Tales from Turtle and Hawk: Back in La Grande Oregon and Greeted by a Pleasant Surprise

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Back in La Grande Oregon and Greeted by a Pleasant Surprise

When we were in La Grande in April, on our way to Malheur NWR, we were camping in the Northwoods Manufacturing (the manufacturer of our fifth-wheel) parking lot. It ends up there are open fields and old trees around the area. We had a pair of Swainson's Hawks on the fence right next to our spot. We were fortunate to actually see them mate- right on the fence next to our spot. Here is one of the adults from April. We suspect they have been mating here long term.

Upon our arrival to Northwoods yesterday we were greeted by 3 Swainson's Hawks flying in the sky above our spot. One is an obvious immature! Yeah- success!!

Adult Swainson's Hawk seen yesterday.

We had a wonderful day birding along the Grande Ronde River that flows through La Grande today.

This Tree Swallow was busy feeding babies:)

This American Robin was enjoying a cherry in between feedings.

This male American Kestrel was also enjoying a meal in-between feedings. It is obvious many adult birds are busy feeding their young.

This MacGillivray's Warbler was busy defending his territory. We imagine he must have a nest in the area.

We saw 3 different Calliope Hummingbirds along the river. The males were all sitting on top of trees spaced out approximately 50 yards apart defending their territories. These are the smallest hummingbirds in North America.

This Spotted Sandpiper was communicating with its mate upstream.

This Red-naped Sapsucker looks like he is collecting food for the brood.

The world is full of beauty and wonder,

Turtle and Hawk

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About Us

We retired early from our careers as energy engineers and headed out to volunteer at wildlife refuges around the country~ following our passions. This blog is for friends and family that might be interested in our adventures. How did we get here? We both grew up loving the out of doors. In the past few years we fell in love with the world of birds ~ they provide an insight and connection with the natural world that had been missing. Last winter we participated in nest count for Albatross on Midway Atoll (a National Wildlife Refuge) for U.S Fish and Wildlife. It changed our life- we knew that we wanted to go out and volunteer at the many National Wildlife Areas that need help. So we went about researching the ways to do that and came up with the plan to get a RV to live in on the road. And here we are........ enjoy the tales of our upcoming adventures :)