Recent Sightings at the Wildlife Refuge
We’ve been going to the local wildlife refuge more frequently lately. The kids grab their snacks and binoculars, Claire and I grab our cameras, and we drive through at a snail’s pace, windows down, taking it all in. It’s very relaxing.
Claire has an ornithology app that helps us identify the birds we find. We’ve started keeping a list of our sightings. Every so often the app will tell us we’ve added a “new lifer” to our list. We’re up to forty-five species, with plenty of repeats and occasions when we forgot to log something new.
The other day the refuge seemed eerily empty at first. A closer inspection revealed lots of life teeming in the marshes. A and T made friends with a tiny bunny who let them amble up close. We stumbled onto a pair of barn swallows who made their nest inside an enclosed bird blind. There was deer aplenty. We even saw a coyote clutching some unidentifiable prey in its mouth (rabbit?) not twenty yards from our car.
Other sightings dotted the path: Egrets in flight; ducks and mallards of various stripes; sandhill cranes feeding in the marshes; a friendly pair of wood doves. So much to see.
Today was extra special. As we stopped at various points, turkey vultures swooped in low over the fields, red-winged blackbirds (my favorite) returned to their familiar “Area Closed” sign to say hello, red-tailed hawks circled lazily above, and a pair of California scrub jays ventured in close.
The most memorable moment came as we stopped to walk the short trail to the bird blind and found ourselves being watched by a bald eagle perched high up in a nearby tree.
I’ve never considered myself a “birder” in the traditional sense. I have family members who are very into ornithology. While I was always happy to tag along on the occasional outing, I never really tried to identify anything specific.
What I have realized is how fun it is to stop, observe, and appreciate wildlife in a single bounded area. I love finding new species inhabiting familiar spaces as the seasons change. Each time we pass through I think of those expansive grasslands as blank canvases; each time I get excited wondering what sort of painting will present itself.
It’s a great way to slow down. Instead of rushing to see the “next best thing,” you become completely absorbed with what is before you. Familiarity augments the discerning eye. Soon you notice new patterns presenting themselves on paths you may have passed a dozen times before.
Anyway, here’s a selection of the best shots.
