I got up around 7:00 this morning to VERY cold temperatures, 28ºF. I wanted to go to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, but I wanted to wait until it warmed up a little bit outside, so I didn’t leave the house until about 8:30 AM. That’s “late” for me, especially when going such a long distance to a venue — (It takes about 2 hours to get to the refuge from the house.) — so I wasn’t sure what the visit would be like. I was worried, too, about it being windy there, so I made a back-up plan to go into the hills down Highways 20 and 16 if the wildlife refuge was a no-go.  I took my dog Esteban with me.

I got to the refuge around 10:30 AM and there wasn’t a wisp of wind… but there weren’t a lot of interesting sightings along the auto tour route. That time of day, too, there were a lot of cars on the road, which is always kind of annoying.

Although I was hoping for some eagles and some bitterns, I only saw Bald Eagles in flight and at a distance, saw one juvenile eagle of which I only got one useable shot, and I saw zero bitterns. Disappointing.

I did see a few birds; mostly the usual suspects. CLICK HERE for the full album of photos.

The best sighting of the day was of a mama Columbian Black-Tailed Deer and her two fuzzy-bodied fawns. They were a surprise and so cute.

The air was filled with the chattering of male Marsh Wrens singing to establish their territories. I didn’t see any nest-building yet.

There were also Red-Winged Blackbirds singing from the tules.

Because there wasn’t much to see, I did the entire route relatively quickly and headed back home. On the way home, I stopped at Taco Bell and got myself some tacos. Then we went to the rest stop at Dunsmuir and had our lunch.  I got home around 3:00 PM.

Species List:

1. American Coot, Fulica americana
2. American Wigeon, Anas americana
3. Ash, Velvet Ash, Fraxinus velutina
4. Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus
5. Black Mustard, Brassica nigra
6. Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans
7. Black-Necked Stilt, Himantopus mexicanus
8. Brass Buttons, Cotula coronopifolia
9. Bufflehead Duck, Bucephala albeola
10. California Ground Squirrel, Otospermophilus beecheyi
11. Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus
12. Common Gallinule, Gallinula galeata
13. Common Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula
14. Golden-Crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia atricapilla
15. Great Egret, Ardea alba
16. Greater White-Fronted Goose, Anser albifrons
17. Greater Yellowlegs, Tringa melanoleuca
18. Green-Winged Teal, Anas carolinensis
19. Killdeer, Charadrius vociferous
20. Mallard Duck, Anas platyrhynchos
21. Marsh Wren, Cistothorus palustris
22. Northern Pintail, Anas acuta
23. Northern Shoveler, Anas clypeata
24. Pacific Pond Turtle, Western Pond Turtle, Actinemys marorata
25. Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus
26. Red-Tailed Hawk, Western Red-Tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis calurus
27. Red-Winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus
28. Ring-Necked Duck, Aythya collaris
29. Ruddy Duck, Oxyura jamaicensis
30. Savannah Sparrow, Passerculus sandwichensis
31. Snow Goose, Chen caerulescens
32. Snowy Egret, Egretta thula
33. Tule, Common Tule, Schoenoplectus acutus
34. Western Meadowlark, Sturnella neglecta
35. White-Faced Ibis, Plegadis chihi
36. Wild Teasel, Dipsacus fullonum
37. Willow, Salix sp.
38. Wilson’s Snipe, Gallinago delicata