Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Great Falls, MT

May 22, 2014
I'm falling a little behind on the blog. We've been in Glacier NP for the last four days and haven't had a minute to write. On our way to Glacier, we spent two nights in Great Falls, MT at Dick's RV Park. It was nothing fancy, but was run by friendly people and was conveniently located near a paved cycling/running path along the Missouri River. And besides, it was time to catch up on laundry!

While we were there, we decided to take a drive to the Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge. We were surprised to find a wide variety of birds, some that we had never seen before. To me, that's one of the best things about traveling around the country. I love seeing new and different wildlife.

There's a loop road running through the refuge, winding through fields and around a large lake. Here are some photos of the ones I was able to capture. If you click on the image, you can enlarge it.

I think this is a Western Meadowlark. It looks like a pretty young one.

This is a Marbled Godwit. I also saw this one in South Dakota earlier on our trip. This is a better example.

Yellow-headed Blackbirds were abundant in this refuge. Last time I tried to snap a photo of this bird, it didn't cooperate. This time was different!

A few different varieties of ducks were there. These (right and below) are Cinnamon Teals. The one on the right is the male. Below are the male and female. No, he's NOT trying to drown her!

These are a pair of Shovelers. Looks like a lover's quarrel to me!

 This is a Solitary Sandpiper.

 This is a pair of American Avocets.

This is either a Glossy Ibis or a White-faced Ibis. I'm not sure. It's feathers were iridescent--really beautiful!

And last, but not least, here is a White Pelican. Notice the bump on its beak. This apparently only appears during mating season.









If I've misidentified any of these, please let me know.

Next blog will be about our stay in Glacier NP, both east and west. We head into Canada tomorrow, so we'll have to rely on public access wifi for awhile until we get to Alaska and can use our own hotspot.