San Luis National Wildlife Refuge

Back to San Luis

February 14, 2014

I've made four visits to San Luis Wildlife Refuge since September.  I've followed how the place changes over the winter.  From the looks of it, winter is winding down, at least based on the populations of some of the birds I saw.  Well, what I didn't see, really.

Double-crested Cormorant -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

The pintails are gone.  So are the snow geese.  Pintails are early migrators.  They're usually in the first wave of birds to arrive in California in the fall and the first to leave.  I don't know what the geese's deal is.  They may have just moved farther up the valley.  San Luis flooded their fields later in the year than the reserves North of Sacramento.  I assume that's how it works in general, the birds show up here later because it's farther South and they empty out sooner.

Sheep -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

The herd of sheep surprised me.  They were contained inside a temporary fence on the auto tour route.  I'm not sure if they're there to keep the grass down or what.  Goats are used for grass maintenance in the bay area.  There's a guy who drives his herd around and sets them up wherever people need the grass eaten down.  You never know where you'll bump into those goats.

Red-tailed Hawk -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

I saw a lot of hawks and other birds of prey on this tour.  No eagles, though.  No owls, either.  Bummer.  The hawks and harriers and kites and kestrels were cool, though.  I suppose the hawks are easy to see in part because the trees are so bare.

There was a particularly interesting interaction between a red-tailed hawk and a northern harrier.  I initially encountered the hawk seen in these pictures as he was sitting in a tree.  He (or she) let me take a lot of pictures from what turned out to be a pretty close location.  When the hawk flew off I thought it was because he'd tired of my presence, but after looking at the pictures I was surprised to see a build up of mosquitoes around the hawk.  I suspect the bird moved off to the nearby pond shore because of the insects.

Red-tailed Hawk -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA (did I just miss a great shot or what?)

Enter the northern harrier.

Northern Harrier -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA 

For whatever reason, the harrier didn't like where the hawk had decided to land.  So, the harrier buzzed the hawk a couple of times.  The hawk didn't seem to be too bothered. The harrier landed on a bush a couple of hundred yards away and it looked like that was the end of the tiff.  The hawk went about its business getting a drink of water and the harrier sulked over in the corner.

Northern Harrier -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA 

The hawk hadn't forgotten and he (or she) hadn't forgiven.  After taking a long, reflective drink of water, the hawk lit out after the harrier and the two disappeared in in the distance.  For all I know they're still duking it out.

Red-tailed Hawk -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

White-tailed Kite -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA