Highline Lake Mesa County, CO

I like to try and photo the sign of a park, for 2 reasons one, it tells me what photos follow and to remind me where I was! This time I forgot to snap one of the official sign at the park entrance but I did take the trail sign..I drove to Mesa County and the town of Loma, it's only a stones toss from the Utah Border to Highline Lake State Park.  I hoped to find Burrowing Owls in this area they have been reported recently and it's only an hrs drive, but didn't  see nary a one!  But there was plenty of other good things to enjoy so didn't walk away empty handed.

                                                                          Site #5

Over in that clump of trees is the "crampground"...(pun intended) Yet again I arrive on a Holiday Weekend...Mother's Day!  I will be back for Mother's Day, this was Friday when I arrived...I'm only staying one night this time...I'll be gone by the time the generators kick in. 

Casey and I ended up in site 5 the last available spot! Thursday is not a good day anymore to find a camp spot unless you plan to boondock.  I really wanted shade tho....because in this area the public lands  is open arid and sunny.  It's perfect for Prairie Dogs and Burrowing Owls do take up residence. I'm sure some were hiding out of the wind in their burrows.  

  

This is 2 & 8/10 road, one BUOW was spotted on this fence line but on Thursday a dry hot wind blew so hard Horn Larks had trouble hanging on...riding the wire  was surfing a wave.

The road ends here at this bluff...an ATV could probably continue but I turned around...

There is no bad view here..and more prairie species of bird hanging out like the Western Meadow Lark. 

I'm supposing, I am not so worried to separate Eastern from Western in this case.  

  

This awesome desert prairie road is off Old Highway 50 and 6 and there is Public Land access here... McInnis Canyon National Conservation Area.  75,000 acres of wilderness!  I took the Sidewinder Road and was rewarded by this awesome wildflowers...

Mostly it's Orange Globe Mallow, and the pinky white specks are what I know as Mariposa Lilly and there was some blue, yellow, and white  tossed in as well none of which I know the name of. 

That dark spot is on my lens, it looks like smoke but its not...

It got hot so we headed back to the lake where cool breezes made it feel really nice.  This lady decided to fly a kite.. I decided to check the lake for birds...

A couple of Great Tailed Grackles entertained me with all those weird sounds and whistles they make; one sound reminds me of when cars crash on the highway...

In the morning after a fairly quiet night,  I drove over to the other side of the lake to make breakfast and enjoy the peace and solitude of a sun coming up behind clouds over the lake.  

Soon a few boaters came out to disturb the calm waters.  

Some quietly and eventually the not so quiet arrived.  

After breakfast I got things back in it's place and started birding along the laketrail and the coves.. four Bullock's Orioles came around...  

Flocks of mixed gulls came in, too far away for decent looks, but there was Franklin's, Ring Billed, California, and even a couple of big Herring Gulls in the mix. 

and a large flock (about 40 in total)  of Western Grebe with an Eared tossed in for flavor...

Overhead a large flock of what I assume to be White Faced Ibis flew over... the afternoon before a flock of about 75 did the same thing  they didn't land either. 

Northern Mocking with different mimics than what I'm used to hearing back east serenaded me. 

The upper end has a small lake called Mack Mesa Lake.  

Found three Snowy Egrets up there...

Barn Swallows not in large numbers like the Northern Rough Wing and the Violet Green Swallows over by the dam.  

In shallow dried mud a Killdeer was faking a nest site to draw me off and a small number of Spotted Sandpiper flushed away.  

In the afternoon I visited this area...

The wind picked up again so not much was out and about...had quite a few Lark Sparrows holding on and singing...

A nice Swainson's Hawk watched from atop...

...and up on this wire the Loggerhead Shrike. 

It really is a beautiful area to explore...
Casey and I made a couple of stops for him to get out and stretch and I explored a few rocky areas, sooo

very beautiful 

And that was my overnight trip!  The drive home was easy but tiring, and I was glad to be back...
Here is something from last week, a courtship video, a special moment between 2 courting Cedar Waxwings!

So much more is coming up....

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Anahauc National Wildlife Refuge

I normally don't spend 4 days in one spot because I try to cover as much as I can in the time I have, but Sea Rim was just too hard to leave and the weekend hit, and south the way I'm headed it was gonna be impossible to get a camp site. So I stayed put on the beach.  I took a day trip to Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge.  It was about an hours ride as the road that used to follow the coast was washed away by Hurricane Ike and they never replaced it... so had to drive all the back to Port Arthur, and then West to Winnie, then south to Anahuac, and then back again, if that road was there it would be a 25 min trip. 

  It's a great spot for birds, and for just being out in nature.  I met some nice ladies from Canada, and we kept bumping into each other.  We all  loved Anahuac. 

What's not to love about such an awesome place?  This pond has a road all the way around it, so we all lined up and away we went.  First I saw right away one of my target birds, the Fulvous Whistling Duck, not just one but several.  

Have you ever seen a more striking duck?? He reminds me of moose tracks ice cream...yum. 

Another target bird on my list was the neotropic cormorant.  Now in my old Nat Geo Bird book they call this a Olivaceous Cormorant, but they changed the name.  He has this little white patch at the top of the beak to help with the ID on this bird. 

there is more than just birds here too...there's American Alligator.

and all sorts of wildflowers...I do not know this flower's name I need a new wild flower book, one that covers more than just SC.  

one of the dirt roads in the refuge borders ranching land so these cows were coming down to the watering hole to get a drink and cool off, how sweet they all were, I just love cows!  They are so docile, and inquisitive, and friendly.  

some cattle egrets were with them it was almost 2 birds per cow it seemed...

cattle egrets

I saw tons of common gallinules, and only one Purple Gallinule there...the strong midday sun bleached out his pretty blue head shield, but those florescent feathers sure were shining...

 

...these are def Texas sized Lily Pads.  Later I drove over to the Skillern unit of the refuge...

the heat of the day had driven most birds for deep cover, couldn't get a good look at anything, so I noticed some cool flowers..the passion flower is one and the other I think is a sun dew. 

his huge flock of Long Billed Dowitchers were by the main entrance to the refuge, they were spread out all over the marsh....the refuge is surrounded by ranch and farm land, and that attracts the scissor-tailed flycatcher, normally you see one up high on a power line, or fence sitting this one was so obliging...he allowed me to actually roll down the window and snap a good shot of him.

 

they are stream lined for flying

I saw so much there I can only hit the highlights...on my way back to Sea Rim I found this guy he was up on wire...and he must have been tired to never offered to move.  

the white tailed kite, formerly known as the black shouldered kite, and I prefer the old name on this bird....check those awesome eyes!!

Back at the Sea Rim I got my spot on the beach for another night...and watching the antics of the great tailed grackles was my sunset entertainment, here two are trying to show off who is more handsome...

...and here they decide to position themselves just so....and dang if a common gallinule or moorhen as I call them photo bombed them and stuck her butt in the photo! 

we all got ready to watch the sun go down....

I spent one more day exploring this area before heading south...that will be next

 Sabine Woods Bird Sanctuary and then goodbye to Sea Rim, SP.

my ebird list here:

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.