wildlife refuge « westernviews.us

Archive for the ‘wildlife refuge’ Category

More from Laguna Atascosa Refuge area

Monday, January 4th, 2010

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.

Posted in American kestrel, Arroyo City, black skimmer, caracara, pelican, white-tailed kite, wildlife refuge, woodpecker | No Comments »

New year, new sightings

Friday, January 1st, 2010

Two new sightings to start the new year off. A white-tailed kite with prey (top) and a white-tailed hawk (bottom). Both seen at or near Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge. I saw the kite flapping it’s wings and staying in place and then swoop down to the ground. Later saw it had a rodent in it’s claws.

There were a dozen or more reddish egrets along the beach at the refuge. This bird is listed as threatened.

A meadowlark and a roadrunner, both seen at the refuge.

Walking near my rv, saw a couple of kingbirds chasing a juvenile mockingbird. When I stopped to take a picture of the mockingbird, it flew closer to me, which is very unusual. Think it knew the kingbirds would not come near him with me standing there. I stood there with him for about five minutes. The next day he was back, but there was also an adult mockingbird nearby.

Went to put some trash in a large bin at the campground one day and screamed when I saw two eyes looking at me from the container. Felt silly then, as it was a pair of raccoons. There was a cold wind blowing and they looked warm and cozy in the container.

Posted in egret, hawk, meadowlark, mockingbird, raccoon, roadrunner, white-tailed kite, wildlife refuge | No Comments »

In flight

Friday, December 25th, 2009

red_tailecd_hawk_flying

osprey_flying

pelican_flying

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.

loggerhead_shrike_2

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

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.

kingfisher_w_fish

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.

harris_hawk_perching

Posted in Arroyo City, hog, kingfisher, osprey, pelican, shrike, wildlife refuge | No Comments »

More cranes, ducks, and other birds

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

crane_take_off

Have been in the Socorro area for three weeks now. Had planned to stay in the area a few more days to avoid some of the Thanksgiving crowds, but it has gotten cold here again. Weather Underground is saying it could get down to 19 degrees tomorrow night, while weather.com has it 10 degrees warmer. Who to believe? I’ve had a single propane tank filled three times since I’ve been here. That’s more than I’ve done in the last six months! Went out and got a ceramic heater today. The furnace needs to be kept on to keep the pipes from freezing, but the portable heater can be useful to quickly heat an area. The downside is the ceramic heater draws a lot of power.

sleeping_crane

Have seen a number of sandhill cranes sitting down this visit (to the right of the standing one). Maybe the ground provides some warmth and/or they are really tired after a long flight.

ball_of_black_birds

A “ball” of black birds above cranes eating in a corn field.

geese_and_mallards

Mallards surrounded by geese.

lesser_scaup

northern_pintail

Lesser scaup (top) and Northern pintail (bottom).

2gambels_quail

A male (upper) and female (lower) Gambel’s quail.

kestral_socorro

Kestral

solar_hawk

sunset_cranes

Posted in American kestrel, Northern pintail, Socorro, hawk, quail, sandhill crane, scaup, snow geese, wildlife refuge | No Comments »

Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

two_sandhill_cranes2

3_sandhill_cranes

Heading into my third week in Socorro, New Mexico. Had a cold spell this past week with it getting into the 20′s at night. Had to get out the long underwear. It’s warming back up now, in time for the Festival of the Cranes at the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge. A lot of work has gone into spiffing up the refuge. For one, they watered down the dirt auto tour route, so you can ride a bike on it without getting covered in dust from passing cars.

sandhill_crane_with_mouse

Sandhill crane with a mouse. He didn’t seem to know what to do with it. Another crane eventually took it from him.

northern_harrier_2

Northern harrier

owl_nm

Poor owl was trying to sleep, but was surrounded by people taking its’ picture.

duck_takeoff

Mallard ducks taking flight.

flying_geese_nm

crane_flying

Posted in Northern harrier, Socorro, geese, mallard, owl, sandhill crane, wildlife refuge | No Comments »

Cranes coming in to roost

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

sandhill_crane_landing

At Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge people gather at locations where they can see sandhill cranes and/or geese either come in for the night or fly out in the morning to find food.

sandhill_cranes_landing

sandhill_cranes_water

The first thing the cranes do on landing is to get a drink of water (they hold their heads up to swallow). Water is scarce, that’s why the refuge is important. They then walk or fly to where they want to roost. Some take a short nap before doing anything else (it’s been a long day).

sandhill_cranes_sunset

Posted in Socorro, sandhill crane, wildlife refuge | No Comments »

The Lost Coast & Humboldt Bay

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

lost_coast_1

lost_coast_2

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.

south_spit

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

paraglider

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

pelicans_cormorants_ca

sandpipers

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

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

goodwit

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

black_phoebe_eureka

dark-eyed_junco_ca

Posted in Ferndale, cormorants, godwit, junco, pelican, phoebe, sandpiper, wildlife refuge | No Comments »

More from Malheur Refuge

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

horned_owl_3

Horned owl at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center.

swan_juvinile

Young swan seen at the same spot a number of days. Two adult, banded, swans were seen in a nearby water channel.

quail_young_male

Two young male California quail, on right, in a covey.

female_pheasant

Female ring-necked pheasant.

hawk_13

Young hawk often seen flying with two adults, probably it’s parents.

cows_burns_or

Livestock is often on the road. I can’t pass through the area without getting cow dung on my truck. The day after this picture was taken, saw two cows with their calves walking along the highway a few miles away. They soon showed up at the cafe/rv park/laundromat that I had gone to do my laundry. They wanted in the owner’s pasture, but he said “no way”. He got on his atv and herded them to the other cows in their herd about a mile away. Glad they finally got some water, it was hot out.

pronghorn_hart_mt

Stayed one night at the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge.

hart_mt_campground

Posted in Burns, antelope, hawk, owl, quail, ring-necked pheasant, wildlife refuge | No Comments »

Malheur Refuge & Steens Mountain

Sunday, September 6th, 2009

great_horned_owl

Have been at the BLM Page Springs Campground at the base of Steens Mountain in Oregon for about a week now. It is right next to the southern edge of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Have spent most of my time visiting the refuge, but have also driven Steens Mountain Loop. Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area was created rather recently, in the year 2000. The BLM is also doing a study on how to deal with the development of western juniper forests that have developed because of fire suppression. They have cut down a lot of juniper trees and will burn them after it snows.

Picture above: Surprised a great horned owl while driving through the refuge late in the afternoon. There is also an owl that perches near the visitor center. Wondered if they bribe it with mice to get it to stay there for visitors to see.

coyote_1

Have had four coyote sightings. They really look healthy.

merganser

Common merganser.

california_quail_male

young_quail

Top: male California quail. Below: a young quail.

Have surprised quail with a lot of young ones several times. Each time the male flew up to a bush to supervise while the female corralled the young ones into the brush.

Birds seen but not pictured: Three trumpeter swans, large flock of white pelicans, lots of great egrets, magpies, ring-necked pheasants, vultures roosting on an old fire lookout tower and a few sandhill cranes.

rattlesnake

A rattlesnake decided to sleep in the middle of the road by the campsite next to mine. Bad choice. The camp host came over with a shovel and decapitated it. Talk about nerves of steel!

sheep

There is a long history of Basque sheepherding on Steens Mountain. When I was driving past the ones above, they started to cross the road in front of me. A sheepherder and his dogs quickly came into play and returned them to the area they were supposed to be in.

Kiger_Gorge

There are four u-shaped gorges on Steens Mountain. Above is Kiger Gorge with a little patch of snow.

Getting here

Stopped at Lake Walcott State Park in Idaho on the way here. They water the lawn by the campsites one hour a day, 5 days a week. This, along with the naturally occurring water, makes it very buggy.

sunflowers

Posted in Bureau of Land Management, Burns, Rupert, State, merganser, owl, quail, sheep, wildlife refuge | No Comments »

Bear Lake

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

bear_lake

Bear Lake is a 20-mile-long natural lake, half in Idaho and half in Utah. Both states have state parks along it. The first thing you notice about it is it’s color, a Caribbean blue, due to suspended limestone deposits. I stayed 5 days at the Idaho State Park Campground on the east side of the lake. When I arrived mid-day on a Sunday, it was jammed. Within two hours though, it was just me and three or four other campers. It is a popular weekend place for young families and young people. Boating and jet-sking are allowed and you can drive on the beach (4-wheel drive recommended). When I left on Friday, it was starting to rapidly fill up again.

Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located right across from the north end of the lake and was the reason for my visit. Saw a few sandhill cranes in farmland around the refuge, as well as a pair of swans in the marsh along with a fair amount of waterfowl.

red_tailed_hawk_bearlake