Tres Amigos

I pointed out in my last blog entry that I almost always find White-faced Ibis where I find American Avocets. I should also have noted that wherever I find Ibis and Avocets I also find Black-Necked Stilts. The three seem almost inseparable.

We saw this Black-necked Stilt nesting in the same area where we first saw avocets as we entered the refuge.

BlkNkStltNesting

This year there seemed to be more Black-necked Stilts than Avocets at Bear River, and I found it just as hard to resist taking pictures of them as I did of taking pictures of Avocets. And as you probably already know, I have a hard time resisting reflections in the water.

RflctdStlt

Though they lack the Avocets soft orange plumage and curved bill, I love their spindly legs that must have given them their name.

WadngStlt

Although generally seen foraging in shallow water, large numbers of them were in drier areas, too

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StltOnSand

Though they lack the striking colors of Avocets and White-faced Ibis, I can’t resist the charm of this spindly wader.

White-faced Ibis at Bear River

Anywhere where I’ve found Avocets I’ve also found White-faced Ibis, and Bear River was certainly no exception on this trip. In fact, I think we saw more White-faced Ibis than we did Avocets. There were flocks of ibis flying overhead

IbisOverhd

throughout the refuge.

I still haven’t decided whether the distinctive silhouette with the curved beak

OneIbisOverhd

or the gaudy plumage when in breeding colors

OneIbisOverhd2

is more distinctive.

I do know it’s hard to not take a shot of every ibis you see

IbisWateronBill

because you’re never sure what the plumage will look like in a particular shot because the iridescent colors look entirely different in different light.

IbisClrfl

Sometimes you get lucky and the sun is at just the right angle and you get these kind of brilliant colors.

Goodbye to Bear River

I’ve already spent far longer showing the pictures I took at Bear River than I spent then the time I spent there, but I’ve only touched on the birds I saw there. Since I’m ready to move on, I’ll just finish by showing five of my favorite shots of birds I saw there.

I’m not sure if there were two pairs of Sandhill Cranes or if I just saw the same pair in two different parts of the refuge, but it’s always a thrill to see them because of their size and because we don’t see them in the Puget Sound.

UtSndhlCran

Eared Grebes are another bird we never see in the Puget Sound area, though there were several at Bear River.

UtErdGreb

Pheasants are occasionally seen in the Puget Sound area, but they’re always beautiful.

BRvrPhsnt
Strangely enough, I’d spent several days trying to get a decent shot of a Bullock’s Oriole

BkjsOr

at Theler, but the tree are much taller there and I never managed a shot nearly as good as this one.

Finally, here’s a shot of what I’m pretty sure is a Short-Eared Owl,

ShrtErdOwl

a first for me.

Babies Everywhere

I was certainly disappointed when I didn’t see any avocet chicks at Bear River, but I saw a lot of other chicks like the Clark’s Grebe chicks I featured on my last blog entry. I also saw numerous Canada Goose Gosling of all ages

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and sizes.

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One of the biggest treats, though, was this sighting of a Curlew.

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At first sighting I wondered what kind of birds all those small birds around the Curlew were. Then I realized they were actually very large Curlew chicks, the first I have ever seen.

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The biggest sighting, though, was a day later hundreds of miles away when I spotted two swans with their cygnet. I’ll have to admit that one of my long-term birding goals is to see more of the birds I see wintering in Puget Sound in their breeding habitat. Bear River was a great place to start and one I’ll return to often in the future.