Who We Are

Saturday, November 05, 2016

Oh, Yeah ...

Greetings to all.  It's me, Maggie.  Remember we told you about having taken another trip to Quivira National Wildlife Refuge?  Yeah, we were going to get back to you with some highlights.  I thought I'd cover that today.  Pull up a chair ...

IMG_6182MagsChair
"Yeah, this feels good."

... and let's go birding!

I'm going to jump right in with my favorite photo. Cam's, too.

IMG_5473Coyote
Coyote

Isn't he stunning? I know. It's not a bird - but Mom likes things other than birds, you know! But let's get to the birds. Here's a tiny one that Mom was able to get close to:

IMG_5588LeastSandpiper
Least Sandpiper

And here are some large ones she wasn't able to get close to:

IMG_5693SandhillCranesGreaterWhiteFrontedGeese
Sandhill Cranes (standing) and Greater White-Fronted Geese (swimming and flying)

She was thrilled anyway; she had never seen Sandhill Cranes before!  That kind of goose, either!

These guys are Mom's favorite duck in the world:

IMG_5713NorthernShovelers
Northern Shovelers, male and female

Quite the snooters on those guys, huh?!!?

This guy was practically stalking Mom:

IMG_5777CattleEgret
Cattle Egret

Mom couldn't make out the tiny duck swimming with the Coots until he did this:

IMG_5845RuddyDuckAmericanCoots
Ruddy Duck

Very cooperative of him, don't you think?!?

I like the nonchalant way this guy flies:

IMG_5857LongBilledDowitchers
Long-Billed Dowitchers

We also saw quite a few of these:

IMG_5889AmericanAvocet
American Avocet

And happy ducks:

IMG_5906Mallards
Mallards (the male is smiling!)

And the biggest thrill of the day was seeing one of our rarest birds in North America - the Whooping Crane!

IMG_5961WhoopingCranes
Whooping Cranes!

That was as close as we could get! Like I said last weekend, we took some roads to try to get north of them, on the other side, but we couldn't really get there. We did see one more thing that made Mom happy, though. Check him out:

IMG_6010Donkey
Donkey!

Cam and I didn't get to meet him, but we would have loved to.

Anyway ...

IMG_6183MagsChair
"That's a wrap, folks!"

... I'm so relaxed now, I'm ready to fall asleep. Thanks for letting me share Mom's pix with you; we hope you enjoyed them. If you'd like to see more, please click here (it's a 2-page album).

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

PS from Mom: It was such a thrill to see the Whooping Cranes!  In the 1940s, their numbers had dwindled down to about 20, but have now risen to about 600. They are still considered an endangered species.  We saw 6 of them from about 1/4 of a mile. The photos are blurry, even with my 600mm lens, but just to see them ... WOW!

11 comments:

  1. Maggie,
    Ohhhhh don't you just love it when you have support for your beautiful head!!
    We have never seen a coyote in the wild...or Whooping Cranes great pics.
    Mom loved the Northern Shovelers, their bills are amazing.
    I like donkeys. I once rode on the back of one of Marg's donkeys in a blogville parade
    Hugs madi your bfff

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  2. Thanks for the lovely bird tour. And you do look so very comfy on your chair.

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  3. Oh, you had us with your "Pull up a chair" photo! These photos are all stunning! Absolutely beautiful and so sharp!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  4. Incredible photos! Your mom is very talented! Of course not as talented as you are but for a biped she's pretty awesome!

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  5. We (and our mom) always love your birding pictures. How rare to see a coyote during the day too.

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  6. Great pics, especially the whooping cranes!!

    And Maggie, guess who else likes to place herself under the chairs? The only thing is she gets the NO NO command because she likes to wrap her mouth AROUND that rung instead of just resting it on top like you do:)

    Woos - Lightning and Misty

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  7. How cool to see the whooping cranes. Mom saw several geese the other day just strolling through a farm field on her way home from work
    hugs
    Mr Bailey, Hazel & Mabel

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  8. What a great day your momma had! I'm glad her stalker didn't skeer her.

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  9. OMD..We think our Mama might have fainted if she got to see whooping cranes!!! We always love when you all go birding!!
    Smileys!
    Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo

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  10. Your photos are fantastic - so clear and crisp! Just beautiful!

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  11. So excited for you to see the cranes, but wow, that coyote was stunning too!

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