Sunday, March 15, 2009

The bird refuge.










Tate insisted that we had to go to the bird refuge yesterday. His teacher told them there would be trumpet swans. Considering how much he hates Hayden's trumpet playing, I was surprised he wanted to go. I'm pretty sure he meant to go to the visitor's center, but that isn't even really in the refuge so we drove right past it and did the loop. The van isn't really a dirt road kind of vehicle. We finally saw some birds. And animal tracks (like maybe a racoon!) and animal droppings. Two pairs of binoculars wasn't enough. I also found that we need a giant zoom lens. And a bird field guide. Maybe Mike should get one for his birthday. So here are some pics, not necessarily in the order described, because I can't seem to get that right: a pelican, some birds, some kids.

We also saw Ty, Kelly, and Josh. Maybe I will blog about that next week since there is a blackberry pie upstairs screaming to be eaten. :)
I told you I can't get the pictures where I want them.

9 comments:

Tori said...

The kids pics are really good. They look great.

iamwright said...

It looks like the kids had fun. I like the pic's. Very cute!

Mike A said...

The bird refuge is an unworldly place where the sky is always changing colors. It's fascinating, yet inspires fear in me. Why does it happen? What does it mean? And what do the birds know about it?

CEA said...

Nice trumpet swans, and what's the pelican doing there this time of year? See any owls?

Mike A said...

I would expect to see lots of pelicans around in a few weeks, but I was surprised to see them now. There were quite a few of them in one area. That one happened to be closest.

No owls, but some bald eagles. The bald eagles were circling overhead the whole time. I saw some sitting in trees off in the distance as well, then watched them fly around a bit.

Oh, and a couple of marsh hawks when we were leaving the bird refuge coming back toward town.

Julie Adams said...

Great Pictures! I love this time of year for the bird migration.

CEA said...

Mike -- I know there are short eared owls out there, may see some in the early morning or evening through April or so.
Pelicans haven't made it up here yet, usually in a couple weeks. Lots of swans and snow geese showing up though.

Julie Geldmacher said...

I like the great pictures of the kids. You really have a talent for catching a pose.

Nate said...

Mike. I know what you mean about the bird refuge. There is something about it that is very uncommon. I used to think it could be the huge mosquitoes, weird brine water and lack of people, but there is something else. Good pictures.