I’m still way behind on posts, so this one will be mostly photos. We had a spare day on the weekend, and Justine was able to snag us a spot at Reifel. This time of year is good, with lots of interesting birds on migration. But we’re always secretly (or not so secretly) hoping for owls, and this trip did not dissapoint!
Right at the entrance, there were some chickadees feeding in the conifers.
As it’s migration season, there are often lots of shore birds in the ponds around the sanctuary. There was a big flock of Long-billed Dowitchers.
This little sparrow was popping in and out of the underbrush.
Fairly early on, we were alerted to the Great Horned Owl that was resting in one of the trees along the path. This was very early in our day, and it was a great sighting! It was sitting with it’s back to us most of the time, but it did move about a bit, and so there were a few decent views. This was the best of the bunch as it did some preening.
It was a nice enough day…
but we decided to stick to the inside trails.
A pair of female Hooded Mergansers
A female Northern Pintail.
And an American Widgeon.
We had a few juvenile yellow-rumped warblers around, flitting about in the trees. I think I only got one decent shot!
OK, maybe two good shots.
We had another rare sighting in one of the small, interior ponds. It may just look like a mallard, but this little guy is a green-winged teal! We see them every once in a while, but it’s always a good sighting.
Cedar Waxwing
Other than the owls, one of the highlights was a flock of cedar waxwings that were all around the sanctuary. There are lots of beries around, and they were having a feast!
Little brown creeper
Owls Part II
We had looped back to see the Great Horned Owl (it hadn’t really moved), and another visitor informed us that there was a Barred Owl on the other side of the sanctuary. We had literally just walked past the spot (well, it was down a rarely used side trail), but we thought we better go back and check it out!
It was sitting on a brach, right over the path!
While I was taking photos, Justine managed to grab a short video!
He was a bit agitated by all the people around.
Another Justine photo for a bit of perspective.
As we were leaving Reifel, there was a small flock of Sandhill Cranes at the entrance pond. They were all quite young birds.
One female Anna’s Hummingbird
Our walk around the sanctuary. The Great Horned Owl was up in the top right corner; the Barred Owl was that little side trail in the middle left.