Our Adventure, Part 3

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  Maggie and I thought we'd split the birdie pix from our adventure into two days' worth - one, because there are a TON of them, and two, because someone still hasn't finished going through all of them.  Ahem.  (Mom)  Anyway, today, I'll cover the birdies we saw at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge.  There is a lot to go through, so let's jump right in.

We'll get this over with first:

"Greater" Yellowlegs

"Lesser" Yellowlegs

For the record, I think they're BOTH great.

We saw lots of different Sandpipers - and lots and lots of them!  Here is one who was off by himself:

A solitary Solitary Sandpiper

Ha!  Get it?  Solitary Solitary?!?  Hmm.  Maybe that's why he was giving Mom that look; she's the one who said it.

There were lots of ducks, too, to include Blue-Winged Teals:

Can you see the blue on the front part of his wing?

And Green-Winged Teals:

Green-Winged Teal, molting into breeding plumage

There was also an abundance of Avocets:

American Avocets, a couple Stilt Sandpipers, and a Snowy Egret trying to hide from Mom

This Avocet looked like it was practicing some ballet moves:

American Avocet

Isn't he or she elegant?!?

We also saw a "couple" of Coots:

A sea of American Coots

These two Egrets looked like they were posing for Mom:

"Hurry up, camera lady.  We don't have all day."
"Places to go, fishies to catch."

Maggie and I can totally relate!

Check out this birdie's snooter!

Willet

Mighty impressive, isn't it?  But he is outdone by these two kinds of birdies:

Long-Billed Dowitchers and Stilt Sandpipers

The somewhat smaller, more delicate-looking ones are the Stilt Sandpipers.  The ones with the SUPER long beaks are the Dowitchers.  They are both fairly large (9 and 11 inches long) compared to our next birdie (only 6 inches long):

Least Sandpiper

Mom spotted this birdie hiding in the reeds:

Immature Black-Crowned Night Heron

She doesn't see them very often.  They are fairly elusive, so she was mighty pleased to spot him!

Oh.  And "immature" refers to his age/plumage, not his behavior.

I think.

It's always thrilling to see these guys:

White-Faced Ibises

Mom had not seen Ibises until we started making the trips down to Quivira!

Out in the flats, Mom spotted this group of Egrets:

Snowy Egrets and friend

And more than a couple gulls:

Franklin's Gulls

And lastly, some of you might remember back in June, when we told you about going hunting for a rare-to-Kansas bird - the Reddish Egret.  He had been spotted at Quivira NWR, and we were able to find him.  It was really exciting!  Well -- guess who is still there?!?

Reddish Egret and friends

According to Audubon, the current United States population is only about 2000 pairs.  It is purported to be one of the rarest birds in North America, and Mom and Dad (and Maggie and I!) have seen this one TWICE!

Please tune back in tomorrow, when we wrap up our adventure with pix from Cheyenne Bottoms!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Cammie!