Hagerman Birds – May 2023
/I made the best of cloudy days both times I was at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge in May. Photographing birds was frustrating because of the light and I thought while I was there that I wouldn’t like any of the images…but they turned out better than I expected in several cases. The egrets were still around: Great Egrets
And Snowy Egrets (seemingly a lot more of them about).
I enjoyed the light around a snowy egret on the second morning…it was changing very quickly with the sun coming in and out of clouds as it was getting higher in the sky (it was still within an hour of sunrise).
I learned on my first visit to scan the high points of the meadow for birds...seeing a dickcissel was my most immediate success.
There were a lot of red-winded blackbirds. I saw one perched on an amaranth close to the road and he stayed put for a portrait, a defiant look, a little bow (but he was still watching me), and then a screech to let everyone know it was his turf!
The second morning I saw that there was a group of egrets on one of the ponds and they were leaving just as I was arriving! Did they roost there…or just get their breakfast?
There were great blue herons as well.
There was a preening red-shoulder hawk on a snag.
May was not a great month for bird photography on the days I went to Hagerman…but not a total loss either. This image is my favorite of the morning.
