Throwback Thursday: Q-Town Or Bust

Hello, everyone! It's me, Cammie! We've been meaning to fill you in on a recent trip to Quivira National Wildlife Refuge for a couple of weeks now, but Christmas took over - rightfully so! Let's set the time-machine back a couple weeks, before the bitterly cold temps and snow set in, and take a trip down to "Q-town" to do a little birding! Ready? Let's get into the Husky Recreational Vehicle (HR-V) and get buckled in!

"All set?"
"C'mon, folks!  Buckle up -- click it or ticket!"

On the way down, we take one or sometimes two breaks.  Here I am at a favorite rest stop along I70:

"Very nice facilities!"

They have sidewalks all over a pretty big area, trash cans, picnic tables, and clean facilities for bipeds.  It's a win for everyone!

The first birdie Mom saw was this hawk:

Harlan's Red-Tailed Hawk

The Harlan's Red-Tailed Hawk is much darker than the regular Red-Tails we see.  Isn't he pretty?!?

And the very next birdie was actually a pair of eagles!

Pretty sure this is Mrs. Bald Eagle

And this would be Mister Bald Eagle

Female Bald Eagles are larger than the males - and the one on the short, thick branch looked bigger to us!  They were perched in that tree together for quite a while!  

Further into the refuge, we saw this lovely foursome:

Ruddy Ducks

They were like the Fab Four of the duck world:  George, Ringo, Paul, and John.  Well ... only they are female ducks.  Anyway ...

Some shorebirds were still in the area!

Greater Yellowlegs

As Mom was creeping along trying to get a good shot of him, she thought she saw something hiding in the rocks along the shore of the Big Salt Marsh (BSM).  She waited ... and then:

"Whoa!  Hello."

It was a Snow Goose!  Up close and personal!  There were thousands of them across the BSM, but this guy clearly wanted some alone time.  Mom tried her best not to disturb.

Speaking of across the BSM, the last of the cranes were still there!

Sandhill Cranes

It was at the end of their migration season, so Mom and Dad were really happy to still be able to see and hear them!

No trip to Quivira is complete without a Great Blue Heron:

"Shall we gather at the river---I mean marsh..."

And it was really the Day of the Harriers!  Mom saw this beauty in flight:

Northern Harrier

And watched this one fight off yet another Harrier and this gull:

Northern Harrier and Ring-Billed Gull 

The Harrier's leg was out like that the whole time -- if you go to our album on FlickR, you will see the series.  We hope she's OK!

"I hope she's OK!  Hey, Dad.  Want me to drive?"

Maggie's always so empathetic -- and likes to help when she can.  

We also saw one of the smaller marshes filled up with geese:

Greater White-Fronted Geese - and a couple Canada Geese in there, too

It was another very enjoyable trip!  We hope you enjoyed coming along!  Time to head back home!

"Sure, Mags.  Just lay right here with me."
"Thanks, Cam."

If you'd like to see the rest of Mom's photos from that day, please visit our album on FlickR!

Thanks for coming along!

Cammie!