Day 148 – Upper 30’s this morning when we got up, and sunny. The morning sun was perfect for Rob to take some pictures, and the birds were out in force. Every morning the girls sit on the dashboard enthralled by all the activity here.
Yellow-billed Magpie, Basalt Campground, San Luis Reservoir SRA, Gustine, CAYellow-billed Magpie, Basalt Campground, San Luis Reservoir SRA, Gustine, CABushtit, Basalt Campground, San Luis Reservoir SRA, Gustine, CA
Today we hung around the campsite in the morning, waiting until after lunch to leave for Merced NWR. Usually birds are more active at these places first thing in the morning and early evening. We spent a couple of hours in the screened tent in the morning and left a little after 12:30 p.m. We got back to the RV after 4:30 and went back out to the tent to read a little. Some campers had departed and some more came in, leaving us with 4 camping parties in total. Not bad!
There was so much activity at the wildlife refuge. Merced still had Sandhill Cranes left over from the winter migration. We were surprised to see that many. There were quite a lot of Snow Geese still here, some Cackling Geese, plus there were many White-Fronted Geese. We haven’t encountered many of them in the past. There were plenty of ducks of various kinds, small birds, shorebirds, blackbirds, hawks, many egrets, and a Great Horned Owl. There were also plenty of squirrels and rabbits. The place was teeming with wildlife! It was a great day at Merced National Wildlife Refuge. And on the way back to the RV, the Tule Elk were right by the campground road. The high today was 71 degrees.
