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| "Greetings, Ed Center peeps!" "Hello?" |
It takes us a few hours to get down there, so we like to take a break at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center near Cheyenne Bottoms before we get started. There is a nice mowed area where we can all stretch our legs, nice "facilities" for Mom and Dad, and we generally get to schmooze some people. All in all, very nice. Then we head to Quivira!
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| Heading to Quivira NWR |
At this time of year, we generally see lots of raptors! Here is one of Mom's favorites:
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| Northern Harrier, ready to strike! |
She loves watching them hover then dive!
We saw two different kinds of Grebes!
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| Pied-Billed Grebe |
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| Eared Grebe |
Some of the Sandpipers are still around, like this one:
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| Lesser Yellowlegs |
And a few Shorebirds are still here:
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| American Avocets in flight |
Fall is one of those really exciting times for birding here in Kansas. The geese are starting to come in ...
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| Greater White-Fronted Geese - AKA Speckle Bellies! |
... AND the Sandhill Cranes are stopping by!!!
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| Sandhill Cranes in flight! |
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| More Sandhill Cranes! |
Mom and Dad just love seeing and hearing the Sandhills! Mom shot some video, but she was battling 35mph or more winds, so it was challenging. If you would like to see a couple clips, please click here to watch on YouTube.
Speaking of the winds, it was making the waves so high, we could barely see this Coot:
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| American Coot |
Mom couldn't resist.
... moving right along ...
We saw this pair of female ducks hanging out together:
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| Ruddy Ducks! |
And on our way out, Dad spotted this guy fishing in one of the little ponds:
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| Great Blue Heron |
It was a fun trip and we hope to go back soon!
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| "We need to get Mom to pack some travel games next time, Maggie." "Yeah. And more sammiches!" |
We'll be sure to keep you posted!
Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher
PS: If you'd like to see more pix from our trip, please click here to visit our FlickR album.
Of course you two are always the stars of the blog but OMCs the Greater White-Fronted Geese - AKA Speckle Bellies picture is amazing!! what a shot
ReplyDeleteHugs madi your bfff and mom
You two always have such fun adventures but we like these birdie ones the best!
ReplyDeleteGreat trip! Your mom takes such good photos- love those avocets in flight! Do the Sandhill cranes stop for a while? they are really cool to see up close!
ReplyDeleteWe love the Great Blue Heron!
ReplyDeletehugs
Hazel & Mabel
Dear Maggie, I love your mom's photos of the birds...especially the Northern Harrier-it's one I've never seen before. You must have loved that adventure.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend.
Wags,
Noreen and Hunter
Your birdie picture are so beautiful but my favorite picture is you girls curled up on the back seat ☺
ReplyDeleteMama squee-ed at your American Avocets...we really liked the part about more sammiches!
ReplyDeletexoxo,
Jakey, Arty & Rosy
you two should try barking at the cars with out of state plates, or something like that :)
ReplyDeletewe can hear the geese flying over our house in their migration travels. we need to get our mom to go to our local refuges! great pictures - the coot with no-body looks a little creepy :D we love tagging along on your birding adventures. thanks for sharoing!
pip, minnie, hollie, sharpie, ditto, TL
OMD, those pics are just FABulous! Again! I loved them all, butts I thinks the Pied Billed Grebe is adorables!
ReplyDeleteKisses,
Ruby ♥
pees: you GOTS to gets more sammiches!!!!!!
You always have the best adventures! Though apparently sammich deficient. Your momma really needs to step up her game on that.
ReplyDeleteWow, those shots of birds in the fall are so beautiful----we like the cute grebes!
ReplyDelete