The ponds are filling with water, but the snow geese have not found it yet. The trumpeter swan and pintails have.
Did not find any snow geese at the refuge, so I headed for Mud Lake. This Red-tailed hawk was hunting in a field where about half of the snow was gone.
About two mile east of Mud Lake I finally found the snow geese. There were not a lot of them, but they were a sight for sore eyes. They were coming in on small waves.
One group had a White-fronted goose with them. It is only the third one I seen.
At Mud Lake I found this nesting in a bunch of Russian olives.
For my last stop I headed to Market Lake. It was still ice covered, but west of the freeway the fields were flooded by melting snow and covered with migrating Northern Pintails, Widgeon, Mallards and Northern Shovelers.
Nine hours of birding produced 49 species of birds and seven species of animals. A great way to spend a wild day in Idaho.
