George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary – Page 25

Great Horned + Dowitchers

It was a pleasant afternoon and a half decent crowd at Reifel when I arrived to help out on the trails today. A favourite visitors are always asking about is owls,

… and much to their delight one of the Great Horned Owls was in a decent spot for viewing today. While the adults and two juveniles this year have been viewable from a distance earlier in the year, this was probably the closest one has been in a while.

With not much else happening,

… I decided to spend some time with the Dowitchers.

They were in the southwest field along with some Yellowlegs,

… with a few taking advantage of the great day for a little bathing.

Marbled Godwit

After getting a text of a Marbled Godwit being located at Reifel, I decided to make some time in the afternoon to head out there.

The Godwit was located in the southwest field on a log with some Yellowlegs and Dowitchers.

While it did head out into the water briefly,

… it also spent time wandering on the logs. Catching an insect here,

… and striking the occasional pose along the way.

The Marbled Godwit even found a feather to play with,

… while it continued along the logs

… and checking everything out.

Then it settled down to do what it did most,

… a little preening and a lot of snoozing the afternoon away.

Chipping Sparrow

This afternoon’s goal was to focus on song birds. While I did see Orange-crowned, Yellow and Yellow-rumped Warblers, they were sticking to the tree tops and not cooperating for photos. So it was time to change gears and get something closer to the ground.

Updated 2016-08-31

While I initially thought this was a Lincoln’s Sparrow, thanks to Liron’s comment, it is actually a young Chipping Sparrow.

Here it appears to have caught itself a large ant.

The Chipping Sparrow was busy scooting around foraging on the side of the trail. While constantly on the move, I did manage to keep up and get a couple of shots.

Bonus bird of the day was this Downy Woodpecker.