It seems like a lot but you should see what I left out.
I didn’t get to see too much wildlife in the California desert but there was this adorable tiny ground squirrel (or chipmunk) that entertained me at my campsite for part of an afternoon. They would sit on their rock and then make a mad dash through some vegetation and grab something out of the gravel and race back to the rock and eat it like an ear of corn! I could not tell what was being eaten but it must have been pretty good. I confess, I am easily entertained and I must have spent an hour watching and photographing. I tried to figure out the species but had no luck. Maybe someone else knows?
Before we went to Malheur NWR, the girls and I spent a week in the California desert, next to the mighty Sierra Mountains, at the foot of Mount Whitney. The weather was often unsettled, presenting beautiful clouds and distant rain.
The birding highlight at Malheur NWR may have been seeing Burrowing Owls. It’s been years since I’ve seen them. We saw two pairs. One pair was too distant for good photos. We did observe them exchanging food or maybe something else and also an attempt at copulation. The other pair had a burrow very near the gravel road so we were able to view and photograph them from the car.
In some of these images, you can see the male, the lighter one, attempt to give the female a gift. We decided it was a piece of watermelon rind. She was not impressed and retreated to the burrow and he dropped it and stomped on it! Males are lighter because they spend more time outside the burrow and their feathers get sun bleached.
Shorebirds are always fun to watch. Their gangly legs and long beaks are just so interesting. The Wilson’s Phalarope is a bit different, mostly foraging while afloat in shallow water. Another difference is that the female is the more colorful of the pair and the male incubates the eggs and gets the youngsters off to a good start in life. I think the avocets enjoy looking at their reflection.
Long-billed Curlew, Black-necked Stilt, Willet, American Avocet, Wilson’s Phalarope.
My Everyday Photos 