Adjacent to the rest area was acres and acres of native grasslands. And, there were dozens and dozens...and I would imagine hundreds...of ground squirrels frolicking in the fields. It was hard to get pictures because they moved around quite a bit, even while they were feeding.
When I arrived at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, OR, the temps were in the mid-60s...perfect weather. I picked up a few brochures at the visitor center and noticed there were many ground squirrels in the lawn. I'm pretty sure they were Belding's ground squirrels, and I'm also pretty sure those were the same type of squirrels near the rest area.
I didn't see many birds in the pond near the visitor center, so I decided to try my luck elsewhere in the refuge. I drove to the Buena Vista Ponds and up to the overlook. The view was very picturesque, but too far away to see the waterfowl.
As I was leaving the overlook, a bit of movement caught my eye. A small lizard ran from rock to rock, but rather than run completely away, hung around to look at me. A little bit of Googling told me this was a common side-blotched lizard.
With time running short, I decided to try my luck driving along the auto tour route through the ponds, but I saw mostly Canada geese and American coots. Too common and rather unexciting. I was happy to see a pair of Northern Shovelers, though. They get their name from their oversized upper bill, which they use to filter out food from the water.
And, so ends my road trip adventures. Kind of anti-climatic if you ask me. But, I might post one more time with pics that didn't make it into previous blog entries. Until next road trip...
1 comment:
I've enjoyed going on another road trip with you, and never having to ask you to pull over at the next rest stop, and I got to sleep in my own bed every night.
Thank you for sharing the GORGEOUS photos (except for the snake) and interesting stories. Welcome home! :-)
K&Girls :-)
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