2020 12-01 Sacramento NWR
2020 12-01 Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge
On our way north to the Refuge we stopped to look for the little male vermillion flycatcher and got luckily. Sue spotted it right away and we had a 30 minute photo session from a safe, telephoto distance, before it disappeared into some large pines near the western fence.
At the refuge, we found a spectacular day with blue, sunny skies and only a light breeze. Air quality wasn’t too bad thus we enjoyed views of the Sutter buttes and Snow Mountain in the Mendocino forest. We started the loop around 1215 and stayed for an hour and a half.
A white-tailed kite greeted visitors on the main road just outside the parking lot for the visitors’ center. This bird was in the same place a month or so ago…a nice start for the trip. Snow geese were abundant in all the ponds, and all the ponds seem to now have water. The normally subdued, resting geese only got spooked into whole-flock flight once or twice.
The panoramas were very nice and were enhanced by the final burst of yellow leaves as the start of winter approaches in two weeks.
Raptors photographed (in addition to the kite) included a wonderful juvenile bald eagle perched on a dead branch that was right on the edge of the road; a small but wonderful red-shouldered hawk and, later, a big red-tailed hawk. Smaller birds were seen and photographed: white-crowned sparrow, western meadowlark.
Two small mule deer were seen in the dry brush next to the river
-
Read MoreOn our way north to the Refuge we stopped to look for the little male vermillion flycatcher and got luckily. Sue spotted it right away and we had a 30 minute photo session from a safe, telephoto distance, before it disappeared into some large pines near the western fence.
At the refuge, we found a spectacular day with blue, sunny skies and only a light breeze. Air quality wasn’t too bad thus we enjoyed views of the Sutter buttes and Snow Mountain in the Mendocino forest. We started the loop around 1215 and stayed for an hour and a half.
A white-tailed kite greeted visitors on the main road just outside the parking lot for the visitors’ center. This bird was in the same place a month or so ago…a nice start for the trip. Snow geese were abundant in all the ponds, and all the ponds seem to now have water. The normally subdued, resting geese only got spooked into whole-flock flight once or twice.
The panoramas were very nice and were enhanced by the final burst of yellow leaves as the start of winter approaches in two weeks.
Raptors photographed (in addition to the kite) included a wonderful juvenile bald eagle perched on a dead branch that was right on the edge of the road; a small but wonderful red-shouldered hawk and, later, a big red-tailed hawk. Smaller birds were seen and photographed: white-crowned sparrow, western meadowlark.
Two small mule deer were seen in the dry brush next to the river
-
Pyrocephalus obscurus Vermillion flycatcher 2020 12-01 Colusa Cnty--030
Pyrocephalus obscurus Vermillion flycatcher 2020 12-01 Colusa Cnty--075
Pyrocephalus obscurus Vermillion flycatcher 2020 12-01 Colusa Cnty--095
Pyrocephalus obscurus Vermillion flycatcher 2020 12-01 Colusa Cnty--110
Pyrocephalus obscurus Vermillion flycatcher 2020 12-01 Colusa Cnty--164
Zonotrichia leucophrys White-crowned sparrow 2020 12-01 Sac NWR--007
Zonotrichia leucophrys White-crowned sparrow 2020 12-01 Sac NWR--019
Haliaeetus leucocephalus JUVENILE in tree 2020 12-01 Sac NWR--041
Haliaeetus leucocephalus JUVENILE in tree 2020 12-01 Sac NWR--547
Haliaeetus leucocephalus JUVENILE in tree 2020 12-01 Sac NWR--135
