Sunday, February 17, 2008

Slow Day at the Wildlife Refuge

Gray skies, cold weather and winds this morning left me feeling like taking a drive somewhere and when the wildlife refuge was brought up, I said okay. Usually it's a yawnfest for me because I'm not the birder in the family. But I've got a good camera and a zoom lens and so I don't mind it so much these days. We haven't been there since I last posted about it, which was around the holidays. That time I got lucky and took a great photo of a fox, as well as a great blue heron in flight. Today, however, there was nothing going on while we were there. We did see a couple of Buffleheads, both a male and a female. The male is unmistakable with the big triangle of white on his head. The female was paddling against the current and holding her own with it, going under to eat and coming back up. Buffleheads are most frequently encountered in wintertime, and I read that they're really quite tame and have a spirited disposition. When they're in flight, they're very fast with rapid wingbeats. Aren't you glad you learned all this? Geez, I'm a fount of information here with my husband's bird books. Where's that tea I poured? I'm still freezing . . .

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

well, I'm hoping to stay in the rest of the afternoon. Temps dropping. Rain. Heavy winds. So glad you did the wildlife refuge thing for me today. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Beautiful shots, even though it wasn't the most exciting outing for you.

Russell said...

As always, a pleasure to visit your blog! Wow! These pictures of the Buffleheads are great!

What I REALLY liked, even more, was reading about the bonfire your husband built for you - now that is special!! It is things like that, that make life worth living!!

Here's to you and your husband!! Take care.

Jeannelle said...

Buffleheads?! I've never heard of them. Thanks for the info!