What to do on a cold November day? So I had just read Jack Chiles’ Hagerman NWR bird census results for Nov. 15 on Wednesday. Geese are back! Sounded like the don’t-need-to-get-out-of-a-perfertly-warm-car adventure! Jim was game, so off we went.
From the top of the hill near the visitor center , we did not see any geese on the green wheat fields below. When we made it down on the Wildlife Rd, this Great Blue Heron was our first find!
It was not long before we saw our first geese! They were along the shore.Duck, duck, no goose in this crowd. 🙂Jim spied the mallards and pintails in the among the weeds. Thanks Jim for the photo.Another photo by Jim of resting Snow Geese! Or were they being shy?A little further down the road, we found the big flock! Most were Snow Geese with a few of the Ross’s Geese sprinkled in.The wind was whipping so out in the open water there were white caps. However, most of the birds stayed in the more sheltered water areas.A lone White Pelican flew by.Busy feeding!A pair of young Bald Eagles were seen, but never sat together. The adults were nowhere to be seen.A bit of a squabble over lunch!It’s all mine!A Crested Caracara fended off the Turkey Vultures. It looked like the meal de jour was a Snow Goose.The buzzard kept its distance.Finally the Caracara had enough. It picked up the carcass and flew a few hundred feet away.As we were leaving, the big flock came closer to the road. We thought that was nice of them. LOL
Indeed, I hope all of you found a way to stay warm! Furthermore, you might want to check the refuge for yourself on a cold day.
Keep looking!
The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know
Good idea for cold day!!
Great photo series of the caracara!
Thanks 🙂
What a great trip to Hagerman – super birding