Landscapes And Raptors And Big Birds - Oh My!

Hello, everyone! It's me, Cam. Maggie and I are going to take the next two days to fill you in on our 18th of November trip down to Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. We have been again since then, but Mom is just now starting to process those photos! Anyway, let's load up and go!

"It's very windy today, Mags!"
"This could mean exciting things!"

You never know what the winds will bring in Kansas.  Cold weather?  Hot weather?  Pollen?  Cool birdies?  Or ...

TUMBLEWEED!!!

We had to stop to let it cross the road.

Anyway, we had maybe 40-45 mile an hour wind gusts, which made driving a bit of a challenge for Dad and steadying the  bazooka  Canon with the 600mm lens a bit tricky for Mom.  It sure brought in awesome skies, though!

Road through Quivira NWR

The sun and shadows made for interesting lighting.  Wouldn't you like to sit down on the bench in this next for a while?

A bench just perfect for enjoying a beautiful day!

The clouds in this next shot seemed to go on forever:

Our big sky!

Mom likes that she got a windmill way out there, plus the corral and barbed wire.  Very Kansas-y!

On to the raptors!  This one was a "lifer" for Mom -- she may have seen them before without knowing, but got a positive ID on him this time!

Rough-Legged Hawk!

Our most abundant hawk:

Red-Tailed Hawk 

And we saw the bird nicknamed "The Grey Ghost" :

Northern Harrier

I think he was checking Mom out!

This birdie kept teasing Mom -- posing on fence posts for a split second, then flying off, then landing, then flying off ... what a great bird!

American Kestrel

The American Kestrel is the smallest falcon in North America.  Quite possibly the most amusing one, if you ask me and Maggie!

How about another Kansas landscape?

Ah!  Kansas!

One of the larger birdies we saw was this one:

Great Blue Heron

That one was highly cooperative, posing like a super model!  We'll eventually post more pix of him on our FlickR site; we'll keep you posted!

The largest birds we saw were among Mom and Dad's favorites:

Sandhill Cranes!  And assorted ducks.

We all delight in being able to watch them, to see them fly, and listen to their magical song!

We'll take a break for now, but there's more to come!  Meet you back here tomorrow?

"So they have a couple of Prairie Dogs in there, but we aren't allowed to go in?"
"It just doesn't seem right, does it?"

Have a great day, everyone!

Cammie!