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We decided to hit the road, travel south, and pay a visit to the Merced National Wildlife Refuge on Halloween morning. The trip was prompted by numerous written and photographic reports online. We left our home at 6:30 AM in an attempt to beat the morning rush-hour traffic. This strategy was only partially successful because, as we moved south into Stockton and Modesto, the 99 Fwy got congested. We decided to visit again on a weekend morning… Perhaps even catching the sunrise!

The refuge turned out to be a big estuary with grasslands to the south east. It seemed to have a longer driving loop than the Sacramento refuge with plenty of good viewing opportunities. The drive along the south and east edge were the best because the light was at our back. As we stopped near the front entrance to get organized two hawks interacted in the trees nearby and created a bit of a ruckus. A very large hawk was chasing a smaller one. Along the road, not far from the entrance, we did photograph a nice juvenile red tailed hawk, perhaps the same one that was being chased.

Another initial sighting was of a large peregrine falcon on a telephone pole right next to the roadway. It did not flush - I shot through the sunroof of our truck. The same line of telephone poles had red-tailed hawks on top of just about every other pole. It was about 9 AM and the lighting along the roadway bordering the north and west side was very bright and harsh for photographic purposes though it was still beautiful to see the silhouettes and glassy water.

One of our primary target species was the sandhill crane. The first half of the driving loop had no cranes on the ground in only a few were scene in the distance flying by. (A couple of busy harriers were also seen in the distance with no relation to the cranes). As we moved to the far eastern edge of the loop many cranes were seen on the ground. The best viewing of the cranes, and the best photography of the visit, was from the viewing platform. This platform was very close to the wildlife and was just as good as the platform up at Llano Seco when it is full of water later in the winter.

The photographs from the platform deck included lots of nice in-flight looks at the cranes, several species of ducks, ibis, coots, and generally great views across the wetlands. Flocks of white-fronted geese and red-winged blackbirds were photographed here as well.

After leaving the viewing platform, the road led around some grass lands which had cows grazing. The roadway was festooned with ground squirrels. With so many ground squirrel holes in the area we kept an eye out for possible burrowing owls. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before we spotted a large owl in a hole about 25 yards away from the roadway in the grasslands sitting on the edge of an old ground squirrel hole. Ironically, the pasture land full of cows turned out to be the Sandhill Crane hot spot. Except for the cranes in flight, most of them on the ground were too far away for decent photography.

The trip along the final leg of the loop was characterized by several large controlled burns a couple of miles to the south. The smoke plumes filled the sky and dominated the horizon. Photographs showing small flocks of cranes flying into the smoke might prove interesting. Makes me wonder if burning is necessary during the migration period?


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