We got ahead of ourselves with that last post…but who could wait for the start of the story when eagles were jousting?

Here’s the start of the story.
We left our campground in Arcata, CA in heavy fog, and headed up the coast 75 miles, then turned inland on an angle to Oregon.

We were headed to Klamath Falls for a weekend Winter Wings Festival…one of the longest-running bird festivals in the nation.

It was a big deal for us, because we were running in the Lil Taxi, and would stay in a hotel for 3 nights…we’ve not stayed anywhere but the Big Taxi for the past three years!

We also took along Robyn’s dad, so the Lil Taxi was gonna earn its keep with all the people and provisions…

The weather forecast was for two days of rain and the final day with sun.

Accurate forecast.

All these photos were taken in the rain, so some birds look to have spots on them…which are rain drops falling between the camera and the bird! The final fearsome warrior looks bedraggled and soggy…

The festival is held each year during the main wintering period for masses of waterfowl and their predators. There are two major National Wildlife Refuges south of the city that provide gravel drives through the midst of large shallow lakes and marshes where the waterfowl are found. Eagles migrate down to a third very large wooded Refuge that is surrounded by private property…and not accessible by the public…but they fly out each day to the other two areas to hunt!

Hawks are found on every signpost, sprinkler head, and telephone pole in the area, because vast agricultural fields surround the refuges…which contain many, many rodents.

The terrain is therefore much different than we’ve been used to here on the California North Coast with its redwoods.

But enough talk, here are the photos from our first day of rain. Click on any photo for a substantially more detailed view…