Taken a little while but got around to editing more photos from the Ruby Valley. I’ll share some images of the wildlife we encountered at the National Wildlife Refuge. I’ll do my best to identify the birds (with help from the National Geographic’s Complete Birds of North America book & the Audubon App) but i’ll probably get some wrong so feel free to correct me if you know where i’ve misidentified them.
This is a Northern Harrier. It was great to get this close to one as it flew over the water. I’ve seen them before in Texas from afar but never gotten anywhere near this close. As the sun rose there were quite a few of them flying over the marshes. I always think they’re quite distinctive as when they’re flying above you they seem to keep their down fixated on the ground. The UK Harrier Jet military plane is also named after these which is cool, thankfully they aren’t as loud as those. This is the same Northern Harrier as it flew by. I think the birds below are thankful to not be on the menu.These are Trumpeter Swans. According to the website of the NWR this is the only place in Nevada with a resident population. They seemed quite happy sleeping on the icy marshes.This is one i can definitely get, it’s a Bald Eagle. Funnily enough i spent around 2 years trying to find one of these, and shortly before i visited Nevada i saw one at White Rock Lake in Dallas. So in the space of 3 months i’ve managed to see a couple which is great. I could spend all day looking at these, i like the Yellow in their beaks and eyes. The Bald Eagle is also the National Symbol of America. A different perspective of the Bald Eagle. There was a lot of Waterfowl all around the Refuge, This is where it gets difficult. I believe this is a Golden Eagle, although they are incredibly similar to Juvenile Bald Eagles. What makes me think it’s a Golden Eagle is it has the distinctive “Golden Nape”. Also i have a couple of photos of it landing on this pole and it didn’t have any white feathers by it’s body, at the base of it’s wing. Based on those two things i would say it’s a Golden Eagle, but i could be wrong. I’m not sure at all what this bird is, it almost looks like some kind of a Falcon or a Small Hawk. Feel free to let me know what it is if you know. This is the same bird as the previous photo. It really is amazing how vast this place is. I made a real mess of this photo unfortunately but through all the pixels there is a Bobcat in there. According to the Leaflet at the NWR these are actually listed as “Uncommon”, so it was cool to actually see one. Since seeing it and watching it run off into the Marsh, i’ve actually noticed a similarity from how this thing runs to how our cat at home runs. Unfortunately for Moneypenny i don’t think she would last 5 minutes in this place.This is another one i can’t identify. I like it’s plumage though. This is about all of the photos i’ve edited, hopefully over Christmas i can share some of the remaining photos from visiting Nevada. In the meantime, Merry Christmas i hope everyone who reads this has a great time.
Howdy, my name’s Matt. I'm originally from England but now live here in the Great State of Texas. Since moving here I thought it would be fun to try something new and enter the world of photo blogging.
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3 thoughts on “Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada”
Lone Star Law 
Great pictures Matt
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Thanks David, that was a great trip we took out there
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Wide variety of predators there Matt
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