Tue - Aug 25
Klamath Falls, Oregon - Tule Lake NWR, California
Weather - HOT, low 90’s (34C)



On the Great Adventure 2008 we spent several days in Klamath Falls and in the National Wildlife Refuges just south of there along the California border. Since that trip we’d purchased some new lenses and had been dreaming of a revisit to reshoot some of the wildlife. Today was the day! It turned out to be 12 hours long and was filled with lots of shooting, lots of travel and lots of excitement.



We (Carla, Rae, Carl – and all our equipment) left early to travel to Klamath Falls, just a little over an hour away. Our first stop was along the southern edge of Klamath Lake where we saw trees and water FILLED with White Ibis...they were quite a distance away from the road, but an awesome sight never the less. Carla got so excited I wasn’t sure that we were going to be able calm her down.



Next stop was Moore Park in Klamath Falls, a great lagoon along the lakeshore and across the road beautiful groomed playfields and picnic areas that stretch back into the hillside. The lagoon was our priority and we saw American White Pelicans, Green Heron, grebes, egrets, a mink, and other little critters. Bonus!!!



A quick lunch in the park was next, where we saw deer, ground squirrels, tbb’s (tiny brown birds) and did a little people watching too. Then on south to the Tule Lake NWR, an area filled with birds of all varieties. One of the highlights was ‘The Great Black Ibis Hunt’, when Carla and I followed four Black Ibis along the shoreline trying to get that perfect shot. Well almost perfect…. birds never do quite understand that we’d like them to stop and pose for us poor photographers.



For shooting this was a bonus day: osprey, Great Egrets, Lesser Egrets, pelicans, mink, Black Ibis, White Ibis, Red-tailed Hawks, ducks of many kinds, Green Herons, Blue Herons, American Bitterns, stilts, several kinds of grebes, quail, squirrels, lots of deer and shore birds we’re still trying to identify.



Far be it for me to get lost, but I did try, unsuccessfully, so we eventually made it back home. We made one more stop for Carla at the White Ibis gathering at the end of Klamath Lake...still an awesome sight. At one point as we headed home, we came around the west side of Klamath Lake and we were successful in getting more bites than the fisher people from the day before….problem was our bites were from mosquitoes.



Big day, fun day, full day, lot of photos to sort through and three happy photographers! The adventure continues…



To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE



To see more of our Pelican images click here: Miscellaneous Birds