Month: January 2020

Four More from Merced

The few shots I’ve posted on this post and the previous ones don’t do justice to the number of birds we saw at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge, but magical places like this remind us what life must have been in these areas before we drained the wetlands and covered the lands in concrete.

I was a little surprised to see Snow Geese this far south, but I would have been disappointed by how far away they were

if I hadn’t known that I would see a lot more at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge that afternoon.

I was much happier with this close-up shot of a Black-Necked Stilt.

I had a hard time catching a shot of the numerous Ground Squirrels 

perhaps because they knew that if they stayed in the same spot too long that they would become dinner for the raptors we kept seeing circling overhead.

Merced National Wildlife Refuge

Although we didn’t get to see the Sand Hill Cranes we were hoping to see at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge, it was a great start to our trip home from Fresno.  Best of all, the rain predicted held off until we finished our visit.

Birding, like fishing, is unpredictable.  Although I saw shots of Sand Hill Cranes taken a few days before we visited, we didn’t see a single crane on our visit.  Luckily, other birds tried to compensate for their absence.  We were greeted near the entrance by a large flock of White Pelicans

that cooperated by flying in a giant circle around us.

There must have been hundreds, if not thousands, of American Coots at the refuge.  It was tough getting a shot with just one coot in it.

I don’t think I ever realized just how small a Spotted Sandpiper is until I got this shot of one standing in front of a pair of Gadwalls.

As I focused on a small flock of Northern Shovelers, I noticed two small birds in the middle of the flock.  Apparently my camera had as much trouble focusing on them as I did seeing them because no matter how hard I tried to focus on them and not the Northern Shovelers or the reeds on the bank, I only got two out a dozen or so shots where they were in focus.

I think I love seeing Wilson Snipes so much because I looked for them for nearly four years before I ever saw one (though I later discovered two in the background of a shot of Dowitchers I had taken two years before I officially noted them).  When you actually see a snipe, you definitely know you’re paying attention to what’s in front of you.