I had a chance to run out to Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge last night after work. There was a bit of a breeze when I left the house so I was hoping maybe that would help keep the bugs down a bit. Well, by the time I got out there things had calmed down, so the bugs were just as bad as ever. I try not to let them take away from the experience, but they are very annoying.
Things have started to dry up a bit out there now, so I did not see a lot of wildlife on my way in like I was seeing earlier this spring. By the time I got to the main ponds there were plenty of birds around, but I would say not in the numbers I was seeing before. There were still a lot of Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds. There were also many species of ducks spread around the ponds, a few Arctic Terns, a lot of Black-headed Gulls, some White-faced Ibis and eventually I saw a Black-crowned Night-Heron. I had been seeing the Heron’s but never when I had a good opportunity to photograph them. That finally changed last night. I am still trying to get some better pictures of the White-faced Ibis, but they are proving difficult. With the grass and cattails growing taller, they are becoming even more difficult to find.
Here are a few of the pictures I was able to capture last night.
I did see this Tree Swallow on my way in. Well actually I saw a lot of them, but I stopped to take a picture of this one. I just like the way the blue really shines on them.
A Yellow-headed Blackbird perched on some cattails. I saw quite a few of them last night, but not as many as I had been earlier this spring.
Cinnamon Teal Duck. Not technically speaking a great photograph, but I just really like the colors.
This Raven was getting harassed by a Red-winged Blackbird. It is perched on the handrail of the boardwalk that goes out into the marsh. I walked down the boardwalk a ways, but I decided with all the bugs it just wasn’t worth it.
Black-crowned Night-Heron. I stopped and photographed this heron for quite a while, as it was my favorite subject of the evening.
More of a portrait style of the Black-crowned Night-Heron.
And one more of the Black-crowned Night-Heron just for good measure.