Finally made it to the Bear River Migratory Bird Wildlife Refuge in Brigham City, Utah. They are just completing paving a 12 mile dirt road from their Visitor Center, near the I-15, to their old Visitor Center near a 12-mile unpaved loop around a freshwater impoundment. That makes a 36 mile auto tour route, counting the return trip back over the paved road. It really is an incredible refuge.

Above, a series of pictures of part of the grebe courtship ritual. Grebes carry their young under their back feathers while they swim around.

While some birds are just starting to nest, saw some young American avocets and killdeers.

A huge number of pelicans nest on an island on the Great Salt Lake. They come to the fresh water marshes at the refuge for food and water.

There was intermittent rain, along with snow in the nearby mountains my first few days at the refuge. The swallows (cliff I think) were swarming to get mud and build nests.

The rainy weather alternated with temps in the 70′s, causing concern for flooding from snow melting and adding water to the already saturated ground.

The warm weather also brought lots of bugs. After just driving the paved road during the rain, ventured out on the dirt road loop when it warmed up. Wanted to take a lot of pictures, but my truck was always surrounded by hoards of midges. Locals drove with their windows down and laughed at out-of-towners unnerved by the bugs.

Saw dozens of Western kingbirds. The kingbirds and swallows should have no shortage of food (bugs).

Muskrats are supposed to be a sign of a healthy marsh.

On an off-topic, happened to watch the movie Hereafter. While I didn’t really care for the movie, was surprised when the character played by Matt Damon was shown to like to listen to Charles Dickens’ books. I have just about gone through all of this prolific writer’s books, either listening to a free download read by my Kindle or to an Audible edition on my iPod. A lot of the same themes run through the books and they have happy endings, or at least you are told what happens to all the characters. People in England during this period seem to have drunk a lot of alcohol and eaten a lot of meat.

Love watching brown pelicans dive for fish.

Osprey hunting. One of a pair. Caracara were also in the area.

Tern with a small fish.

Ruby-crowned kinglet. Such big eyes for such a small bird.

Had a few more visits from the kingfisher. First, and probably last time, a kingfisher will sit still long enough for me take their picture.

Wild turkey’s fluffed up and on the fence.

Visited Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge in Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Above, two kestrals. The one in the top picture has blood on it’s feet.

Two meadowlarks. Think the second one is a young one.

Sage thrasher

Swainson’s hawk

Below: Saw some white pelicans soaring and gliding at the refuge one day. The next day a very large flock were near my campground at Storrie Lake State Park. Half of them were preening and the other half were in a very large fishing group working their way along the shoreline. Pelicans are not common in this area, so I assume this is a flock migrating south (like me).

On arriving at Lake Walcott State Park found lots of birds and millions of midges. Took a spot in the sun, away from the lake, where there were not so many midges. The next day it was windy, which seem to blow away most of the bugs.

Above, a Bullock’s oriole (top) and a yellow warbler (bottom). There were lots of warblers.

There were also lots of robins. I saw one robin’s nest with newly hatched chicks inside. Magpies were flying around searching for nests to plunder.

Black-headed grosbeak at a park employee’s bird feeder.

Birds seen but not pictured: swallows and kingbirds enjoying the bugs, cedar waxwings.

On the first day at the park, I braved the midges to walk near the lake which is stocked with fish. Large fish, as shown above, could be seen from the trail. Was amazed that there were so many midges they sounded like a swarm of bees

On leaving Lake Walcott passed by some white pelicans on the Snake River with snow seen on the mountains near Pocatello, Idaho.

Have been in this area for three weeks now. It has been cool, in the 50′s and 60′s most of the time. Weather Seattle would love. There are some positive things from it—less people and bugs. From the early cold weather in Socorro, New Mexico, the snow in El Paso, and the cold all down Southern Texas, it has been a cooler season than usual. A cold spell is supposed to arrive Thursday, with strong winds. Hope it doesn’t hurt the grapefruit crop. Love the 5 lb bags of grapefruit you can get here.

Above, a male kestral with prey (top) at Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge and a female kestral (bottom) seen near the refuge.

Another white-tailed kite seen near the refuge. Have seen three pairs of them. They are striking with their dramatic red eyes and white and silver color.

An osprey with a fish coming out it’s rear.

A caracara. He’s only the second one I’ve seen here. Saw a lot of them on the drive down through South Texas.

A kingfisher (top) and a black skimmer (bottom) both seen on another visit to South Padre Island Birding & Nature Center. It’s the first black skimmer I’ve ever seen.

A golden-fronted woodpecker on a telephone pole.

Red tailed hawk (top) over a farm field. An osprey and a brown pelican near where I’m staying.

At Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge saw an osprey eating a fish on the beach. A ruddy turnstone was walking in figure-eights in front of him and occasionally getting a bite. There was also a seagull around 15 feet away waiting for the osprey to finish and leave him the leftovers. Last year when I was here I saw the same configuration of three birds and thought the turnstone had a  lot of nerve. The osprey could easily kill him. Don’t know if the trio this year are the exact same birds, just thought it was interesting to see it again.

Above, a loggerhead shrike with some kind of sea creature. The shrike was acting cat like, letting the creature crawl a short distance before bringing him back. The loggerhead shrike is a small bird of prey. The only other one I’ve seen has also been here at Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge.

Ferral hogs at Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge. Had never seen them before. The refuge considers them a problem and holds special hunts for them intermittently.

One day leaving the park where I’m staying, saw a kingfisher slapping a fish back and forth against the railing. It’s throwing it up in the air in the picture above.

When I was Falcon State Park last year heard about a mascot roadrunner who, when given a hotdog, would slap it back and forth on the ground like it was a snake.

I enjoy feeding the green jays by my rv. Recently saw a Harris’s hawk perched near me (below). Have to be careful that I don’t provide him with a meal.

Finally made it to the Gulf Coast of Texas. The warm breezes I felt when I first got here confirmed that I had arrived. Unfortunately, it proceeded to rain nonstop the following two days. I’m staying at the same park that I’ve stayed at before, but this time my site is about 20 feet from the Arroyo Colorado River. The second day of rain I started to get worried, but the river did not rise. There is, however, flooded farmland and front yards all over. You know a lot of stuff gets washed into the river when it rains. Nonetheless, people were back fishing the day after the rains.

I love watching all the birds fly inland over the river in the morning and out towards Laguna Madre in the evening. There are always brown pelicans around. It looks like an 2 adults and 2 young look alikes above.

Coyote in muddy farmland. He blends right in.

Green jays

Black crested titmouse.

Kingfisher seen from my rv. All these pictures are from where I’m staying.

There is a resident spotted sandpiper at my site. It’s a solitary bird that bounces up and down like a male ruddy duck.

Below, a Harris’s hawk with a fish. I didn’t have time to focus my camera, but still wanted to include it.

Top picture: broad-winged hawk

Bottom two pictures: crested caracara (the Mexican eagle).

House (top) and marsh (bottom) wrens. They are elusive, fast moving guys.

Swamp sparrow

Heron’s have to be the curmudgeons of the bird world.

Below, watched a group of white pelicans work their way along a shore, forming a circle to catch fish. They did this over and over, swimming a few feet, then forming the circle. Reminded me of an old dance movie.

Moved a little south of Eureka, to the Victorian village of Ferndale, so I could be closer to the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge and also the road to “The Lost Coast” of Northern California. Highway 211 is a rough, narrow, twisting, and often very steep highway that goes along a segment of the coastline that was too rough for Highway 1 or 101 to go. I wanted to drive it to see if I could take my trailer over it. The only good thing you can say about the 211 is at least it is paved, except for a few very small segments. I would not want to take my trailer over it. If it was a one-lane, one-way road, maybe.

The first picture above is the stretch of coastline you get to after going over the mountains from Ferndale. The second picture is of “The Wall”, a one-mile 18% grade just north of of the coastline stretch.

Picture of the South Spit Management Area of Humboldt Bay. A five mile road lets you drive over it.

A paraglider was able to take off and land in the same spot on a bluff over the South Spit.

Birds seen along the sand spit: brown pelicans, cormorants and sandpipers.

Below, a goodwit seen on mudflats on the wildlife refuge.

Below: a black phoebe and a dark-eyed junco.

The magpie fledglings were all on the ground this morning, hopping around. A parent called from a nearby tree, trying to get them to fly to them. They eventually were able to fly up to low branches on a tree.

Regret that I waited till after Memorial Day to head east to Idaho. In any event, finding lots of nesting birds.

A Bullock’s oriole feeding babies in nest. Their nest is like a sack hanging from a branch.

Downy woodpecker

Yellow warbler

Have seen a few grebe here. Think they may be Clark’s grebe rather than western grebe.

Every evening a pair of nighthawks circle around with rapid, flapping movements to catch insects in the air. They move so fast, it’s hard to get a good picture of them.