Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary
I thought I was so clever. On my last visit the previous Saturday, the Reifel staff told me they expected the Killdeer eggs to hatch Tuesday. Aha, I said to myself, so we’ll visit Wednesday when the babbies are out of the shell, but still not quite 100% mobile, and we will take amazing photos of these adorable little fuzzballs.
A solid plan, on paper! However, it looks like Mother Nature had other ideas. Either the babies hatched earlier than staff expected, and / or they started walking earlier than I expected, but the end result was that they were perfectly mobile when I showed up Wednesday morning. Still close to their old hatching ground, but in nice soft grass, and — crucially — much closer to cover and further from me. Not so great for photos, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles, I guess.
The sanctuary was full of the usual suspects, apart from that, plus some nice scenery on the outer dike trail, which I’m really getting into. The local Mallards are shedding their winter down, with hilarious results; the number of winter migrants is starting to decline, I think, but at least the wigeons are with us at least for a little while!
Richmond Nature House
Just on a whim and because it was mostly on my way, I decided to swing by the Richmond Nature House. Sadly, the seed feeders seemed to be empty, leading to many disappointed chickadees, juncos, sparrows, etc… checking them out once, then leaving empty-handed.
However: the nectar feeders were very full indeed, and very busy. I don’t remember any Anna’s Hummingbirds, but the number of male Rufous has gone from 2 down to 1 in the last month. I predicted it, and it came true: we are down to one single rightful Lord Protector of this realm, repeatedly going through a circuit that includes receiving sweet tribute from each feeder, and resting at various strategic perches — some close to the feeders, and therefore close to my camera; some way up in the trees where he no doubt plans more conquests.
Funny thing: when I got here, a few Serious Birders With Their Serious Gear present were present, all pointed at one feeder at the end of the row. I didn’t want to bother them and didn’t feel that social anyway, so I parked myself at the other end. Which turned out to be a better idea! They were obviously going for those tricky, extremely high-speed hovering / feeding photos, but I ended up getting lots of shots of him perching and I’m happy with that.
At the time I figured they had to be having less fun than me, but let’s be fair: that sort of waiting game can be super rewarding if you’re in the right mood, and far be it from me to second-guess other people’s photography. Plus, since the Rufous was going through a predictable circuit they were clearly getting some shots. So, who knows? Let’s just say I did my thing and they did their thing and we all have our own thing.
