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

Merced National Wildlife Refuge

October 30, 2015

After my last post about San Luis Wildlife Refuge, Garry Hayes (Geotripper) tipped me off to to the fact that a few thousand sandhill cranes have already taken up residence at the Merced refuge about ten miles from the San Luis unit.  I decided to take a drive to see the cranes on Friday.

Sandhill Crane -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

The cranes were spread out all over the refuge.  This is not what I'm normally used to.  My experience has been that the cranes are packed tightly together in a couple of locations.  I suspect this has something to do with the fact that most of the geese and ducks have yet to arrive.  They've had the refuge mostly to themselves for the last few weeks.  That is soon going to change.

Great Horned Owl -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

I almost always spot a great horned owl or two at the Merced refuge.  I saw four on my best owl day ever there.  Yesterday I found one deep in a group of trees.  This photo does little more than confirm I actually saw an owl.  Any day I see an owl is a good day, so I'll take it.

Sandhill Crane -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Sandhill Crane -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

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

Black-necked Stilt

As I was taking pictures I passed up a number of opportunities to shoot smaller birds.  That got me thinking about my interests and whether or not I consider myself to be a birder.  The answer is obvious to me, and it's no.  I certainly do a lot of things a birder would do.  I track my sightings on eBird (some of them, anyway).  I own a copy of The Sibley Guide to Birds.  I take a lot of pictures of birds.  That's the thing, though, it's all about the photos for me.  I passed up on photos of a northern shrike and tri-colored blackbirds because I wasn't interested in them.  Granted, the photos would have been tough to pull off but I had similar situations with the owl and the red-tailed hawk and I went after those.  Even more telling, I'd have dropped everything if an opportunity to shoot an otter or even a raccoon had come along.  I like ducks and geese and birds of prey and big birds like the sandhill cranes.  I think a birder would have been more excited about the shrike.

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

Sandhill Crane -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Sandhill Crane -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Sandhill Crane -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

All in all, it was a nice little afternoon trip.  Thanks for the tip, Garry!

Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Merced & San Luis National Wildlife Refuges

It's been a few weeks, but Pongo and I finally made it out of the house for an afternoon.  It felt good to get out into the open air.

Western Kingbird -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

We started at the Merced complex.  The waterfowl are mostly gone aside from a few ducks and mudhens.  The refuge is far from empty, though.  Less plentiful in number than the large flocks of geese and ducks, the land is populated by kingbirds, swallows and raptors.  The great horned owls also remain.  The wetlands are now dry for the most part.

Great Horned Owl -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Great Horned Owl

A few marshy areas remain at San Luis.  Pongo and I made our way there after touring the Merced refuge.  Our first good sighting was a great horned owl, a first for me at the refuge.  I was unable tp get a decent picture because he stuck to the shadows.You'll have to use your imagination a little bit with this picture.

Pongo jumped out of the car window again.  This is the second time he's done that, both at San Luis and both incidents happened within a few hundred yards of one another.  Last time he went after ducks that quacked at him.  This time he leaped after a ground squirrel.  It happened very quickly.  I keep a long leash on him when we're driving with his window open and I never go more than ten miles an hour, still it was a little frightening.  I was worried about him getting under the wheels but he was fine.  I told him not to do it again, but we'll see.  I want to keep the window down for him because he enjoys the drives so much, but I sure don't want him to get hurt.

San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Aren't the greens and yellows amazing?  What a beautiful time for a drive at the refuge.  I love the varied browns of winter, but Spring is even more to my liking.  I miss the big flocks, though.  I was hoping to see a coyote or two since we were there late in the afternoon but no such luck.  We didn't see one until much later in a field on our drive home.

Western Kingbird -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

We saw a couple of swainson's hawks on elk fence posts.  I think I saw a couple of others in flight but I wasn't able to identify them with any cinfidence.  I've never seen swainson's hawks before, at least that I could identify, so that was cool.

Swainson's Hawk -- San Luis National Wildife Refuge, CA

Swainson's Hawk

The elk must have been tucked into the interior of their large enclosure because I only saw three.  The two males had velvet on their antlers.  I wonder how long until that comes off and they take on their tough guy demeanor.

Demeanors?  Spell check says no.  Dunno.  I should dig up a dictionary.  I guess I could google it, but I'm too lazy.

Anyway, it was a nice afternoon.  I just have to talk Pongo into keeping himself in the car while we're driving around the loop.

Tule Elk -- San Luis 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.