More to Explore at Baskett Slough

Yesterday morning we made our 3rd trip to hike Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge.  The first two mornings we made it a point to leave binoculars and camera home and just concentrate on hiking for exercise.  But this time we changed our focus, gave in and added binoculars and camera. It was the nicest weather we have had, with bright sunshine that brought out the best in bird life and wildflowers.  Jeanette worked at bird spotting and entering our bird observations into eBird on her iPhone, I worked at photogaphing birds and wildflowers. We actually got off the trail and explored the oak savana that the refuge is doing such a good job of restoring.

 The sweet song of the Western Meadowlark has added joy to each trip.  Jeanette was able to count 28 different species of birds on this trip.  Binoculars help a lot.  Click here to see our list.

This is Golden Painbrush, a threatened species that is being reintroduced to the Refuge. I realized this morning while adding this species to the Wildflower section of Cascade Ramblings, that I have been  documenting paintbrush species in Cascade Ramblings for almost 20 years now and this is the first  of the Golden Paintbrush.

Dogs are not allowed at Baskett Slough NWR, and with our aging dog Buster preferring to spend his mornings sleeping in, Jeanette and I are discovering a new freedom to explore. We are astonished at the resource we are so fortunate to have this close at hand to explore, bird and photograph. As I write this morning, I have taken the morning off to be able to get caught up with photos and posting.