Special Places

Big Birds, Little Birds, Birds Everywhere

Years ago on Leslie’s first visit to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, she spotted a tree full of vultures, something she had never seen before. Ever since she looks for them before we start the car tour. A few were there again, though most of them were already out looking for a meal.

Vultures are much rarer than Red-Tailed Hawks, but I’ve gotten in the habit of looking for a hawk in one of the first trees you see after you have started the auto tour. I’ve found hawks in the same tree as long as I can remember, and, for a change, it was sitting on branches on the road side of the tree rather than on the backside where it’s nearly impossible to get a good shot.

We heard Meadowlarks singing almost as soon as we started the tour, some quite close, but the only shot we managed was this one which was far, far away.

A recent news report that a Meadowlark was spotted at nearby Dunes Park reminded me that we’ve seen more Meadowlarks at the Sacramento NWR than anywhere else.

We don’t have Black Phoebe’s in the Puget Sound, either, so it was a treat seeing this one fly out and back repeatedly. Unfortunately, the only time I managed to keep him in frame was when he was sitting on a branch.

I’ve often seen flocks of Bush Tits at home, but it was still a treat when this male Bush Tit posed for us.

Big or small, you never know what you’ll see at the Sacramento NWR, but you can always count on seeing lots of amazing birds there.

Not Just Northern Shovelers

When I first visited the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge many years ago, I was enthralled by the sheer number of birds I saw there. I’d never seen that many White-Fronted Geese, not to mention that many Snow Geese, in my entire life. Over the years, though, I’ve come to love the diversity found there more than the sheer number of birds.

For instance, it’s been several years since I’ve seen a Ruddy Duck, particularly one with a blue bill, which they only have during breeding. Most of the Ruddy Ducks we saw didn’t have blue beaks, but this one looks like it was just starting to change. Unfortunately, he never raised his tail feathers straight up, another distinctive trait.

I see quite a few Buffleheads around home, but I couldn’t resist this good of a shot.

My favorite Puget Sound birding guide says that Cinnamon Teal are common, particularly in sewage ponds, but I seldom frequent those so I don’t often see them.

Green-Winged Teal are common at Theler Wetlands but are too beautiful to ignore no matter where you find them.

We also have Ringed-Necked Ducks in the Pacific Northwest, but I rarely see them, either. I spotted a couple of male Ring-Necked Ducks, but they were too far away to get a decent shot, but these three females seemed indifferent to us.

We were lucky enough to dodge California’s recent storms on most of our visit, and the blue skies added a flash of brilliance to the photos that has been hard to come by in the Pacific Northwest this winter.

3000 Miles Later

Leslie and I just returned from our 3,000-mile, two-week trip to Arizona where we visited my brother Bill and his wife Alice and to California where we visited Leslie’s brother Jeff and his wife Debbie. Of course, I wasn’t up to driving the 1,500 miles to Arizona in one day so we drove 642 miles to Willows, California, on our first day. We probably could have made it to Phoenix in one more day, but I was beginning to stiffen up after 14 hours in the car. More importantly, the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge was just a few miles away, and I find it difficult to drive by without stopping — even if many of the birds had already left.

In previous years we’ve seen thousands of Snow Geese there, a magnificent sight. We only saw hundreds of them on this visit. Because of the flooding, many of the geese still around were feeding outside the refuge. We did get to see several small flocks up close and personal, though.

The Snow Geese were obviously used to people, and as the car approached they took off but landed nearby, offering opportunities to catch them in flight, or, if your reflexes aren’t quite as sharp as they used to be, catch them landing

or take a shot of them as they serenely paddle away.

The space vacated by the Snow Geese that had started migrating was apparently filled by large flocks of American Coots. Although seeing American Coot at the refuge is not unusual, I had never seen as many in earlier visits.

Generally, I overlook American Coots paddling along in the water unless they happen to have a chick with them, but I’m always fascinated with their feet and red-eye when seen close-up on land.

We also saw a huge number of Northern Shovelers on the refuge, again, far more than we have ever seen before. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to flock together when they’re feeding so I had to settle for this shot of one feeding by itself.

Our visit to the refuge wasn’t as memorable as many others, but it did seem special because it has been so long since we had traveled.

Mt. Rainier, Two Months Later

Mt. Rainier is famous for its flowers and we took our previous hike at the peak period, but I got inspired to return in late Summer/early Fall when I looked up the trail on the Mt. Rainier National Park site. When I saw pictures of the Fall foliage, I knew I wanted to return.

We definitely weren’t disappointed when we did so.

For the first half of our walk, we were immersed in brilliant Fall colors.

The second half of the hike was quite different but equally impressive.

There’s no way to convey the magnificent mountain through photographs, but the barely visible people in the lower, right-hand corner suggest just how massive it truly is.