Last Week's Trip Was For The Birds

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Today - more birds from our latest trip to Quivira NWR!  Ready to roll?

We're never quite sure what we're going to find down there, which is part of the excitement.  Every time we've gone, it's been a different experience.  Just last May, Mom saw her much-adored Snowy Plover for the first time.  We saw a few this trip, too; here's one:

❤ The Snowy Plover! ❤

So ... what could be better than a Snowy Plover?!?  How about a Snowy Plover puppy?!!

❤ A young Snowy Plover! ❤

Yeah, Mom went a bit bonkers over him.

Maybe more than "a bit".

We also saw some Black-Necked Stilts:

Black-Necked Stilt

I still think they should be re-named "Red-Legged Stilts".

Here's one infiltrating a gathering of American Avocets:

American Avocets and a Black-Necked Stilt

Here's another long-legged birdie:

Greater Yellowlegs

One of the biggest surprises was seeing a Bald Eagle!  They are normally here in Kansas during migration and in the Winter; it is rare to see one during the hot Summer months.

Bald Eagle

It was very exciting!

We also saw a few Pelicans:

American White Pelicans

Mom was thrilled to get all three of our Egrets in one photo!

Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, and a Cattle Egret

The Great Egrets are taller, with yellow bills.  The Snowies have the black bills.  The Cattle Egret is the smallest, has a yellow bill, and has red/orange on the top of his head.

We saw a lot of Great Blue Herons; Mom caught this guy by himself:

Great Blue Heron

Our last bird shot for you is a group photo:

Two White-Faced Ibises, a Great Egret, and a Snowy Egret

For a hot, Summer day, when we really didn't think we'd see much, we sure took in a lot of beautiful birdies!!!

"So many birdies, Mags!  I'm exhausted!"
"I wonder what else is out there?"

We'll share more sights with you tomorrow!  If you'd like to see more of the birdies, please visit our FlickR album at this link.

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher