Tag Archives: roosevelt wetlands

I otter get out here more often.

Posted on by
4

I made another trip to the Roosevelt Wetlands in mid-May. The summer heat had set in but there was still a slight breeze early in the morning. I snapped a few small critters right when I got out on the trail in case I didn’t see much of anything else.

I think this is a type of partridge pea plant. There was a lot of this growing on trail.

There were a few black necked stilts in the pond and I meant to get back there later in the summer to look for baby ones but I never made it back during baby season.

The juvenile little blue heron was digging deep to get food. He was molting into his blue adult feathers and the pattern was really pretty.

What was that head popping up in the water? It was an otter. I hadn’t seen an otter out in the wild since January 2022. There were two of them and they were moving fast across the pond. I couldn’t keep up with them.

I lost sight of them and then a few minutes later I saw them crossing the trail and diving into the other side of the pond. They disappeared quickly again and I saw them pop up on the other side of the pond and head into the reeds.

I feel like I’m never in the right place at the right time but these two kildeer walked right in front of me on the trail and started getting frisky. Another reason to get back here in the summer to see kildeer babies and I missed this one as well.

Across the pond there were two moorhens fighting.

That juvenile osprey was still on the nest. She looked up from her snack and gave me the “don’t come near me and steal my fish” stare.

Even though it was already crazy hot it was a nice morning to be out on the trail. There was quite a bit of action for such a tiny reserve.

BLUE MONDAY BADGEan image of a red sports car with a lady caricature going at Vroom Vroom high speed, Senior Salon Pit Stop Vroom Vroom Linkup

New birds in the muck

Posted on by
2

Roosevelt Wetlands is a small reserve right next to the waste plant. It has a great trail that runs across the lake and is usually quiet. Just don’t go when the wind is blowing towards the reserve. I got there pretty early and first saw 2 skimmers skimming along the lake.

It looks like this moorhen bit off part of a lily pad.

A kildeer flew close by.

Some wintering birds were still there in early May. A sora rail and a spotted sandpiper.

Cute duck family.

A lesser yellowlegs was creeping around in the muck.

Two new birds in one shot. A white rumped sandpiper on the left and a semipalmated sandpiper on the right. These aren’t super rare birds for this area but for some reason I kept missing them. They were also creeping around in the muck.

A least sandpiper was also with the new birds. I had not seen one of these since 2012.

Another shot of the white rumped sandpiper.

A little sandpiper party.

Another shot of the semipalmated sandpiper.

I finally saw the gull billed tern. He flew by really fast and this was the only shot I could get of him. He circled around the pond and then left. He isn’t an exciting bird but a new one for me.

The only new bird I didn’t see that was sighted there before was a stilt sandpiper. Maybe next time.

Lots of birds on the trail

Posted on by
6

I had not been out to Roosevelt Wetlands since last summer. I forget what a cool small reserve this is. I had heard there were some new birds there so I went for a short walk in early May. The raised trail down the middle of the pond is full of Indian blanket flowers and they were in full bloom.

I immediately saw a bunny right on the trail.

The sun had been up for a while and I could see an osprey sitting on the platform nest ahead of me.

I could hear him yelling as I passed the platform and turned around to see the juvenile staring right at me.

This Momma moorhen was busy with 2 little ones.

There were several young little blue herons along the trail. They were just started to get their blue feathers in.

An adult little blue heron shaking it off.

A least tern flies by.

I also saw several spoonbills.

 

A kildeer was walking in front of me and then disappeared into the flowers.

I did find those new shorebirds that were here but more on those later.

SkyWatch Friday

A new bird in an old park

Posted on by
3

I had heard there was a rare pectoral sandpiper at Roosevelt Wetlands at the end of June. I hadn’t been to the wetlands in several years. I’m not sure why it sort of just fell off my list of parks. I wasn’t expecting to find it and I passed someone who had said they had been looking since sunrise and didn’t see it. After looking for it for only a half hour I found it. It was walking around in some mud flats and really blended in. It’s not an exciting looking bird. Kind of bland but it was a lifer for me.

They added a long trail to the wetlands that runs the length of the lake. It was covered in indian blanket flowers which was pretty cool.

A kildeer was feeding near the sandpiper.

I saw a few black necked stilts on my walk in.

On my way back to the car I saw the stilts again and noticed a baby creeping around near the one of the adults. He was a tiny little fluff ball.

He was so cute. The parents stayed close by and kept an eye on me so I quickly snapped the above and left (these are highly cropped). It was a productive morning out and I need to get back here again soon.

Inspire Me Monday