Summer at Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge!

Summer, but with all the babies swimming around it seemed more like Spring!  I've been to Tule Lake NWR, which is very near the border of California and Oregon and is part of the Klamath Basin National Wildlife complex, twice before.  Both times were during the Spring part of the Pacific Migration and there were a lot of eagles!  But not just eagles, all kinds of birds and mammals and FUN!

April 2017                   January 2019

But this time, there were a lot of the cutest ducklings! 

When I was there, I thought these were some type of Merganser ducks.  But I found out they are Eared Grebes which I had not seen before!  Yay!

Such a beautiful and elegant mama!

And the babies though!

And oh, SO MANY BUGS!  You can see them in this next photo, but I don't think they were bugging the duckies...just me. 

And there were Clark's Grebes too!  At least I think this is a Clark's.  I wish the picture was a little bit clearer!

It's always beautiful at Tule Lake.  It seems that no matter what time of day I'm there, the water is always a beautiful blue with shade of purple.  Sometimes it's a perfect glass mirror and sometimes, like on this day, it's a ripply photographer and birdwatcher's paradise. 

Yep.  Clark's Grebe.  They have darker parts on their bills and the black is over their eyes.  Western Grebe's bills are yellow and their eyes are in white feathers.  

And this!!  This is a Tri-colored Blackbird!  They look similar to Red-winged Blackbirds but are much less common.  The Red-winged has a yellow stripe under their red patch but as you can see, this guy's stripe is white!

He was keeping a close eye (or two) on me!

This little guy was singing away!  It was a tricky shot and I didn't get him very clear, but I love that you can see that he was singing!

A little Bufflehead!  I think I saw another one too, but they were both far off shore. 

Awww!  A Western Grebe!  Now you can see the difference!  

They look like they have a flattop fade!  Cute!

A Golden Eagle!!  Closeup...

...and looking like it wants to eat me!

More babies!

So much beauty and peace out there!  I just love it.  And I got some more great shots which I shall put in the next post!  

xoxo

Nikon D600

Muskrat Love (and Lots More to Love!) At Modoc National Wildlife Refuge - Closeups!

Returning to Modoc National Wildlife Refuge which is just off Highway 395 in Northern California near Alturas.  In my last post, we saw the gorgeous landscapes which included various birds and mammals and even a couple of reptiles! 

Previous Post:  I Like Countryside!!

Now we'll get an even closer look at the amazing creatures inhabiting this beautiful wilderness area. Starting with this colorful caped-crusading Barn Swallow.

Flying Tern

American White Pelican

Muskrat!  Working hard but keeping an eye on me...

Oh my!  What is this beauty!  I believe it's a Yellow-headed Blackbird chowing down on a cattail!

Now this is a story of an adorable, but bad little baby who did not listen to her mommy.  Let's call her Fawn. 

As I came around the corner on the auto trail, this little cutie was nibbling at the grass on the left side of the road.

When she noticed that she was no longer alone, she seemed to remember that she was supposed to stay hidden.  She looked into the taller grass on the left and then looked around like, "No...that's not it..."

Fawn trotted a little ways up...

And then a little ways down...

She looked all over for the spot where she was supposed to stay put while her mama was away!

Looking a bit baffled, she crossed over to the right side of the road (I pretty much had my car parked blocking the whole road about 100 feet from her because it was just after a blind curve).  

"I just know my mommy hid me in the tall grass right around here somewhere!"

"Hmmm, maybe me and my little Bee friend should check the other side again..."

She walked back to the right side about 50 feet in front of my car where I couldn't really get a photo of her.  Twice she walked into the tall grass.  The first time she reappeared after about 30 seconds but stayed in the same area sniffing the grass.  Then she came about 8 feet closer and appeared to have found the spot!

She disappeared and I sat there (with one vehicle behind me at this point) and waited about 3 minutes to make sure she wouldn't pop back out.  She didn't so I think she found the spot.  :)  So much fun!

Are you mama??

And then...finally!  What I had come to see!  A Sandhill Crane!  If there was a chick, I couldn't see it.  Haha!  But at least I saw one of the damn Cranes!  And got a couple pretty good photos too. 

By the way, this was in the evening on my second pass through.  But worth the wait.  

And with that...I pulled off the Refuge and headed back towards 395 South.

And was treated to this young buck and another friend saying bye to me.  

Thanks for visiting Modoc National Wildlife Refuge!

xoxo

Nikon D600
Tamron Nikon Mount 150-600 F5-6.3 DiVC (handheld)