October 18, 2015
I took Pongo to San Luis National Wildlife Refuge yesterday. It's been a while since I've taken him on an adventure. We were in for a few surprises.
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| Northern Shoveler -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA |
We always start with the drive around the avian sanctuary. It's already been flooded. The early arrivals are already there. Northern shovelers mostly, with a few coots and mallards thrown into the mix. I was expecting dry fields, so that was a nice surprise.
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| Sandhill Crane -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA |
I wasn't too surprised to see shovelers. They're generally the first to arrive. I wasn't expecting sandhill cranes. Maybe they're early arrivers too, I'm not as familiar with them. I was happy to see 'em, though.
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| Sandhill Crane -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA |
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| White Pelican -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA |
If you can't tell from the pictures, the light as pretty bad. It was dark, the sun was stuck all afternoon behind a group of dark clouds.
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| Tule Elk -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA |
The bachelors were hanging out together in the elk refuge. Poor guys. Better luck next year.
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| Tule Elk -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA |
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| Tule Elk -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA |
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| San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA |
Next chance you get, head out to the fairly close Merced Unit, about fifteen miles from San Luis. We were there today, along with 9,000 (!) Sandhill Cranes. http://geotripperbirds.blogspot.com/2015/10/sandhill-cranes-in-great-valley-visit.html
ReplyDeleteThanks, Garry. In the winter I normally try to hit both units. I wasn't expecting the cranes to be here already. Live and learn. :-)
DeleteA nice outing with these pleasant surprises.
ReplyDeleteYep. Winter is already approaching. Gotta love the changing of the seasons.
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