Paradise ponders...

Paradise ponders...  We took a ride out past Hardware Ranch toward Ant Flats yesterday afternoon.  It was a good wildlife viewing trip – we saw an American Dipper, several Belted Kingfishers, a beautiful view of a Bald Eagle (sitting on a fence post in full sunshine!), lots of mule deer and elk, a Northern Harrier, and a mostly white undersides hawk that was probably a Ferruginous Hawk (at right) but could possibly have been a leucistic Redtail Hawk.

This morning, using Sibley's guide, we tentatively identified three swans we saw on a previous trip as juvenile (first year) Tundra Swans.  We're just barely within their normal winter range, and the pond is exactly the sort of place they visit when migrating.

The photos here are not mine, but I hope to have some bird photos of my own here soon.  I've ordered a telescope that can mount my iPhone 6 to.  I've seen some photos taken through it with an iPhone, and they're quite good...