Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge - Part 8

We found a Great Egret rookery on the auto tour at the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge!

It's a ways off the road, so it was tough to get good photos, but you get the idea...

How exciting! We've never seen a baby egret before!

Speaking of "Great" things... We also spotted a Great Horned Owl in the same tree where we've seen one before. Wonder if it was the same one?

Tomorrow we're off to the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge...

Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge - Part 7

The great thing about going to the refuge in late spring/early summer is seeing the cute little baby ducks!

These mallard ducklings on the auto tour at the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge brought an instant smile to our faces...

Tomorrow, we head to the Great Egret rookery...

Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge - Part 6

We saw so many birds during our visit to the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge that I came away with enough photos to be split into a whole week of posts! The scenery is absolutely beautiful at and around the refuge! Add in the mountains and the clouds and you've got a little slice of heaven.

Here are some more of the birds we saw on the auto tour...

Sandhill Cranes

This female Northern Harrier was really far away, so the photos are a little blurry, but I just had to share this stunning bird with you!

We encounter a lot of first sightings during our visits to wildlife refuges, but seeing cows in the middle of the auto tour was a definite unexpected first for us!

They really didn't want to move out of the way for us either!

See what I mean about the beautiful scenery?

Tomorrow, I'll post some more photos of the cute little ducklings we saw!

Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge - Part 5

The kiosk wasn't the only place we saw Cliff Swallows at the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge!

There were a whole bunch hanging out on the auto tour, too!

What a gorgeous day to go birding!

And who's that hiding in the greenery?

 A black-crowned night heron!

 I'll be posting more photos from our visit tomorrow!

Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge - Part 4

Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge

It's a rare thing for me to find a marsh wren who's willing to sit still long enough for me to snap a photo!

 We saw quite a few baby ducks during our drive through the auto tour!

 How cute are these little bundles of fluff?

What a beautiful place to grow up at!

Lots more baby pics to come...

Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge - Part 3

Our drive through the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge auto tour continues with the cliff swallow nests at the kiosk...

(Here's the post from last year that shows them building the nests with mud.) This time they were already built and the adults were frantically flying in food...

We saw lots of other birds, including red-winged blackbirds...

 ...a camouflaged Savannah sparrow..

 ...and a tricolored blackbird...

There's a great egret flying away...

I'll post more pics tomorrow...