{"id":10717,"date":"2026-03-27T22:41:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T05:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/matchgrun.com\/blog\/?p=10717"},"modified":"2026-03-27T22:41:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T05:41:20","slug":"monte-vista-2026-other-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matchgrun.com\/blog\/2026\/03\/27\/monte-vista-2026-other-birds\/","title":{"rendered":"Monte Vista, 2026 — Other Birds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the first birds that we encountered in the Wildlife Refuge, was this Mountain Bluebird, at one of the parking lots. While watching this bird, it kept looking up into the sky. Perhaps there was a raptor in the vicinity. We did see a few Red-Tailed Hawks later on.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"3340-0025-Mountain-Bluebird-Lookout-Monte-Vista-No-1\"
Mountain Bluebird Lookout, Monte Vista, No 1.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Bluebird turned to face in my direction, also looking up in the sky.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"3340-0027-Mountain-Bluebird-Lookout-Monte-Vista-No-2\"
Mountain Bluebird Lookout, Monte Vista, No 2.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

There are several hundred Canada Geese at the refuge. I managed to capture a single goose in flight soon after we arrived at the refuge.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"3340-0014-Canada-Goose-In-Flight-Monte-Vista\"
Canada Goose In Flight, Monte Vista.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Soon after this, a pair of geese flew past. I liked the expression on this pair that I managed to capture as they were cackling in flight. Their broken reflections in the water also helped improve this image.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"3340-0017-Canada-Geese-Pair-In-Flight-Monte-Vista\"
Canada Geese Pair In Flight, Monte Vista.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We spent some time at Home Lake, on the edge of the town. This lake hosted a few hundred ducks, but they were too far away. However, I was intrigued by the flocks of Canada Geese that flew in occasionally. In the following image, the three geese are coming in for a water landing, with landing gear deployed. This was one of my favorite images, especially since the birds are reflected in the water.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"3341-0264-Canada-Geese-Water-Landing-Home-Lake\"
Canada Geese, Water Landing, Home-Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

While entering the refuge, we noticed a pair of doves in the vicinity of the entrance. I managed to find these Eurasian Collared Doves, and made an image of one of the doves.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"3341-0277-Eurasian-Collared-Dove-Monte-Vista\"
Eurasian Collared Dove, Monte Vista.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We spotted a handful of Snow Geese among the flock of Canada Geese while they were feeding. During one of the mass flight lift-offs, several Snow Geese took flight. Here is a small group of these birds.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"3341-0490-Snow-Geese-In-Flight-Monte-Vista\"
Snow Geese In Flight, Monte Vista.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On the last morning, we made a final stop at the Wildlife Refuge before making the return trip home. It appeared that some of the Sandhill Cranes were having an altercation.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"3342-0036-Sandhill-Crane-Altercation-Monte-Vista\"
Sandhill Crane Altercation, Monte Vista.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Perhaps, all that “dancing” that was observed in not just courting! That concludes images from this year’s spring visit to Monte Vista.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the first birds that we encountered in the Wildlife Refuge, was this Mountain Bluebird, at one of the parking lots. While watching this bird, it kept looking up into the sky. Perhaps there was a raptor in the vicinity. We did see a few Red-Tailed Hawks later on. The Bluebird turned to face […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[2094,1480,2095,30,2091,2092,1360,2093,424,831],"class_list":["post-10717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-general","tag-altercation","tag-canada-geese","tag-collared-dove","tag-cranes","tag-dancing","tag-home-lake","tag-monte-vista","tag-mountain-bluebird","tag-snow-geese","tag-wildlife-refuge"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t