Noted a number of changes in Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge from my visit in June. Snow was gone from the mountain tops, the lake/marsh seemed to have more water, most of the wildflowers were gone, and the marsh had a copper color. There are a lot more sandhill cranes visible, often with juvenile cranes. Most nesting birds have moved on. Did not see any Franklin gulls. They are most likely on their way to South America.

Stayed at Blackfoot Reservoir Campground this time. It is a beautiful BLM campground about halfway between the refuge and Soda Springs. The first night discovered there were lots of flying bugs there. The same “midgies” that I saw in Klamath Falls in August of 2007 that were brought from France because they eat mosquito larva. To their credit, there were not many mosquitos! Also, there were a huge number of swallows nearby that seemed to appreciate having the bugs to eat.

Saw lots of hawks and fledgling hawks in the farmland around the refuge.

First sighting and pictures I’ve gotten of trumpeter swans. Thought they were pelicans from a distance.

There is a very large colony of breeding Franklin’s gulls. I’m not seeing as many blackbirds as I have been. Wonder if the gulls are taking over spots that would otherwise have had  blackbirds.

Western tanager. First one I’ve sighted and gotten pictures of.

Common snipe. First one I’ve seen and gotten pictures of.

American kestral. Have seen quite a few, but they are quick to fly off when you approach.

Tree swallow. There are bird houses for them on a lot of fence posts.

Think this is a Swainson’s hawk. There are lots of red-tailed and Swainson’s hawks here. Hard to tell them apart.

Came upon some horses walking down the middle of the refuge road. A rancher in a pickup soon drove past me, turned the horses around, and herded them back by me into a corral. There were only 4 horses in his pasture the next day. The others were probably sold.

The day after the horse event, further down the road, I slowly passed a few cows in the road. In looking in my rearview mirror, saw lots of cows joining the few that had been in the road and they were following me! I had to speed up to get them to stop.

Talk about butting heads! These two were affectionately pushing against east other to see who was the strongest.

Red, yellow, and blue wildflowers in foreground. The beige near the top are bulrushes in Grays Lake marsh. This was the one and only cloudless sky I had (for part of the day).

Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge is in a high mountain valley (6400 feet) in southeast Idaho. It is a large, shallow marsh, rather than a lake. Water that should go to it is diverted to farms. This is where sandhill cranes and many other migrating birds pass through or stay in the spring migration. In the fall, it is a staging area for birds migrating south.

The weather has been more significant here, with clouds and intermittent rain. My mud shoes have been put back into use. There has been a 4 or 5 hour window of sunshine every day that has allowed me to go to the refuge. Visitors are not allowed into it’s interior, but can circle the periphery on a dirt road. One article I read said the refuge is a great bird habitat, but not so great birding spot because of this. I have had great luck though. As the summer goes on, however, the grass will get taller and birds will be harder to see.

The sandhill cranes above were seen on ranchland adjacent to the refuge. The second picture shows courting behavior. In the bottom picture there is a crane fledgling between the two adults.

I can hear and sometimes see cranes in the refuge, but you really need at least a 600 mm lens to get pictures of them.

Came across some American avocet fledglings.

Breeding Wilson’s phalarope

Northern shovelers