Visited the Tri-Cities area of south-central Washington (Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco) in order to visit some wildlife refuges in the area. Stayed a few days at an Army Corps of Engineers campground along the Snake River. Part of the McNary Wildlife Refuge is right next to the campground. Saw the Kingfisher above in a marsh area there.

It is the season to start seeing osprey nests.

Below, a coyote in the refuge.

Next drove through Hanford Reach National Monument. The Hanford Site is where Plutonium reactors were built in 1943 to make the atom bomb dropped on Japan in 1945. The reactors are now inactive and being dismantled. The Site is on the Columbia River and a wide area of land around it that served as a security buffer is now the Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge.

There was a severe wind alert throughout Washington and parts of Oregon and Idaho. I drove on to Toppenish to stay till they passed. The winds really shook my trailer and blew open the heavy cover on the bed of my truck. Luckily, the farmland I was parked next to had a crop growing on it, so I didn’t get a lot of topsoil blown my way.

Above, a California quail at the Toppenish Wildlife Refuge.

Below, northeast Oregon farmland along I-84. It snowed a little past where this picture was taken. Enjoyed the drive along the I-84, with all it’s rest stops.

I have returned to the Socorro, New Mexico area to see the sandhill cranes. A little dismayed that I arrived a little early. The Bernardo Waterfowl Management Area that I visit prior to moving on to the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge has some cranes, but nothing like I saw last year. They flood some fields with water around November 15th and that brings in a lot of cranes and geese. I am moving on to Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge in a few days. I’ll have one week, then the Festival of the Cranes starts with the attendant crowds. So being early getting to the area has complicated things. Oh well.

When I left Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, Arizona, had planned on stopping at Homolovi Ruins State Park near Winslow, Arizona. Found that they have closed the camping area there and just have it as a day use park certain days of the week. At my next planned stop, Bluewater Lake State Park in New Mexico, found it closed for the season. While many rest areas in Arizona have been closed due to budget cuts, the ones in New Mexico are open. Ended up staying one night at the New Mexico Visitor Center in Gallup.

Have stayed close to a week at the Kiva RV Park and Horse Motel that I have stayed at in the past. They rescue horses, donkeys and other animals. Last year when I fed carrots and apples to some of the donkeys, the brown horse in the top picture bit me on the shoulder. The two horses looked so robust and healthy I hadn’t given them any of the treats. Didn’t make that mistake this time. Both horses followed me around the corral wanting more.

The “largest donkey in the world” is still there and doing well (second picture).

A Eurasian collared-dove on a fountain at the rv park.

A coyote watching for movement in some brush at Bernardo Waterfowl Management Area. There are sandhill cranes in the background at the top of the picture.

Stayed at the Mammoth Hot Springs Campground in Yellowstone for 5 days. Got there around 11:30 a.m. and got a good spot. It filled up shortly thereafter. Yellowstone was really crowded. Read where attendance was breaking records. Saw license plates from all over the U.S., as well as lots of foreign tourists. Right after I got settled I drove towards the Canyon Village area. Driving anywhere in the middle of the afternoon is a mistake. The road from Mammoth through the Tower-Roosevelt area and Canyon Village is narrow and uneven and to drive it when it is really congested is bad. People are sightseeing and cross over the double yellow lines a lot. After this experience, just went out early in the morning.

Top picture: The upper Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces. The clouds provided good lighting.

Second picture: There are lots of waterfalls in Yellowstone. I just visited the Lower Falls in the Canyon Village area. First took a trail down to the right side of the falls in the picture. From there I could see stairs going down the side of a mountain on the other side of the falls.

Third picture: Stairs on Uncle Tom’s Trail that you go down to view the Lower Falls at a good angle. They are really steep stairs. Someone has posted a video of the stairs on YouTube.

The Canyon Village area would be a good place to stay. There are paved trails along the rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. You are also close to Lamar Valley and Hayden Valley that are supposed to have lots of wildlife.

Top picture: What you are warned not to do, get close to wildlife…especially a grizzly bear! Park authorities had not arrived here yet. They use a lot of manpower to keep people at a certain distance from animals. In Mammoth Hot Springs the elk know they are protected and go where they want. At least one park employee follows them and puts out yellow cones that people are not supposed to cross. Passed one young black bear eating grass by the road. Across from him a park ranger in full dress uniform (hat and gloves) was waving to keep traffic going. Would love to have gotten a picture of him and the bear, but there was no place to stop.

The bull on the left appeared to be the head bull. He went around checking on a small herd by a pond and grunted the whole time. You could not really see the details of his face because of the fur, just heard continuous grunting.

The tail end of a coyote near Canyon Village.

Birds seen near my campsite. A red-breasted nuthatch (top) and a Clark’s nutcracker. There was a small flock of the Clark’s nutcrackers. They are the first ones I’ve ever seen.

Getting here: From Glacier National Park went back to Fort Benton, near Great Falls, to wait out a rain storm. From there, drove through Helena, and stayed one night at a free campground in the Canyon Ferry area. Then stayed two days at the Missouri Headwaters State Park where three rivers join to form the Missouri River. It is a good birding spot. Both at Fort Benton and the State Park, saw lots of cedar waxwings, gray catbirds, and osprey. One time I thought a cat was in a marsh, only to find it was a catbird. That’s the only time one has fooled me.

Cedar waxwing fledgling in Fort Benton. Note the orange tail feathers instead of the yellow that an adult has.

A chickadee on a bulrush at Missouri Headwaters State Park.

Heard sandhill cranes both at Missouri Headwaters State Park and Yellowstone, but never saw them.

Below: Campsite at Mammoth Hot Springs. Rain threatened several times, but only got a few sprinkles. Was sad to leave Yellowstone, but I’ll be back.

I’m here in Tulelake, California, with hunters and coyotes, at the Tule Lake Wildlife Refuge, where migrating birds are arriving.

Seeing a few sandhill cranes.

An eared grebe with a small fish.

Northern shoveler

Canvasback

Next to the refuge, there is a ranch house with a fenced garden with pumpkins and other squash. Don’t know if the owners wanted the mule deer inside their garden!

A parent western grebe giving its’ young one a small fish. The young one swallows it whole.

The owl was there again. Because it’s small and on the ground to the side of a road, bet most people do not see it.

The coyotes at the wildlife refuges look way to healthy.

American Kestrel

A vermilion flycatcher. The picture was taken near the RV park I have stayed at for the past week.

Moved a little south, to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.

Cormorants and turtle.

Black birds swarming, probably to get some type of grain on the ground.

Mule deer.

Just got the tail end of this wet coyote. It looks a lot healthier than the coyotes I used to see in Southern California.