Two Greeting Grebes

 Besides the two Clark's Grebes that greeted (and actually swam TOWARD us at the entrance),

 we saw quite a few gulls on the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge auto tour...

Tule Lake Auto Tour

On today's post, we continue down the road on the auto tour at the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge...

 We saw lots and lots of Coots with several Grebes mixed in, along with a few Wigeons...

This Ruddy Duck was tucked in and taking a snooze...

American Coot

Ring-billed Gull

Juvenile Pied-billed Grebe

...and here's a Great Blue Heron, skimming over the water with his big, beautiful wings...

How wonderful it would be to fly over such a picturesque place!

Tomorrow, the Grebe Whisperer takes over the blog...

Tule Lake NWR - Part 3

There were lots of gulls at the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge when we drove through the auto tour.

In fact, they were literally all over the road!

And, of course, there are always a few grebes hanging around looking fierce...

And guess what! We finally spotted the bird I've been looking for for years! A yellow-headed blackbird was perched at the very end of the auto tour like he'd been sitting there waiting for us to arrive and snap photos of him!

One more bird to cross off my list. Now what? How about a white-tailed kite. I'd like to put my order in for one right now.

Tule Lake NWR - Part 2

Our trip to the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex continues with Part 2 at the Tule Lake NWR.

Isn't is awesome when a bird flies in and lands right in front of you? This American White Pelican did just that and allowed us to get some great close-ups...

I'm still amazed at how they grow that bump on their bills just for breeding season.

 Further down the auto tour, we came upon this feeding frenzy...

This poor Canvasback has such a big egg on his head that it looks like he was hit over the head with a frying pan like in a cartoon!

Colusa Cormorants

Lots of Cormorants at the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge!

 Look at those detailed feathers!

 Oh, and here's a ring-billed gull, too...

Shorebirds Make Me Happy

More photos from our trip to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge:

Black-bellied Plovers

Western Sandpipers

Ring-billed Gull

American White Pelicans and Double-crested Cormorants

Great Egret