Waterfowl at the Lower KNWR

I had so many photographs from the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge I decided to break them into several posts. This one obviously is of the waterfowl we saw at the refuge.

ISO 400, 420mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec

My son Christian and I arrived over at the refuge at about 10am last Saturday. Along the main road to the refuge were multiple flocks of snow geese. They were fun to watch and photograph.

ISO 400, 420mm, f/6.3, 1/1250 sec

I’m not sure what type of duck this is, but I really like the coloring of the male.

ISO 400, 420mm, f/6.3, 1/1600 sec

I love to photograph duck couples. One to show the differences between the male and female coloring, but also because I love the fact that they pair off with a mate, I believe, for life.

ISO 400, 420mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec

ISO 200, 420mm, f/5.6, 1/1600 sec

It is hard to tell from the photograph, but these trumpeter swans are huge! The “small” birds next to them are large geese. Such a beautiful bird. I wish I could have gotten some photographs with them in flight.

ISO 400, 420mm, f/5.6, 1/1600 sec

It was great to see the numbers of waterfowl in the refuge this past week. I’m thankful for the foresight people in the area had of the value these marshes held for the migrating waterfowl and convinced President Theodore Roosevelt to establish this refuge in 1908 as the nation’s first waterfowl refuge.