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