. Good choice. What an experience that must have been.

    ReplyDelete
  2. WOW what terrific pictures! Are any of the birds ever high enough to be hurt by the plane? Hope not. I guess its flying is not distressing to them? That's what I always think of when my presence sends them flying into the air, that I may be making them expend unnecessary energy.

    What a GREAT day you had. Forget the grocery shopping indeed!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I always get a huge rush when I see Snow Geese during migration...the shear number is amazing and very noisy I might ad!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Out of this world! The coyotes that are lounging in our pasture are much more well fed that that guy. If you want, I will send you some...

    ReplyDelete
  5. My vote goes to the birds ... great shots of the bird clouds.

    ReplyDelete
  6. the groceries will be there tomorrow!..the flight of the birds is way more interesting!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Awesome pictures. Saw a lot of birds on the Trinity this week, but nothing like these pics. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I could count on you to make the right decision and go with the birds. What a great way to see them!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Amazing pictures, how lucky you are to see a sight
    like that.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I was thinking I had more geese in my post than you did, but I think you won. I had prettier light though. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. You can always get groceries. Your pictures are awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  12. What an amazing day you experienced!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow...that is really something. It amazes me how so many birds can fly in such tight formations and not run into each other. It's like a ballroom dance in the sky.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wow! I bet the sound was as amazing as the sight of that gigantic flock. What a great thing that you were able to experience it and get some great photos too!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Bird watching over any kind of chore, ANYTIME! What an awesome adventure!

    Cyndi & Stumpy @ RVly Ever After

    ReplyDelete
  16. Generally, I would like to be in the plane. On the other hand, I sure would not want to enter a huge flock of birds-that might not be pretty.

    Looks like a lot more fun that shopping.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Awesome pictures of the flocks of birds. An Alfred Hitchcock moment for sure!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Now, that sounds like my kind of day! What a fabulous experience! Thanks for sharing it with all of us, and for the amazing photos.

    ReplyDelete