Well, after what seems like a very very long winter, Waddles came out of hibernation this past weekend.
I try to attend the annual Ladd Marsh Bird Festival each year. It gives me an excuse to go back to La Grande, Oregon, where I used to live, to visit friends and the amazing marsh with its bird life.
As usual, when I looked back at Waddles, parked in the RV park, she looks a bit overwhelmed.
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| Small but Brave |
We settled right in, and it was a lovely spot first thing in the morning.
I had dinner with friends the first night and got up VERY VERY early on Saturday morning to get on to the Marsh. Took a long walk into an area that is only open to the public during the festival to experience the 'dawn chorus' of birds coming to life. I could hear lots of Marsh Wrens and Common Yellowthroats but saw only a few of them. Lots of ducks, geese, red-winged blackbirds, swallows, hawks and sandhill cranes.
I didn't take a lot of photos that morning, so I could just immerse myself in the chorus.
I spent the rest of the morning at one of the festival stations, staffed by friends. It was fun to visit with the parade of people I know and haven't seen for a long time, and to watch the water birds on the pond at this station. Avocets, Stilts, phalaropes, and lots more.
That afternoon, and Sunday morning I wandered around the marsh some more and found more birds and took pictures. No matter how many Owls I see, they always make me smile.
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| Baby Great-Horned Owl staring at me |
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| Mama Great-Horned Owl staring at me |
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| Lots of Canada Goose babies and if you look close in the back right, you will see napping Elk |
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| Tree Swallow, trespassing |
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| Western Kingbird |
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| Male Northern Harrier "Grey Ghost" |
This marsh is one of my favorite places in the world. I can spend hours and hours wandering around on the trails. The festival was a scaled down version this year, but was still lovely.
We are back home now, unpacking and cleaning up. I am all vaccinated up so hope to do more traveling soon.
When I opened the blog to write this post I got a notice that said the email notification systems was going away. I interpret that to mean that those of you who clicked the button to get an email notification when the blog is updated, won't get that any more. I will try to figure out if there is a new alternative to that, and let you know.
How is your summer starting out? Got any fun trips planned?
