Birds at Baskett Slough

Great Egret

White on Orange

An egret fishes a pond at sunset at the Slough. There's a little pullout on the road that bisects the refuge, it sometimes allows close viewing of birds by using your car as a blind. I say sometimes because there are no restrictions on getting out of your vehicle (this isn't an auto tour route), and there are often birders in the pullouts who have gotten out of their cars to scope out birds further afield, scaring off many of the birds who otherwise might have stayed closer to the road.

On this day, however, the fates smiled and I was alone with the birds.

The second picture was taken about 10 minutes after the first, the sunset has faded and the waters have turned from intense oranges and yellows to muted oranges and blues.

Western Grebe

Time Off

Due to a shutdown at work in October of 2001, I had a week off and decided to spend as much time as possible at some of the local wildlife refuges. The timing wasn't ideal, as it rained frequently, the light was poor, and it was too early for the wintering wildfowl to have arrived.

Nevertheless, one delight from that week was watching this western grebe over several days at the Slough, a favorite of mine at the time. The grebe was nonplussed by the rain, not surprising for a creature that spends so much of its life on or under the water. The little splashes in the water are from the rain, but the drops on the grebe's back are not. The grebe had just surfaced briefly before dipping back under the water.

Western grebe with a fish in its mouth at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge

Dinner Time

This is the same grebe from above. Althought I had taken some pictures of it on previous days, on this day I positioned myself to get a better view and spent about four hours in one spot, watching everything that came and went, including a flyby from a peregrine falcon. The grebe would fish over large parts of the pond, and occasionally come close enough to allow me to to take its picture, but only stayed on the surface for a brief period of time. Near the end of the day, it came quite close and I took a few pictures before it quickly dived under the water. To my surprise, this time it came up with a fish in its bill. The fish struggled but there was no escape. It was soon gone as was the grebe, back under the water and searching for more.

It was getting late and with the heavy clouds rolling in, my light was gone and so was I. The grebe had its dinner and it was time for mine.

American Robin

A Leg Up

It's not uncommon to see birds of all shapes and sizes with what appears to be only one leg. While in some cases the bird may have actually lost a leg, the situation is usually much more benign: the bird has tucked one of its legs up into its body.

Why do they do this? Perhaps to get a leg up on the competition (ba dum — I'll be here all week folks).

In cold weather, I could see how it would help keep the leg warm, but birds do it all the time in all kinds of weather. Whatever the reason, it's an impressive feat (err, foot).