Early this month we spent a few days at Monte Vista, to view the Sandhill Cranes and other birds that migrate to the summer breeding grounds further north. We took the opportunity to visit before the start of the annual Sandhill Crane Festival.
When we arrived at Monte Vista in the late afternoon, it was very windy. Gusty wind continued for our first full day in Monte Vista. Early that morning, we found one lake where some Cinnamon Teal ducks sheltered from the windy conditions, protected by cat tails.
The following image should the colorful male ducks with their cinnamon plumage and those red eyes!
On our second full day at Monte Vista, the weather was quiet and with no wind. This time we found several more Cinnamon Teal ducks in the same lake.
A mating pair were swimming along the edge of the cat tails.
In the following image, the female Cinnamon Teal decided to exercise her wings!
During the course of the morning, we found a male Buffelhead Duck that made several visits to various parts of the lake — probably looking for other Buffelheads! I managed to capture an image of the male duck as it was in flight.
