My friend and fellow Naturalist, Roxanne, left the house around 7:00 AM and stopped first for coffee before heading on toward the Gray Lodge Wildlife Area. We stopped again at Huckleberry’s restaurant for breakfast. What struck us as odd when we arrived there was seeing a flock of domesticated chickens running loose in the parking lot. It seemed so random. Why were they there? We later saw chickens along Highway 99 as we continue through the county so maybe it’s a “thing” there.

On our way to the wildlife area we saw about 14 hawks along the road, and an adult Bald Eagle flew over the car. We also saw a handful of Sandhill Cranes in an ag field along the road. That bode well for today’s outing.

When we got to Gray Lodge we stopped first at a turnout/parking lot with lots of eucalyptus trees and piles of brambles — rose and blackberry vines — intertwined in the privet and pyracantha bushes. There were Turkey Vultures and Tree Swallows flying overhead. The swallows were moving so fast, I couldn’t get any photos of them. Among the brambles we saw Mockingbirds, a Hermit Thrush, some Dark-Eyed Juncos, California Towhees, and other little “twitty” birds we couldn’t catch photos of.

When we got to Parking Lot 14, where the trails and auto tour route start, we walked out into the viewing platform and saw quite a few different species including a Great Blue Heron, Black-Crowned Night Herons (an adult and a juvenile), Ring-Necked ducks, American Wigeons and Gadwalls, and, of course, lots of Coots. It was cool to see so many species in such a confined area.

CLICK HERE for the full album of photos.

We stayed in the car most of the time we were there and didn’t walk the trails or check out the blinds because it was so cold and windy there. When we got back to the car from the viewing platform, our hands were so cold we couldn’t bend our fingers, and our faces were so cold we could hardly talk because we couldn’t move our lips!

Further along the auto-tour route, we saw more ducks, and quite a few Common Gallinules that were sporting their candy-corn colored face shields, getting ready for the breeding season.

From the car we also saw two species of egrets — Snowy Egrets and Great Egrets — more Great Blue Herons, and three different species of geese: Greater White-Fronted geese, Snow geese and Ross’s geese.

In one of the ponds — and there was lots of water on the landscape — we saw quite a few Ruddy Ducks in among little flotillas of Buffleheads Gadwalls, and a few Pied-Billed Grebes.

We also saw quite a few hawks, including Red-Tailed hawks and Red-Shouldered hawks. And we came across a few empty nests including a hanging pendulum nest, a cupped nest (that was probably that of a blackbird), and a mud-rimmed nest. I’m crap at identifying birds’ nests, though, so I wasn’t sure what we were looking at.

Near the end of the auto-tour route we saw a female Belt Kingfisher, and she led us on a chase down the road, trying to get photos of her. I had to settle for shots through the windshield, but Rox got a nice clear photo of her.

Before we left the preserve, we saw a few Columbian Black-Tailed deer including a solitary female and some very curious fawns (that were out of their spots).

We were out for about 8 hours, and I was pretty thrashed by the time we got home. I think the cold sucked a lot of my strength and energy out of me. I went to bed at 7:00 PM. .. But it was a fun and productive day.

Species List:

1. American Avocet, Recurvirostra americana
2. American Coot, Fulica americana
3. American Kestrel, Falco sparverius [4 along the highway]
4. American Robin, Turdus migratorius
5. American Wigeon, Anas americana
6. Audubon’s Warbler, Yellow-Rumped Warbler, Setophaga coronata auduboni
7. Azolla, Water Fern, Azolla filiculoides
8. Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus
9. Belted Kingfisher, Megaceryle alcyon
10. Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans
11. Black Walnut, Eastern Black Walnut, Juglans nigra
12. Blackberry, Armenian Blackberry, Rubus armeniacus [red canes]
13. Black-Crowned Night Heron, Nycticorax nycticorax
14. Black-Necked Stilt, Himantopus mexicanus
15. Blessed Milk Thistle, Silybum marianum
16. Brewer’s Blackbird, Euphagus cyanocephalus
17. Bufflehead Duck, Bucephala albeola
18. Bushtit, American Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus
19. California Quail, Callipepla californica
20. California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica
21. Cattail, Broad-Leaved Cattail, Typha latifolia
22. Chicken, Domestic Chicken, Gallus gallus var. domesticus
23. Chinese Privet, Ligustrum sinense
24. Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus
25. Common Gallinule, Gallinula galeata
26. Coyote Brush, Baccharis pilularis
27. Crow, American Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos
28. Dark-Eyed Junco, Junco hyemalis
29. Double-Crested Cormorant, Phalacrocorax auratus
30. Duckweed, Common Duckweed, Lemna minor
31. Dunlin, Calidris alpina
32. Eastern Fox Squirrel, Sciurus niger [rusty belly]
33. Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus sp.
34. Field Mustard, Brassica rapa
35. Gadwall, Mareca strepera
36. Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias
37. Great Egret, Ardea alba
38. Greater White-Fronted Goose, Anser albifrons
39. Grebe, Pied-Billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps
40. Hermit Thrush, Catharus guttatus
41. Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus
42. Jointed Charlock, Raphanus raphanistrum
43. Killdeer, Charadrius vociferous
44. Lesser Scaup, Aythya affinis
45. Lesser Yellowlegs, Tringa flavipes
46. Mallard Duck, Anas platyrhynchos
47. Mistletoe, Broadleaf Mistletoe, Phoradendron macrophyllum
48. Mullein, Great Mullein, Verbascum thapsus
49. Northern Flicker, Colaptes auratus [heard]
50. Northern Harrier, Marsh Hawk, Circus hudsonius [3]
51. Northern Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos
52. Northern Pintail, Anas acuta
53. Northern Shoveler, Anas clypeata
54. Oak, Valley Oak, Quercus lobata
55. Olive, Olea europaea
56. Parasitic Wasp, Subfamily: Mesochorinea
57. Poison Hemlock, Conium maculatum
58. Pyracantha, Firethorn, Pyracantha sp.
59. Red-Shouldered Hawk, California Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus elegans
60. Red-Tailed Hawk, Western Red-Tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis calurus [15 along the highway]
61. Red-Winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus
62. Ring-Necked Duck, Aythya collaris
63. Rose, California Wild Rose, Rosa californica [pink]
64. Ross’s Goose, Anser rossii
65. Ruddy Duck, Oxyura jamaicensis
66. Sandhill Crane, Grus canadensis
67. Snow Goose, Anser caerulescens
68. Snowy Egret, Egretta thula
69. Sparrow, Golden-Crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia atricapilla
70. Sparrow, White-Crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys
71. Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis [roadkill]
72. Swallow, Barn Swallow, American Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica erythrogaster
73. Swallow, Tree Swallow, Tachycineta bicolor
74. Towhee, California Towhee, Melozone crissalis
75. Towhee, Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus
76. Tule, Common Tule, Schoenoplectus acutus
77. Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura
78. Western Gray Squirrel, Sciurus griseus [roadkill]
79. Western Meadowlark, Sturnella neglecta
80. White Horehound, Marrubium vulgare
81. White-Faced Ibis, Plegadis chihi
82. Willows, Salix sp.
83. Wren, Marsh Wren, Cistothorus palustris