Bosque del Apache and Water Canyon

On Saturday, Nov 17th, the Festival of the Cranes was in full force with many exhibits, including art exhibits all around. Several educational animals were also available, mostly birds, but there was also a captive wolf which I did not get a photo of. Here are just a couple of shots of a hawk. Aren't they beautiful? Just look at those feathers, especially on the second photo.

Great horned owl

American Coot on the Refuge admiring his reflection

Below, an alligator juniper tree in Water Canyon.

Here is a close-up view of the bark. You can see why it is called "alligator" juniper.

The Mountain Birding Tour was led by Mary Alice Root, Bill Thompson and Julie Zickefoose. On the way to Water Canyon we saw a herd of pronghorn antelope grazing in the field. I haven't seen any pronghorn for many years, so I really enjoyed seeing them out "on the range." Also, before getting to Water Canyon, the group stopped where there was a huge rock wall (in the distance). We stopped to look for a great horned owl that was spotted the day before. The owl was still there; and it was also noted that there was a honeybee hive attached to the cliff wall. Once we got to Water Canyon, we saw a cliff chipmunk and a young rock squirrel (identified by JZ). They sure were cute to watch. The birds we saw were: bushtits, juncos, a ruby-crowned kinglet, white-breasted nuthatches, bluebirds, a couple of Stellar's jays, acorn woodpecker, red-naped sapsucker, and a Williamson's sapsucker. Many of these were lifers for me, and you can read more about these birds and the Water Canyon trip in Julie Zickefoose's and Bill of the Birds blogs. You'll also see photos of many of the birds that I did not get. Most of the birds were in areas that were too dark and/or too far for me to get any decent photos; so I didn't bother. While heading back to the cars I took this photo of a few birders - namely, my husband, Liam (JZ's and BT's son), and Linda (who we had carpooled with).

Below is the photo of the great-horned owl that was found perched in the cliff wall. We took this shot on our way out of the canyon since the lighting was better than when we first saw it on the way up to Water Canyon.

Lower Klamath NWR and Butte Valley area

Thursday morning, July 12th we left Klamath Falls (where we stayed overnight) and headed for Lower Klamath to finish the auto tour. Shortly after getting to Lower Klamath we could spot Mt. Shasta. Here is a view of Mt. Shasta as I zoomed in on it.
Click on this photo to get a larger view of a red-winged blackbird I was able to capture along the road tour. Other birds I had seen, but don't have any photos of: western meadowlark, marsh wrens, terns sp., brown-headed cowbird, cliff swallows.

Here is one of my better shots of a great egret we saw along the road. Other birds seen along the road: gadwall (many mamas with their chicks), red-tailed hawk, American white pelican, Forster's tern, and a male ruddy duck. We also saw several flocks of white-faced ibises flying all over the refuge.
As we left Lower Klamath NWR, we came into Butte Valley National Grassland and Butte Valley Wildlife Management area. As we were driving along my husband spotted this bald eagle along the roadside. This was our first bald eagle in California. We've seen bald eagles before in Alaska and New Mexico, but never in this state.
As we drove around the Butte Valley Wildlife Management area we came to a small lake - Juanita Lake. Local folks were camping there and fishing. Walking along the trail around part of the lake I spotted this cormorant.
Then as we left the wildlife management area, we kept watching to see if we would see the bald eagle again. He apparently moved from one snag to another about 40 feet from the first snag. And here he was surrounded by (I think) a bunch of crows. Click on the image to get a larger view. The eagle is in the lower left of the tree/snag.
As we continued to travel south on US 97 to catch I-5 we stopped by the vista point to get some photos of Mt. Shasta.

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.