Guess whooo returned!

The great horned owl returned this morning to roost outside the Visitor’s Center giving me and some other lucky people the chance to enjoy an up close look at this denizen of the dark.  As you can see, he swiveled his head 180* to show off his feathery horns.  :)  What a hoot!!

Another day working the VC.  Not very exciting, but I did step out several times to check out the bird life. 
The California quail are pretty skittish, but…
I was able to sneak in a few close ups before they all took off in a noisy flurry of wings and squawks.  The male, on the left, was blasting out his warning calls the whole time I was skulking around trying to get a good shot.  :)  Don’t you just love those little top knots?
A new visitor to the bird feeders this week is the American goldfinch.  They’ve already molted into their winter plumage, so they’re not  the brilliant yellow of springtime that earns them the common name of a wild canary. 
Here are my latest attempts at a decent picture of a Lewis’s woodpecker.  Obviously, my quest is not over.  :)
Lest you think birds are the only concern at this refuge, I include this picture of the refuge manager out in the pond in front of the VC.  He is pulling a fish net behind him.  The invasion of carp have really had a detrimental effect on the refuge marsh vegetation, and the natural red band trout population.  He is out there trying to net some of the unwanted carp.

The thought of working the not very busy VC four days this week was a little depressing to me, so this afternoon I worked on a plan to get out and about for at least one of those days.  If the weather cooperates tomorrow, I may have something new to report.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed.  :)

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

Laboring on Labor Day

National holiday or not, the Visitor’s Center must open, so you know who worked on this Labor Day.  :)  Actually, I enjoyed having the place to myself without all the office goings on, and since this was still part of the holiday weekend, I actually had 29 visitors today!  That was a big improvement over the measly 7 I had last Thursday.  It helps make the 8 hour day move along a little faster.
I had quite a bit of time in between visitors, so I did a little birding around headquarters.  This nice family of California Quail came sashaying through the grounds with Mom in the lead, and…
Dad covering their rear.  :)   There are quite a few of these quail families that hang around the visitor’s center, and I really enjoy watching them with their little top knots.
Of course, birds aren’t the only things that reside on the refuge.  Much to Emma’s delight, there are an abundance of cottontail rabbits.  This little guy has been lucky so far to stay out of the reach of the hungry coyotes and hawks.
Speaking of hawks, this pair of Red-Tailed Hawks put on quite a display of aerial acrobatics this afternoon in the air right over the VC.  They were up there circling and circling, and screeching and screeching just above the tree tops!  As the story unfolded, it turns out that a third hawk had invaded their “air space”, and was sitting in one of the big trees in their territory.  Before long, these two simultaneously swooped down into the same tree.  After much vocalization, this pair managed to chase the intruder far away.
Besides the mosquitoes and deer flies, there are also a gazillion dragon flies on the refuge.  These are just two of the many varieties.  ( I know squat about dragon flies)  As you walk the path to the parking lot, hordes of these insects take flight with each step. 
One of my favorite birds to watch in flight are white pelicans.  They remind me of B-52 Bombers.  Every day they get up into the air and just soar around. 
The only sound you hear when these birds are overhead is the collective whoosh of the air as they simultaneously flap their wings.  Unlike Canada geese, they never let out a peep.  Like I said yesterday, synchronized swimmers and fliers.  :)
As the afternoon began to wind down, I made one more trip to the old trees around the VC, and discovered a new life bird for me…the Lewis’s Woodpecker.  Try as I might, I just couldn’t get this bird to pose in the sun.  :(  He has a green back, pinkish belly, and red face.  You sure couldn’t tell that from these pictures.  So now I have another challenge to liven up my time working the VC…the quintessential Lewis’s Woodpecker picture!  :)

Since things are kind of slow working in the Visitor’s Center, I bring along my laptop and camera everyday.  I’m sure glad I had the camera with me today.  I think I’d be crazy bored without those two distractions.  :)

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

Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge

Emma and I headed out before 8:00 this morning so we would have a better chance of seeing the wildlife at the refuge in the early morning light.  Ha!  It turns out we could have slept in until noon (like that would ever happen:)).  The only wildlife we saw was one covey of California quail quickly dashing across the road in front of us.  :(
This is one of the few views we had of 9000 acre Lake Lowell.  The refuge encompasses the lake and a small strip of land surrounding it.
As you can see, most of the lake is surrounded by agricultural ranches, and the city of Nampa borders it’s eastern side.  The 30 mile auto tour route takes you around the perimeter of the lake using roads that are not on refuge property.  How odd is that?

Fully one half of the auto tour is on a road named Lake Shore Drive.  I guess I’m not very bright because by that name I assumed you’d see the shore of the lake.  Not so.  All you see are trees on one side and agricultural fields on the other.  For being known as a birding hotspot, I was sorely disappointed.  Of course, the brochure did say that the best time to come to the refuge is from September through December.  Waterfowl has not begun to migrate yet, and the water is still too high for the supposed mud flats teeming with shore birds.  This would be a great place if you had a boat, as I don’t know how else you’re going to see anything.
Oh well, it was a nice drive in the cool morning air.  We were back to the rig by 10:30, and have been hibernating in the AC ever since.  The last I checked the thermometer, it was 98*!

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