BIRDS OF A FEATHER……..
Day 114 – 7:30 a.m. & 46 degrees, cloudy & overcast. The birds outside were loud & busy this morning; the girls were plastered to the windows excitedly watching them from the inside. We left at 9:35 for another day of Wildlife Refuges. The pictures & viewing won’t be quite as good with the lack of sunlight but enjoyable anyway.
The herd of Elk were still in one of the fields in the SRA. Not close enough for good pictures though. We first went back to two of the refuge drives at San Luis NWR. No longer part of the “holidaze”, kids were back in school & people were back at work. The Wildlife Refuge was nearly empty. We drove the Tule Elk Auto Tour until we found where the Elk were clustered – too far from the road for us to see well (smart animals). So we dropped off that tour and went on the Waterfowl Auto Tour Route. We saw Lesser Sandhill Cranes which were different than the Sandhill Cranes we’d seen previously in great numbers at Staten Island Sandhill Crane Preserve. The Lesser Sandhill Cranes are shorter (not by much) and have some coloration on the wings/sides that doesn’t appear on the larger birds. We were happy to have seen both of these birds! There were more Cinnamon Teals, a beautiful bird which usually arrives in the Spring – happy to see them, too. And of course, the usual suspects were still here in force, especially the Coots.
It was almost 1 p.m., so we drove to Los Banos to get sandwiches to go. We went to ToGo’s, a sandwich chain with stores in several States in the west. You might remember that on our first trip we’d discovered Jersey Mike’s, and crowned it as the very best. Now, we have a contender for the crown. Our sandwiches were fresh & very good. Look out Jersey, here comes the west.
Next we drove to Merced NWR again. Unlike yesterday, there were very few people driving the Auto Tours. (It’s funny, we’re always getting stopped at these places by people asking, “Have you seen any Sandhill Cranes?” and “Where did you see them?”. It appears these birds are quite the main attraction. We’re very happy to always be able to say that yes, we have seen them. Grin.)
Yesterday at Merced we capped off the day at a boardwalk where we saw thousands of geese & ducks, mostly Ross’s Geese, the white goose that looks similar to a Snow Goose. When these geese are flocked together on a pond or strip of land, it looks awesome. Everything is covered in white – like snow. Our first stop today was the lake with the boardwalk. No geese. Ducks and of course, Coots, but after seeing many thousands of white geese take off simultaneously yesterday, we wondered if they’d left the area. Nope, we encountered them later, like a sea of white fluffy pillows on the water. The whole drive was great again with lots of song birds, hawks, ducks, geese, ground squirrels & rabbits. On the way home, we saw a coyote and the herd of elk again.
The high today was 59 degrees, cloudy & overcast all day. We’ve been wanting to spend some time at the campsite doing birdwatching from here, but we have been getting back too late in the day. Mornings have been a little too cold to sit out there, but that’s when the birds are here. Tomorrow morning we’re determined to sit out and get those pictures before we leave for our next campground, come hell or high water. Hee hee.
I am so grateful for your daily report and pictures. Your collective talent and discipline are humbling. We have been away and offline for over a month and I am trying to catch up with your gifts. Luv, Diane
Thanks Diane! It takes two for sure. When one of us gets tired of posting, the other gets us moving again! I heard the Lubec Landmarks Brining Shed collapsed during the last snowstorm. What a shame!