Wetlands Updates

Finally, I am getting around to getting out to the Wetlands a bit more regularly. I always look forward to cold mornings when there are just a few humans on the paths. We nod at each other and sometimes share our stories of who we have been seeing. It is a kind of quiet community, and I would venture to say, one that brings some peace to many of us worrying about the current state of things. While we may not know what is coming, one thing I am sure about is my commitment to keep sharing and hoping more humans pay attention. Click on pictures to enlarge.

Not a great a picture, but I wanted to share this because I think this bald eagle couple might be contemplating a nest here. This would be a wonderful addition to the wetlands, and it looks like good real estate!

Bald eagles

© Chris Taylor

Northern Harrier trying to outmaneuver a group of sandpipers and a killdeer. They got away.

Northern Harrier

© Chris Taylor

Deer and coyotes.

Deer

© Chris Taylor

Coyote

© Chris Taylor

Coyote

© Chris Taylor

Bluebirds, goldfinches, and herons, oh my.

Eastern bluebird

© Chris Taylor

Eastern bluebird

© Chris Taylor

American goldfinch

© Chris Taylor

American goldfinch

© Chris Taylor

Great blue heron

© Chris Taylor

Great blue heron

© Chris Taylor

Wakarusa Wetlands

© Chris Taylor

 

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Wakarusa Wetlands Reopens

The area I used to visit three or four times a week at the Wakarusa Wetlands is open again. While I did not venture north to areas most affected by the construction, I was overjoyed to go back in to my usual spots. The mitigation areas looked very good from what I could see. The newer Maple Marsh, Ibis Swale, Duck Lake, and Shorebird Shallows were all busy with geese, grebes, gulls, and assorted ducks (many mallards, Northern shovelers, and teal). Killdeer were all along the edges. I did not get a lot of pictures this morning, but I saw a beaver, mink, and muskrat from a distance as well as a big group of deer. I am trying to stay positive, but do worry about how all of the proposed development along 31st is going to affect this area. It looks like there is one path that goes under the highway where Louisiana Street was. I hope that once the highway is finished and heavily traveled that animals use that. I could not see from where I was how that all works, but I am keeping my fingers crossed. An updated map can be found, here: http://www.bakeru.edu/images/pdf/About/Wetlands/Wetlands_Area_Mapweb.pdf

Deer

© Chris Taylor

Canada geese

© Chris Taylor

Killdeer in flight

© Chris Taylor

Red-winged blackbird

© Chris Taylor

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Killdeer portrait

I love watching them running along the roadside. The name is because of their two-note call that sounds like “killdeer,” but that’s not what it sounds like to me. Like some other birds, Killdeer have an ingenius way of distracting predators from their nests by pretending to be injured to lure them away. Click on picture to enlarge.

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