The Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge is one of those places where I frequently seek refuge — some time to relax, enjoy watching and listening to wildlife, and just take it easy. On Saturday, my sister, her infant daughter, and I enjoyed doing just that.
We saw a few firsts-of-the-year for me, including a pair of sandhill cranes, a pair of wood ducks (actually in a pond near the Florence Bridge, not at the Refuge itself), a Swainson’s hawk (I chatted with another birder who saw two but I just saw one) and a Eurasian wigeon. A few of the birds we saw, such as the wood ducks, the Eurasian wigeon and canvasback, were lifers for my sister, too. The surprise of the day, though, was a Northern Shrike along the slough road/trail. I’ve never seen one that late in the spring before. Still on the search for my first-of-year osprey.
Perhaps most entertaining, though, was watching the great blue herons do their afternoon fishing. At one time we could watch 5 at one time right in front of us. The tree top nests are well populated. It’s getting to be that time…
Here’s the modest bird list for East Side Highway and the Lee Metcalf NWR:
- Black-billed magpie
- Wood duck
- Hooded merganser
- Killdeer
- European starling
- American wigeon
- Mallard
- Canada goose
- Canvasback
- Green-winged teal
- Northern pintail
- Sandhill crane
- American coot
- Common goldeneye
- Red-winged black bird
- Great blue heron
- Northern harrier
- Red-tailed hawk
- Northern flicker
- Swainson’s hawk
- Blacked-capped chickadee
- Northern shike
- Eurasian wigeon
- Ring-necked pheasant
- American kestrel
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