Tule Lake and Lower Klamath NWR

Here is a better view of the Lava Beds in the foreground and Tule Lake in the background. My husband and I drove over to the Tule Lake/Klamath Basin Visitor Center and saw a robin, a couple of Brewer's blackbirds, and a lizard. The lizard was sitting on the wall sunning himself and allowed me the privilege of getting a snapshot of him.

While touring around Tule Lake and Lower Klamath we encountered Western Grebes, Clark's Grebes, and even a horned grebe. We saw several flocks of ibises in flight. That was quite a sight to see. We also saw coots, a common merganser, a double-breasted cormorant, many yellow-headed blackbirds, and a northern harrier. Here are some other photos I took.
I think this is milkweed. Can someone verify this for me?
Another wildflower I cannot identify - but there were quite a few of these all around. It looks like something caterpillars and butterflies, or even dragonflies, etc. would make use of. As a matter of fact, throughout the entire trip there was a plethora of dragonflies, darning needles, and damselflies everywhere we went.
Clark's Grebes

White-faced ibis. Second photo also includes a Brewer's blackbird.
And here is a double-breasted cormorant with his "harem" of gulls.

And if you click on these photos you can get a better view of the red-wing and yellow-headed blackbirds on these tule reeds.

Modoc NWR and Lava Beds National Monument

Wednesday, Jul 12th, we drove through part of Modoc before going to Lava Beds National Monument. At Modoc, we saw a juvie red-tailed hawk, killdeer, Canada geese, black-necked stilts, and a couple more American avocets. The shorebirds were still difficult to identify. We think we saw common snipes or short-billed dowitchers. Then before we left Modoc we saw this great egret.
As we were approaching Lava Beds we saw some quail, a stellar's jay, and a couple of mourning doves.

This is the sign in front of the visitor center. If you click on the picture you will see how hazy it was. When we drove up to Alturas on Tuesday we were aware of a fire that was burning south and west of Susanville. There were quite a few firefighters that stayed overnight at various motels in the town of Alturas, including the one we stayed at. The fire was never a threat to the NWRs of the area, thank goodness, but visibility wasn't as good as we had hoped.

This is a moth I found while taking the Lava Beds sign pix. The moth was sitting on a lamp post. Unfortunately the picture doesn't show its beautiful colors. When it spread its wings, it had an irridescent blue-green coloring. The moth was about 1-1/2 to 2 inches long. Any "bug experts" out there - can you ID this moth?

Here's another view of the area from the Visitor Center.

While driving around the Lava Beds we came across some distinctive plants. I haven't been able to find the names of these wildflowers yet, but I did find them to be quite striking, especially within its surroundings. Just click on the pix to get a larger view.

These shots are of Indian paintbrusth - the first one gives you an idea of how the paintbrush is dispersed among the sage. And then the other two shots are close-ups. I found the third pic neat since the paintbrush was up against a rock with lichen.

And here is another shot of the lava beds in the foreground and mountains in the background about 20 miles away. Not too far from here we found the following wildflowers. They look like orchids, don't they?

And this is the view of Tule Lake in the background, from the north end of Lava Beds National Monument.

From Lodi to Alturas

Tuesday morning (Jul 10th) we headed out for Alturas and Modoc NWR from Lodi. We took I-80 east to Reno to catch US 395 to head north. Shortly after re-entering California on US 395 we saw several raptors at various locations. It was difficult to identify them from a distance, but I would make an educated guess that we had seen a couple of Swainson's Hawks, and a couple of red-tailed hawks. They are such fascinating birds to watch as they soar up over the drafts. Before we reached the Modoc overlook we also had seen a great egret and later saw a small flock of snowy egrets.

At the Modoc overlook I came across this wildflower. Sorry, don't know the name of it. Maybe someone
reading this can help me identify it.
Looking out in the distance we could see something white farther out on a tiny "island." At first glance I thought they were egrets, but then realized they looked "heavier" or "fatter" than an egret -- oh, they were American white pelicans. As we approached Modoc's "auto tour," we also saw many mallards, mostly mamas with their chicks. We also saw several shorebirds - but they were difficult to identify.
When we approached one of the drier areas, we saw two raptors perched on this "foot bridge." But by the time I got my camera focused only one of them was perched. Not sure, but I think they were both juvie red-tails. Photos were hard to take with only a 10x zoom. Most birds and waterfowl were quite "shy" of human presence. My husband and I had to chuckle that every time we stopped and I tried to get out of the car for a picture, the birds would take off, or at best would move farther away. I think you can click on the photo to see a larger picture.
In the course of the day, we managed to see (and able to identify) Calif Quail, more Am White Pelicans, swallows (I think they were cliff swallows), egrets (mostly great egrets), black neck stilts, red-winged blackbirds, white-faced ibises, double-breasted cormorant, American avocets, black-crowned night heron, and even a robin or two.
In the water, I also saw a couple of muskrats. Isn't this one cute?



Below, a silhouette of a red-tailed hawk. At least we thought it was a red-tail.



Wednesday's photos (Jul 11th) will follow in another post.

A Trip to the NWRs of Northern California

Last Sunday my husband and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary. We had planned to visit the National Wildlife Refuges in Northern California, namely, Modoc NWR, Tule Lake NWR, and Lower Klamath NWR. Tule Lake and Lower Klamath are a stone's throw from each other. And Modoc is about 50 miles east of Tule Lake NWR. But before we got started Monday morning we had to make a detour. Our son had gone to the Sierras with his two dogs for the weekend and had truck trouble and had to get it towed in. Luckily, he was only about 6 miles away from a town that had a tow truck. To make a long story short, we headed up to Shaver Lake in case he was going to be "stranded" there overnight and he would need to get back into San Jose before the truck would be fixed. On our way to Shaver Lake, we drove through an area near Millerton Lake where I saw in a distance a very large nest in a big old dead tree out in a field. We think it was possibly an eagle's nest, but we never saw any eagles flying around or perched anywhere in the vicinity. We did see vultures and hawks flying around. The hawks were most likely red-tailed hawks - but I couldn't positively identify any of them. I did see a hawk "diving" down to a field - possibly going after his lunch or dinner -- and this one had red markings, so it was probably a red-tailed hawk. Then while we were "parked" at the towing place waiting with Tim to make sure the truck would be fixed by day's end, Dave noticed some of the birds flying around nearby. He pointed out some birds he thought were possibly swallows. I got my trusty, new binocs and checked it out. Yes, cliff swallows were flying around and heading back to the eaves of one of the buildings of the towing place. Meanwhile, Dave and I knew we weren't going to get to our destination before nightfall, so we opted to stay overnight in Lodi, CA and get a fresh start the next morning. And the only birds we found there around the motel in Lodi were starlings and house sparrows. I didn't get any photos taken on Monday, but here are a few pix I took Saturday morning around our yard.

More posts with more photos of our NWR trip will follow.

Birding??? Challenge

A couple weeks ago Larry challenged those of us who would be interested in birding a spot we've never birded. Believe me, it was a bigger challenge than I thought it would be. I was disappointed because I did not get one single picture of a bird. I had decided to visit West Valley Community College located in Saratoga, California -- about 4-5 miles from where I live. It is nestled in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, consisting of 143 acres, and has been in existence since 1964 -- about the time when the Silicon Valley experienced one of its growth spurts. The campus is a wooded area with the various buildings spread out, yet a short walk from one building to another. Walking around and through the campus makes you feel like you are far into the country. I chose to go last Sunday (Jul 1) around 5 p.m. and the campus was pretty close to being isolated. It was very quiet and I felt very peaceful walking around for about an hour. At times I thought I'd be able to find some birds and possibly get a picture if I sat down on one of the many benches there -- a real park atmosphere. Anyway, the best I did was spot a few California Towhees, but no photos -- they were too far away and flew off when I tried to get closer. The campus is definitely not devoid of birds; I saw many birds in flight. And I even heard more birds than I saw. But I'm not good at identifying birds by ear -- something I still have to learn. The birds that I saw and can report on were crows, towhees, swallows and titmice. But the trip wasn't a total loss. I still enjoyed my little adventure and have decided to share with you what I did find while walking around the campus of West Valley Community College.

This is part of a sugar pine tree that died while growing in the Sierras. Quite impressive standing next to it. The size of this prickly pear cactus tells me it's got some age on it. Anyone want to guess how old it is? My guess is that it is at least as old as the school has been there (1964).
These little ones are California ground squirrels. I think they were just born earlier in the spring. They didn't wander off very far from their "nest" so I think they were waiting for mama to return. They look smaller than what I found out about the size of these little critters.

This is a "natural" arbor of a coastal live oak. I did not get a photo of the Calif. Holly - it wasn't much to look at.

These are cannas - unlike the kind I have in my garden. These are planted near one of the buildings.

This is a grape vine growing over the pergola located at the Child Developmental Center on the West Valley campus. The second pic shows a close-up of the grapes, about the size of a marble.

This was another prickly pear cactus I came across - closer to the parking lot. And you can see that it's about ready to bloom.

The light blue flowers in the foreground are Lily-of-the-Nile (forgot its other name). And I don't remember the name of the purple flowered bush behind them. But it sure was attractive. This was growing in front of one of the fine arts buildings.

And this was the view of the Mt. Hamilton range from the parking lot. This picture also shows how wooded the campus is.

Eight Random Facts Meme

Lynne from Hasty Brook tagged me for this meme. I haven't done this before, so I hope I do this right.

Here are the rules for Eight Random Facts Meme:
Players start with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
People who are tagged need to write their own blog about 8 things, and post these rules.
At the end of your blog you need to choose 8 people to get tagged and list their names.
Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I grew up around music all my life. I learned to read music and play the accordion (for a very brief time) when I was 8; learned to play piano as an adult - but don't play anymore.

2. I've always sung in choral groups since elementary school. I sang in the A Capella choir in high school (as well as the Glee Club). And I've sung solos in church as an adult.

3. Years ago when I was a stay-at-home mom I canned or made jam from the fruit trees in our backyard (namely apples, plums, and peaches), and I made home-made bread (from scratch).

4. I grew up as a practicing Catholic, but then after marriage became a Missouri Synod Lutheran, and I still am.

5. I graduated from an all-girls Catholic high school in Baltimore, and waited until my kids were in junior high before pursuing a college degree.

6. As a child I always liked to play "school." And originally aspired to become an elementary school teacher until I realized I liked the courses that were offered in Library School more than wanting to get a teaching credential.

7. I have just completed my sixth year as Medical Librarian in the hospital where I work. I also am one of those very few fortunate folks who can walk to work. The hospital is only two blocks away (walking distance) - only one block as the crow flies.

8. My husband and I are facing another remodel in our home (due to start next week). This time we are tackling the family room with a new fireplace face and new flooring among other smaller details.

OK - the folks named below are the ones I am tagging - my apologies if any of you have already been recently tagged.

1. Barbara at Trying to Catch Up
2. Delia at Beginning to Bird
3. Dorothy at Woods View
4. Kate at Kate Smudges
5. Sandy at Gardenpath
6. Patrice at From Patrice
7. Annie in Austin at Transplantable Rose
8. Wren (Jane) at Wrenaissance Reflections

Fewer trees in cities

Did anyone else see the article in Time Magazine, published in the June 21, 2007 issue? It's located in the Life section under Environment. Click here to see a copy of the online version. The article was written by Dan Cray. He reported that urban trees are declining, and with that goes a decline in a city's air quality. Just as the countryside benefits from a canopy, Mr. Cray mentions that cities need a canopy, too. I'm sure we all know that trees filter out dust and smoke, and absorb carbon dioxide, but they also provide shade which many cities are lacking. So many urban trees have succumbed to various diseases, like Dutch Elm and the beetles that are now killing the pine trees. And cities don't have the manpower or the money to maintain trees and roads and sidewalks. Another problem is "urban sprawl." Too many folks think they need a 3500-6000 sq. ft. home, and are placing them on these postage-stamp-sized lots. No room for trees, much less any other flora. Interestingly enough, NASA reports that city temperatures are rising. But what are the cities doing about it? Instead of planting more trees (again they lack the funds), they are designing parks with tennis courts and playgrounds. But where does that money come from? I can understand more tennis courts and more playgrounds, but what good is that if there is no shade to be had on a hot summer day? Well, I'm glad to see that the Bay Area's mayors aren't the only ones to blame. :)

(B/W photo from ADELVA in Photobucket)

Happy Birthday, America!

Today we celebrate the birthday of our nation, and celebrate our freedom. While getting a photo of our flag hanging out in the front yard, I thought I would throw in a few more pix. These are all pictures of our crepe myrtle. We have what I call a "late bloomer." Most everyone else's in the neighborhood bloomed back in May and June. Our tree doesn't bloom until most of the other flowers in our front yard are done blooming.

Happy Fourth of July everyone!