Serene Scenery Sunday

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  As we mentioned on our last Serene Scenery Sunday post, last weekend, we all loaded up in the HR-V and headed down to Quivira National Wildlife Refuge.  The drive down is beautiful - and the refuge is incredibly scenic and is home to so many birdies! We thought we'd share some of our highlights with you today!

We saw quite a few Snow Geese:

Snow Geese

I mean ... maybe more than quite a few:

Oodles of Snow Geese

You get the idea.

Some of the shorebirds are returning to Kansas, like this little Killdeer:

Killdeer, rocking the Head Tilt

Pretty adorable. Mom should have given him a cookie. Or whatever Killdeer eat -- then she should have given Maggie and me a cookie. Right?

Anyway ...

Mom saw other shorebirds and was trying to photograph them, but this guy kept flying in front of her:

Ring-Billed Gull

Maybe he's their bodyguard or something? Anyway, once she took a few shots of him, he moved over and she got these guys:

Greater Yellowlegs

Killdeer in front, Baird's Sandpiper behind him

She's sorry the Baird's Sandpiper isn't clearer. She was shooting in 45-50mph wind gusts, and it was hard for her to keep her bazooka -- I mean 150-600mm lens -- steady. She was pleased she was able to focus on anything.

Moving right along ...

We saw lots of ducks - especially this variety:

Buffleheads

And although Mom wasn't able to get closer than all the way across the Big Salt Marsh from them, she and Dad did get to see some Sandhill Cranes!

Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese, and ducks (maybe Redheads; it's hard to tell)

The Big Salt Marsh is huge - (check out a shot Mom took of it on a previous trip here) - so that made things a bit challenging for her.

We moved on down south a bit to the Little Salt Marsh. They rebuilt the observation tower down there, so Mom braved the winds and climbed to the top. No bird sightings, but she did get a great view:

Little Salt Marsh from the tower

During the trip, we also saw a few Coots:

American Coots

And Mallards:

"You there!  Stay away from my woman!  Stay away, I say!"

We also saw some beautiful hawks like this one:

Rough-Legged Hawk

He was very cooperative - several people in one of Mom's bird groups photographed the very same hawk! He must like having his portrait taken.

I think that's a wrap for today - time to head home.

"Maggie, your winter coat is so nice and thick ... mind if I use you for a pillow?"
"Knock yourself out, Cam."

If you'd like to see more of our photos from this trip, please visit our FlickR album at this link.

Cammie!