Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge

Last weekend Nicki and I visited the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge on Lake Erie near Toledo. They were having an event where you were allowed to drive into the refuge on trails normally not allowed for vehicles. Saw a lot of the usual ducks and geese. But also photoed at least one eagle perched in a tree (total spotted during the day 6-8). Most unusual sighting was when Nicki got out of the car to take photos of a colorful duck and she almost stepped into a clutch of 3 birds that exploded away. While we were quickly taking pictures we thought they were large hawks - until we got home and took a closer look at the photos and found we had disturbed three short-eared owls. At least one of them circled us while turning its head to watch us. A little later we found a box turtle in the middle of the road so we helped it to a safer location near the water. Of course, when we returned home we took some shots of the full moon (even though there was a bit of haze in the air).

PS - Our eastern screech owl has returned to the tree in our backyard. Must have kicked the squirrels out.