Who We Are

Friday, June 09, 2017

On The Hunt, Part I

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  A week ago tomorrow, Mom, Dad, Mags, and I headed down to Quivira National Wildlife Refuge once again.  We also hit Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area!  This time, we were on the hunt for a bird that was spotted down there -- a bird rare to Kansas!  Want to come along with us and see if we can find him?!?!  Let's go!

IMG_0686CamMagsHRV
"Buckle up, everyone!  It's a long way to get there!"
"Unless someone wants to play travel Othello, I'm going to catch a little shut-eye."

We saw a lot (and I do mean a LOT) of this on the way down:

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Windmills, old and new

Not bad for out the window with her iPhone, while Dad goes 75 mph, right?

The first birdie we saw at Quivira was this one:

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Black-Necked Stilt

In a post we did in May, we told you about how long their legs are.  Mom was thrilled to get his entire legs AND feety-feet in this shot.  Now you can see why they're called "Stilts"!

We saw a few of these Sandpipers:

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White-Rumped Sandpiper

And quite a few Phalaropes:

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Wilson's Phalaropes, male (left) and female (right)

And then ... we hit pay dirt!!!  We found THE rare-to-Kansas bird!

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Reddish Egret!

Isn't he beautiful?!!?  Check out the range map at this link, and you will understand just how exciting it was to see him in Kansas!!!  Mom's hunt was a success!  And ...

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"I see a FISHIE!!!"

... it looks like his was, too!

We also saw Mom's favorite little birdie:

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The Snowy Plover

Mom added those hearts.

Maggie was watching this little Plover through the window of the HR-V and thought he was play-bowing to us!

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"Seriously.  Is he cute enough?!?!"

Sorry.  That was Mom.  Anyway, he was actually practicing some nest-guarding behavior.  Having been a parent myself, I think that is just awesome!!!  Maybe they are my favorite little birdie, too!

Maggie, the Reddish Egret, and I weren't the only redheads at the refuge!  We spotted these ducks:

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Redhead Ducks

Gotta love our fellow redheads!

There were plenty of Pelicans swimming around:

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American White Pelicans

And a good number of Avocets.  Check out this group:

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American Avocets, Snowy Plovers, a Dunlin, and a Northern Shoveler in the background!

Look at all those Plovers!!!!!  Oh!  And the Dunlin -- that's a "lifer" for Mom!  (A bird she's never seen in person before.)  She was all kinds of excited.

Here's an Avocet in flight:

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American Avocet and 10,000,000 bugs

What can I say?  It's a marsh.  Bugs thrive there.  Mosquitoes, Dragonflies, Flies ... every biting, stinging ... sorry.  That's Mom again.

Here's the last birdie was saw before heading to Cheyenne Bottoms:

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Pied-Billed Grebe

They are very small, so Mom was thrilled to see one relatively close!

Please tune back in tomorrow for the rest of our hunt!

Cammie!

18 comments:

  1. Oh wow, what an amazing variety you got to see and what a score to see that beautiful Mr Egret!
    I am certain Mr Plover wanted to play with you Maggie, did you teach him his playbow tactics?
    Loves and licky kisses
    Princess Leah xxx

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  2. Very nice! Rarely do we see white pelicans around here
    Lily & Edward

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  3. Awesome pictures mates!!

    NukNuk

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  4. for being sled dogs, you two are certainly very good at hunting down birds for those great pictures

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  5. You saw all kinds of birds! I have never seen any type of egret. All these birds are beautiful. I am very much an amateur at naming birds. We bought some bird guides to help us identify the birds that come to our feeders--the birds that Natasha wants to invite to lunch. ;-)

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  6. Who knew there were so many birdies in KS!

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  7. Such great photos! The reddish egret is such a beautiful color!

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  8. Mags and Cammie your mom is a wild bird whisperer and your dad is an excellent scout
    Gorgeous!!
    Hugs madi your bfff and mom

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  9. Have you seen every single bird in the world yet, girls?

    Inca xx

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  10. What a great hunt adventure you all had!!! And we are glad Mom was successful in finding the reddish egret!! He was so nice to cooperate for the photoshoot too. We saw a gorgeous red cardinal yesterday on our walk. Another redhead, eh?

    Woos - Lightning and Misty

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  11. Oh my goodness, what a wonderful adventure!!

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  12. Wow, that is SO exciting. Your mom is awesome at taking bird photos. The reddish egret with his reflection is an amazing photo. And, I agree that the plovers are incredibly cute.

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  13. aww, the snowy plover is cute :) concats on the successful hunt! the reddish egret is beautiful. such pawsome pics of all the birdies. thank you for sharing - we are looking forward to part 2!

    pip, smidgen, minnie, hollie, sharpie, ditto, tl

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  14. Mom saw the sandpiper and it brought back a memory of doing a report in school about the sandpiper! That was a long time ago BOL!
    hugs
    Mr Bailey, Hazel & Mabel

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  15. We love seeing all the birdies you find. That Reddish Egret sure is a great find. We're sure we would never see one up here.

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  16. Aww, the Snowy Plover is the cutest one! It's exciting to see that rare Egrit too though. I'm surprised they allow dogs in a wildlife refuge, dogs aren't allowed in most places on Long Island. No fair! Glad you enjoyed your birdie adventure!
    Love & biscuits,
    Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them

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  17. Aww, the Snowy Plover is the cutest one! It's exciting to see that rare Egrit too though. I'm surprised they allow dogs in a wildlife refuge, dogs aren't allowed in most places on Long Island. No fair! Glad you enjoyed your birdie adventure!
    Love & biscuits,
    Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them

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  18. Wow, that is so interesting that there are so many birds in one place. We see pelicans here on the Atlantic coast, but in Kansas! That's crazy!

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