Friday morning: AGAIN with the howling wind! Today dawned cloudy and much cooler, but it was so windy Russ doubted he’d be able to ride at all, much less get to his next intended stop. We dithered back and forth until close to lunchtime, when I declared I was going to tour Quivira, wind or no wind. That forced Russ to get off his butt, and I left him with everything he needed (hopefully) for the next couple of days, as I and the dogs drove off. (Note: he made it to his intended destination, despite his late start.)
The sky cleared and the wind let up a little as I drove to Quivira.
OH. MY. GOD.
This wasn’t even the best time of year to visit (spring migration—March and April—is prime bird-spotting season), but you could have fooled me! The bulk of Quivira is salt marshes and associated grasslands (the lakes lie atop salt pans), which produces a rich variety of plant and aquatic food sources, and all manner of waterfowl flock to this area.
Here’s a list of what I saw there: (Non-birders can skip this part)
- Franklin’s Gull
- White Pelican
- Blue-winged Teal
- Northern Shoveler
- Scaup (Lesser, I think)
- Bobwhite
- Great Egret
- Great Blue Heron
- Swainson’s Hawk
- Black-bellied Plover
- Snowy Plover
- American Avocet
- Black-necked Stilt
- Willet
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Cliff Swallow
- a host of little sandpipers, unindentifiable by me
And that doesn’t even include the boring stuff, like Canada Geese, Mallards, Red-winged Blackbirds, Baltimore Orioles, and Orchard Orioles!
I am going to try VERY HARD to leave early tomorrow, as I will pass right through Quivira on my way to Scott City and the next campground.