The Owls Will Have to Wait

Some months ago, I came  up with a plan to go look for Great Grey Owls in eastern Oregon this May.  They are resident in an area outside La Grande, and there are known nesting sites that I was hoping to see, but alas, nature had other plans. 

Well, I hope the owls will be there next Spring, and in the meantime, I went birding on nearby Bateman Island one day this past week instead.  There weren't very many birds in view, though the ones I did see were rather nice. 

Naturally, the Hounds got to come along:

Our first nice bird was a Common Loon that was diving a lot, and it was quite far off, so it was hard to get a good photo:

The next fun bird was a Western Kingbird who was busy flycatching, always returning to the same tree.  Here are both profile and front views:

The trail on Bateman Island runs nearly one mile from the causeway to a small pebbly beach.

At the beach, far out in the Columbia River, I spotted a lovely Clark's Grebe:

The Hounds spotted a wading area, and went for it:

Not quite as exciting as a search for Great Grey Owls, perhaps, but enjoyable all the same.