Louie

SATURDAY, MAY 18, 2013

Our home-sweet-home! The KOA was a really nice campground.

 Bird Fest Central at Leavenworth's Barn Beach Reserve, with Al Kioski.

 #4. Waterfront Raptors with Van and Heather. We were driven around in this nice van, making several stops to see eagle, osprey, turkey vultures and many, many swallows.

 Cathi and me along the Wenatchee River. There is an osprey nest across the river behind us.

 A field in Leavenworth, looking south and west toward the 'Sleeping Lady.'

 Saw my first Western Bluebird!

 Back at Bird Fest Central, the Sarvey Wildlife Rescue had some owls and raptors for us to see. Barn owl.

 #5.Wildflower Walk with Dan. Dan is the tall guy at the far side of the group. He was very excited about the flowers, but we all kept interupting him with bird sightings. Saw my first white-headed woodpecker!

Mariposa Lillies.

 #6. BBQ Dinner and Keynote Presentation at Red Tail Canyon Farm. Our sketch instructor, John Ruthven, gave a talk about his participation in the search for the Ivory-Billed woodpecker. He believes!

 Here he is with his painting of a pair of ivory-billed woodpeckers. His work is breath-taking!

#7. Owl Prowl with Aja and Heather. We were driven up in the mountains after dark, where Aja 'called' owls with recorded sounds. But, no luck. We stood still for long, cold minutes, straining our ears to no avail, listening for barred owls. So we went on up the hill a bit more, and tried for the flammulated owl. Some of the younger ears thought they might have heard some calls far away, and I believe I convinced myself that I heard it too.