.............Labor Day at Ridgefield Nat'l Wildlife Refuge.....a sunny
day of 75-80 degrees.
-------Approximately 450 Long-billed Dowitchers were feasting and
dining at Quigley Lake Apparently, when the refuge was testing their new
water-flow system in the west end, they put some water back in this
lake, so the Dowitchers of several weeks ago returned. About 6
Sandpipers were with them. While I was scoping the scene, a pair of
MacGillivray's Warblers kept circling around me, checking me out.
-------In the observation house at Rest Lake, the eggs in the Barn
Swallow nest of several weeks ago have hatched into 5 or 6 fledglings
with with very large mouths and appetites to go!!!
-------Otherwise ,the more mundane birds were around. Still plenty
of Cliff and Barn Swallows. 2 Western Pond Turtles observed in a slough.
Lots of yellow daisy-like flowers(Asters?) blooming where the ponds and
lakes used to be. No Sandhill Cranes seen or heard, but expect them back
in the next 2 weeks, or so. Everything very dry and dusty. Thousands of
Grasshoppers around.
-------So quiet at the refuge......one only hears the wind blowing
through the Ash and Poplar trees. The solitude is great for the body and
soul.
Got to go now----and "feed my face"!!!!!!