Camas National Wildlife Refuge Part 2 03-26-2011

Birds in abundance, they were all over, some were there by the thousands and others were a treat to see by themselves. I will be back several times this spring to try and get the full effect of what a migration really is.

One of the first birds to see and hear were Sandhill Cranes, They ended up being all over the refuge. The first time that I can ever remember seeing a Sandhill Crane was on a campout with my Boy Scout troop. I was up early one morning and I could hear them and then spotted them through some cheap binoculars. I told the leader that was with me that there were a couple deer put in the distance. He looked and informed me that they were Sandhill Cranes, that made more since once they flew away.  I have done that several time since with their size and color they might be mixed up with deer (especially when their heads are down).  When you see them up a little closer you will notice that they are not very colorful except for a portion of their head that holds some bright red.

03-26-2011, Camas National Wildlife Refuge, ID. Canon T2i. (edited in Camera Raw)

03-26-2011, Camas National Wildlife Refuge, ID. Canon T2i. (edited in Camera Raw)

Notice how well they blend in, can you find both of the cranes?

03-26-2011, Camas National Wildlife Refuge, ID. Canon T2i. (edited in Camera Raw)

03-26-2011, Camas National Wildlife Refuge, ID. Canon T2i. (edited in Camera Raw)

03-26-2011, Camas National Wildlife Refuge, ID. Canon T2i. (edited in Camera Raw)

03-26-2011, Camas National Wildlife Refuge, ID. Canon T2i. (edited in Camera Raw)

I saw quite a few cranes in flight and it was really neat to watch them land.

03-26-2011, Camas National Wildlife Refuge, ID. Canon T2i. (edited in Camera Raw)

While I was out I probably saw close to  40 cranes, most of them were groups of 5 or so but there was a couple groups of about ten.

Northern Harrier, I am not sure how many I saw but they were all over the place, I watched them enough that I should never mistake what they look like again. A few very distinct characteristics would include a white strip between their back and tail and the tips of their wings are dark brown to black while the rest of the wing are more white. (the tips of the wings is more prevalent in the males).

There were thousands of Snow Geese coming in to land I was told that there was some Ross Geese in with them as well but my eye is not that good yet.

This is a pano of all the Snow Geese in the pond, all the white from left to center are snow geese and the white on the right are Trumpeter Swans. If I was to print this pano it would be a foot by 23 feet long.

A male Pheasant is pretty hard to mistake for any other bird with the bright colors and long tail. These guys are fast this one ducked its head and ran, it was pretty hard to keep up with my camera.

With all the bright colors it is still amazing how well they blend into their surroundings.

This is the second time that I have seen a Hooded Merganser and the first time I was close enough to get a decent picture. The first time I saw them I was thinking that I was looking at a Bufflehead, the head markings are very similar. If you really take a loo at both birds you will notice there is quite a bit a difference, the first detail I notice to recognize any merganser it its beak. Their beaks are long and almost pointed.

Here are some Red-breasted Mergansers again with the long pointy beak, and add a bad hair dew to that. Although the Common Merganser Female seems to share that trait.

This American Coot was one of several to be seen today basically a black body and white beak will give them away. Also if you ever watch one they swim very funny when they are trying to speed up it is like they are scooting forward in the water.

The Say’s Phoebe was a first for me I am still working on ways that I can really identify it. It does have a yellowish underbelly but if I were to see the backside I would still have problems getting it right.

All the birds below are going to pretty familiar, and some of my favorite shots of the day.

Breath Taking! Remarkable!

Everyone at some time or another has one of those moments when one of the most remarkable things happen, and your camera is broken. That was today all day it started this morning as I was walking in and out of the Deer Parks WMA. With the wind today it made all the birds flying overhead look like they were floating in the air like a kite would, swaying back and forth almost motionless. It is quite a sight when Trumpeter Swans drift overhead back and forth as they look for a place to land. Then having twelve Sandhill Cranes fly over head almost as close as I have ever seen them before. This evening I drove out to the Chester Wet Lands area, along the river there were plenty of white flags waving as the White Tailed deer cross the river. To top everything today and for the past 25 years, and what seemed to be an unbelievable experience happened as I sat parked on the side of the road next to the river. It was just like before a kite floating in the air about 100 feet in front of me and no more than twenty feet off the ground. A Bald Eagle drifting, swaying right towards me, he was up and down, and before to long right next to me no more than 15 feet away slowly gliding by. He continued over the road and slowly slipped away into the trees, I have never been so close to such a magnificent bird before. As he (I say he because I saw the larger female eagle in a tree later) drifted by I could see how bright his beak and feet were, how the light shines through the primary feathers at the end of his wings. I could go on and on, to me this was amazing it was like time slowed down so that I could get to know this Eagle.

The Past Few Days.

Well I will have no photos to share until I get my camera back from being repaired which is to bad for anyone that reads this. I actually had a professor tell me recently that the quality of my photos is a lot better than the quality of my writing. Well it is true although both need improvement, and that is why I have this blog it has a dual purpose. First this blog is for me I am able to learn as I write and keep a history of what I do and see. Second it is for everyone so that you can enjoy the photos I take, the places, I go and learn what I learn. At the same time I expect comments or emails from people when I make a mistake or miss something. That way I can improve as I go along.

I have seen a couple firsts for this year in the last two days, the first is one that I grew up watching on the eastside of Rexburg out in the Lyman area. It is the Dark-eyed Junco, I really can’t recall the last time I have seen some of these. Well I first saw at where I now live on the west side of Rexburg in the Salem area the I saw quite a few more out at Beaver Dick Park. It was neat to watch them as the fly because of the colors that show through as they fly. If you watch from behind as they fly you will notice a white strip on either side of the tail which is not readily visible when the bird is not in flight. The Dark Eyed Junco typically has a darker head usually black but this ranges from bird to bird and from male to female.

The other first of the year is the Sandhill Crane, I saw the first one out at Beaver Dick Park (just outside of Rexburg) as it was flying over head. I saw another twelve at the Deer Parks WMA most of them were flying overhead together fairly low and making quite a bit of noise. The call of a Sandhill Crane is pretty distinguishable and actually quite pleasing to listen to compared to other birds (killdeer). If you ever see a bid bird flying through the air and are trying to figure out what it is look at its neck. Cranes will fly with a straight neck and herons will fly with a U in its neck.although pelicans have the same shape when they fly their head and beak is quite different.

The Western Meadow Larks are sure here, I opened the window at my place the other day for awhile just to listen to their calls back and forth together.