2BP: Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge and Mount Shasta

February 25, 2016

A made an unexpected road trip last week.  I got a phone call from my dad about ten days ago.  Mom was in the hospital for heart surgery.  It was Wednesday night.  Surgery would be on Friday.

That's not the kind of phone call you want to get.

Marsh Wren -- Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Black-tailed Jackrabbit

I decided to drive up Thursday and stay until Mom got settled back at home for recovery.  The foster dog situation was a little crazy at my home (my wife runs a dog rescue organization) so she asked me to take Pongo along.  No problem there, He's a good travelling companion and I could use the company.  Plus, I wasn't planning on doing much adventuring but it gave me a reason to at least get out and do short versions of the dog-friendly variety since he'd be spending a good chunk of his time in a crate.

Black-tailed Jackrabbit -- Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Stopping at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge has become pretty standard for us when driving up Interstate 5 in the colder months.  Pongo and I both enjoy the auto loop.  He hangs out the window and watches the birds and rabbits while I slowly drive and stop for pictures.  There are a couple of places where we can stop and stretch our legs and there are a few short trails for strolling.

Snow Goose -- Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Pacific Pond Turtle & Cinnamon Teal -- Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Red-shouldered Hawk -- Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge is one of the best places I know for getting good hawk photos.  They often sit in the trees alongside the auto route and aren't spooked by cars.  It's almost too easy to get nice shots.

Red-tailed Hawk -- Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Greater White-fronted Goose -- Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Greater White-fronted Goose

Another regular stop is near Weed, CA.  There's a rest stop there.  Near the rest stop are some train tracks, and from that spot near the train tracks is one of the best views of Mount Shasta that I know of.  I'm no expert, mind you.  I stop for photos there now on every drive up I-5.  The mountain has so many moods that I'm never bored with shooting from that same location.

Mount Shasta, CA

Merced National Wildlife Refuge

February 15, 2016

I had three days off last weekend.  A lot of people did, apparently.  I went out to Point Reyes on Sunday and it was a nightmare.  There were people everywhere.  The roads were closed in some places.  I had gone out to see the elephant seals but couldn't get to the lookout point.  I just drove home without doing anything.

Black-necked Stilt -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

I was determined to have a better experience on Monday.  Pongo and I went to Merced National Wildlife Refuge.  A place like that would never get very crowded, I figured.

Northern Shoveler & Cinnamon Teal -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

There were more people there than on a normal weekend day, but I was basically right.  We saw maybe twenty cars over the course of the auto tour.  That's probably a little more than average, but it never felt crowded.  Plus, these people were all fellow nature nerds, meaning waves and smiles and the occasional brief conversation about birds and wildlife during brief encounters.  It's a very different crowd from my other nerd clan, the record store nerds.  There, we're all convinced of our superiority to all the other nerds in terms of taste in music and collected catalog.  No smiles.  No conversation.  Just smug looks of mutual condescension.

Northern Shoveler -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Ruddy Duck -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Ross's Goose -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

There's not much of a narrative to this day.  It was a fairly typical trip to the refuge.  We saw a lot of squirrels and rabbits, which Pongo loves to see.  He thought about jumping out the window to give chase a couple of times but was able to stifle those urges on this trip.  We saw a couple of great horned owls.  More often than not we see owls at this refuge.  We saw sandhill cranes, but none were close to the road.

Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Ross's Goose -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Great Horned Owl -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Colusa & Sacramento National Wildlife Refuges

January 30, 2016

It's winter in California.  In the mountains that means snow.  Most people don't think of snow and winter sport when they think of California, but the Sierras are the tallest mountain range in the lower forty-eight with world class ski resorts in some area.  The Winter Olympics were hosted here in 1968.  We don't get much snow in the Central Valley.  There, winter is all about the birds.  Well, at least it is for me.

Colusa National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Mallard -- Colusa National Wildlife Refuge, CA

A lot of birds winter in California.  Growing up in Oregon, I was used to seeing the ducks and geese flying overhead in spring and fall.  I never really wondered where they were headed, but now I know.  Most were heading to California's Central Valley.  Some birds actually winter in Oregon, but I wasn't aware of that either.  It's only been within the last few years that I've developed an decent understanding of bids' migratory habits.

Green-winged Teal -- Colusa National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Gadwall

My first stop on Saturday was at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge.  It was my first time there.  It's a nice refuge to visit, next time I'll bring Pongo along.  He went with my wife and our other dog Charlie to the dog park instead of joining me on this trip.  I think he'll like it.  It has a three mile auto tour and a nice walking trail alongside one of the big ponds.

Snow Goose -- Colusa National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Greater White-fronted Goose -- Colusa National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Northern Shoveler -- Colusa National Wildife Refuge, CA

I guess I should have mentioned earlier, if you're not interested in pictures of birds that are commonly seen in these Central Valley refuges you won't find much of interest in this post.

Northern Pintail -- Colusa National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Northern Pintail

This entry should give you a pretty good idea of why I don't consider myself to be a birder.  There are no rarities here.  Most of these birds can be found by the hundreds--if not thousands--at any of the valley's refuges.  I suspect most birders wouldn't even bother with pictures of northern shovelers or pintails.  It only takes the effort of driving to a refuge to guarantee seeing one of these birds.  I don't really get off on seeing rarities.  I'm not even after bird shots, necessarily.  A coyote or otter sighting is much more exciting to me than any bird I've ever seen.  I'm not judging one way or another, I just see a difference between what I'm up to and what I see on a lot of bird blogs.  I follow a lot of bird blogs, it's a great way to learn about birds.

Pacific Pond Turtle -- Colusa National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Great Horned Owl -- Colusa National Wildife Refuge, CA

At the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, I saw a couple of things I've never seen before.  First, I saw a redhead.  That's a lifer bird, for me.

Redhead -- Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Second, I saw a patrol car at the entrance of the refuge.  It was there when I arrived and still there when I left.  I'm sure it was present in response to the knuckleheads who have occupied the Malheur refuge.  I don't care for politics, but the wildlife refuges and National Park System are undoubtedly the one thing this country has gotten right.  I have no respect for what these gun-wielding idiots have done up there in Oregon and it angers me to see law enforcement officers posted guard in front of a wildlife sanctuary (and hunting ground).  These few salvaged spots belong to all of us: person, beast and fowl.  Ninety-five percent of the Central Valley has been taken up by farming, ranching and urban development, it's imperative that we save that remaining five percent for posterity.

OK, I'm done.  Hopefully it'll be another three years or more before I get up on a soapbox again.

Cinnamon Teal -- Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA

San Luis & Merced National Wildlife Refuges

Like a Coyote

February 16, 2015

Pongo and I hit two wildlife reserves on Presidents' Day.  It was nice to have enough time to hit both the San Luis and Merced refuges, and a bit lucky too because after getting basically skunked on Saturday at Big Basin it would have been an extra disappointment given the low bird populations at San Luis.

San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

It looks like most of the ducks are already gone at San Luis.  It's been a very mild winter and I think many have already headed North.  I could be wrong, It's possible they were all off looking for food or whatever.  I did see more ring-necked ducks and cinnamon teals than usual, but I suspect they were just easier to spot with the pintails and mallard populations as small as they were.

San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

These birds weren't too interested in being photographed, either.  I only have a 250mm lens, so I need a little help from the birds to get nice close-ups.  No of these little guys were very interested in cooperating.  I don't mind too much at San Luis because I like the way the tule reeds and winter trees look in the photos, so I find the long distance shots to be appealing.

Jersey Cow -- Gustine, CA

We stopped at a ranch near Gustine on our way to the Merced complex.  They have the cutest cows at this ranch.  Pongo played shy with them on Monday.  I'm not quite sure if it's part of his act or he was actually being shy or a little scared.  I suspect it was a bit of all three.

Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

There were a lot more birds at Merced National Wildlife Refuge, which is maybe twenty miles away from the San Luis complex as the crow flies. No swans, though.  San Luis had swans.  Merced was rich with geese and sandhill cranes, both of which were almost non-existent at San Luis.

Snowy Egret -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Cinnamon Teal -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

White-faced Ibis -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

As you can see, I had a lot better luck with the close-ups at the Merced refuge.  More birds means a bit more patience with cars and cameras, I guess.

Ross' Geese -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

So, now, for one of my pet peeves: birders and photographers that think they own the place.

I don't go to extremely remote places.  I spend my weekends at parks and reserves where I'm rarely more than a couple of miles from a main road.  I'm not talking about people who have hiked into the wilderness to earn some kind of amazing shot that they worked for.  I'm talking now about people who have pulled off to the side of the road to take pictures of birds (it's ALWAYS birds).

Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

When we got to the field where the sandhill cranes hang out there was already a woman out of her car taking photos.  I pulled over and Pongo and I got out of the car on the opposite side of the birds.  "mumble mumble mumble," said the bird lady.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"mumble your dog is going to scare the cranes mumble mumble like a coyote mumble."

Sandhill Crane -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Look, I totally understand that we all want to get those killer shots.  I get it.  Sorry, though, I don't really care.  For the record, I'm careful with how I handle Pongo in nature and he's got a lot of experience.  He knows when to lay low and when he can get a little nutso,  We follow all of the guidelines and rules.  Yes, he was on a leash and  we were far enough away that the cranes weren't going to be concerned with my presence or Pongo's presence, let alone the presence of the woman standing on the road.  If a person is going to be annoyed by people cars or dogs, they should find some place more secluded than the auto tour road of a wildlife refuge.

Sandhill Crane -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

For the record, I didn't respond to the lady.  Pongo explored as far as his leash would allow and I took more pictures than I had originally intended and no cranes were bothered by either me or my dog.  Sorry for all the passive-aggressive drama.  Well, I'm not really sorry.  I wanted to vent.

Great Horned Owl -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Our final bird of the day was a great horned owl in her nest.  What a great way to end a nice three day weekend.

Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge & Mount Shasta

Day One

February 21, 2014

Soundtrack:

• R.E.M. -- Chronic Town / Murmur
• The National -- Trouble Will Find Me
• Steve Martin & Edie Brickell -- Love Has Come or You

I made another trip up to Oregon last weekend.  It's the third trip in four months.  Unfortunately, like the first journey in November I was going up to attend a funeral.  I'll get into that in a later post, but for now I'll just that it was a bittersweet event.

Snow & Ross' Geese -- Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA

American Goldfinch

I drove up Interstate Five and stopped for a visit at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge.  Pongo loves that place.  I thought about bringing him along for the trip, but I was afraid he'd have to spend too much at parents' house in a crate and we weren't sure how well he'd do away from the other dogs for that long.

Songbirds were apparently laying siege to to the Visitor's Center.  They made a spectacular racket, but they were difficult for me to spot.  I found some goldfinches around the feeders that are set up outside.  Some sort of defense perimeter, I guess.  I saw a few other birds, but not nearly enough to account for all of the noise.  It was a covert operation these birds seemed to be operating.  I mean, aside from all the chirping.

Coyote, Snow & Ross' Geese -- Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA

There was a strange scene where a coyote was hanging out with a flock of about a thousand snow and ross' geese.  The geese didn't seem to mind the presence of the predator.  Judging by the poor shape of the coyote's coat, I suspect the coyote wasn't in the best of shape.  It looked like he'd either been burned or had a nasty case of mange.  Poor guy.  Being a wild animal is tough.

Gadwall -- Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA

There was still a couple of big flocks of geese, but a lot of the ducks had already left for their summer homes. There were thousands of pintails at the reserve in November, but I only saw a few on this trip.  There were still a lot of northern shovelers and a bunch of gadwalls, though, as well as some other stragglers.  I even saw a few cinnamon teals.  Pretty birds.

Cinnamon Teal -- Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA

I made a couple other stops on the way up to Salem, but nothing too exciting.  I won sixty bucks playing roulette at Seven Feathers Casino.  I also stopped to take a few pictures of Mount Shasta.  I arrived at my parents' house around 9:00.  A new brew pub opened up down the street.  That's nice.

Mount Shasta, CA