Cabin Fever Cure

Spring is just around the corner!  I woke up this morning to a clear blue sky an a forecast of 50 degrees - what else could I do but grab my camera and hit the road?  

It was only a short trip, but a good one all the same.  Headed down to the wildlife refuge to see what was going on, and I was not disappointed.

The Great Blue Heron rookery is very active, with adult birds reclaiming and rebuilding last year's nests.  Red-tail Hawks are sprouting their summer plumage and perching from treetops to check on what's for lunch.  The Swans have disappeared from the main pond and probably headed to one of the smaller ones in the back of the refuge, where they have more privacy for nesting. Not a lot of ducks out there today; mostly Mallards and Gadwalls, and of course the Canada Geese.  There were also a few Pintails, one Ring-neck Duck and a few female Hooded Mergansers.  Oh, and a very active Muskrat or two. 

I was rather surprised to see (and hear), two Marsh Wrens - I didn't know they had started returning already.  They were still too far off for even the long lens but I'll be back when they're more plentiful and easier to capture with the camera.