RHH's photos with the keyword: wildlife refuge

These are the flowers of Sweet Acacia, a shrub native to the American southwest, photographed in the Sonny Bono National Wildlife Refuge near the Salton Sea in southern California.

The area around the Salton Sea is all irrigated desert farmland, mile after mile of crops. This photo was taken south of the sea near the town of Westmoreland. Even the palm trees, in this case non-native, are few. The crop growing the field beyond the palm trees, if I remember, was Swiss Chard.

Tamarisk ramosissimus or Saltcedar is a common shrub in the southwestern deserts of the USA, but an invasive and noxious species. These flowers were photographed at the Sonny Bono National Wildlife Refuge on the south end of the Salton Sea.

These Screwbean Mesquite pods were photographed at the Sonny Bono National Wildlife Refuge on the south end of the Salton Sea in southern California.

Ash Meadows is a wildlife refuge in Nevada just east of Death Valley. We have visited there several times when in Death Valley. This is one of the springs that makes the refuge a wonderful place for plants, animals and birds.

This is Crystal Spring in Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada. The refuge lies to the east of Death Valley National Park and we have visited it several times. The refuge is an oasis in the Mohave Desert that has many springs and pools. It is a great place for birding and seeing rare plants, fish and wildlife. The mountains in the background are the Last Chance Range.

Ash Meadows is an oasis in the Mohave Desert, now a National Wildlife Refuge. This was taken from the south entrance road with the Last Chance Mountains in the background.

These are the mountains east of Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada. We were there on a day trip from Death Valley National Park.

Castle Espie is an Estate that has been turned into a wildfowl refuge. It lies near the upper end of Strangford Lough. This picture was taken looking northwest from Castle Espie towards Newtownards and Scrabo Tower which lies to the south of the town. The second picture is of Scrabo Tower. "Castle Espie is a wetland reserve managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) on the banks of Strangford Lough, three miles south of Comber, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Strangford Lough Ramsar Site. It provides an early wintering site for almost the entire Nearctic population of Pale-bellied Brent Geese. The Castle which gave the reserve its name no longer exists."