Sunday, November 29, 2009

BwBTC Sacramento Part 2

Howdee all,

We are currently in Sebastopol, Ca. visiting friends and staying quite busy..not much time for blogging and internet stuff…but having a great time.

Last post we had just finished the walking tour.

This is now the Auto tour around the Sacramento Wildlife Refugee.

Recognize this bird from the previous post?

American GoldfinchBwBTC Sac_076

  American Bittern …Great find!

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A beautiful but very chilly and breezy day.  

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  There is a Great Horned Owl in this tree…very well hidden…

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The ponds which Larry and Geno say are normally filled with birds ..have just a few…

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Snow geese. Coots, Pintails and a few Ross's Geese here…

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    See the ponds on either side…Where are the birds?

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A few Black Necked StiltsBwBTC Sac_110

Coots and Gadwalls

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A few Northern Shovelers

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But the most of the ponds had very few birdsBwBTC Sac_112

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    Looking at more empty ponds

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A bit further and we see a few more Ducks and Geese

BwBTC Sac_126  BwBTC Sac_133

Still not the numbers that are usually seen here..

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See them all in the sky?

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   We do see a few areas full of Snow Geese..

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Snow Geese and Long-billed Dowitchers

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     Red-tailed Hawk

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            But it seems that most of the ducks were in ponds further from us…and also

in the skyBwBTC Sac_170 not many hanging out in the water..BwBTC Sac_190We did manage to tally 60 species between the auto tour, walking tour and the golf course.. 

I will save the golf course Burrowing Owl photos for my next post..

See ya at the golf course!

BwBTC Sac_201

16 comments:

  1. Dawn, your pictures just get better and better! What a fantastic birding area!

    And I do love that license plate.

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  2. There may not have been as many birds as usual, but still a lot. Really like the stilt with a fresh catch and the landing geese. Awesome photos Dawn.

    Nice license plate!

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  3. Enjoyed this post too Dawn. Nice Bittern .. sweet! The Black-necked Stilt is exciting too. Was a lifer for me last winter/early spring when we had a sighting of one here in the Chicago suburbs. It was in a 'fluddle' (flooded field) near a gas station on a main road of all places. Got some average photos, but it was really exciting. My favorite shot in this series is the beautiful landscape with sky full of snow geese :)

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  5. ...loved the American Bittern and am looking forward to the Burrowing Owls! Looks like a lot of ducks and geese to me...high in the sky!

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  6. Nice post Dawn! Love the photos. Hey, you wanna clue me in to where you saw that Bittern? I never saw it :-(

    BTW, anyone wanting one of those "I Brake For Birds" bumper stickers, just send me an email and I'll mail one or more to you ;-)

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  7. More beautiful pictures with gorgeous vistas and landscapes. What camera do you find yourself using more?

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  8. Only 50? I'm very disappointed in this count. On the other hand I also did an auto tour today, with spouse, and combined we had 3. Grumble Grumble.

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  9. I'm with Larry, I vaguely remember a mention of 'bittern' over the radio, but never saw it. Glad you also captured a photo.

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  10. Wow nice pictures! Thanks for sharing this one.

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  11. I love the expansive photos from your journey.
    Would love to sit and talk about how your life has been informed from all your wonderful travel in such beautiful areas.

    Laura

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  12. Wonderful, I love birding in California.

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  13. Awesome Pictures....Love Them
    Thanks For Sharing

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  14. bobbie
    Thanks Bobbie..thats so nice of you to say!!!!

    Gaelyn
    Thanks..I like the stilt photo too...that was @Soaringfalcon1 license plate

    Debbie Miller @HooootOwl Thanks..always nice to see a Bittern..they are so stealth!

    Kelly
    yeah,,it was pretty cool seeing thousands of birds in the sky..wish a few more landed..oh well..next time..

    Larry
    humm..the bittern..not sure if my directions will get u there..It was Cheryl that spotted the Bittern a small inlet on the right hand side on the first part of the road trip..i dont remember if it was before or after the owl..sorry..

    Tink
    Howdee tink..i used my Canon for these pics..I do use the pana most times..

    troutbirder
    ok so i had it wrong the first time..the count was 60 ..a bit better..sorry about you very small bird count on your auto tour!

    Scott (JournOwl)
    Yeah..you were in the car ahead when it was spotted..but i am sure you went right by it..

    Primary Work at Home
    Thanks and thanks for visiting!!

    Laura K
    Thanks ..someday we will have to talk and bird together..take care!!

    Steve Borichevsky
    Thanks..did know you birded much in CA when did u last bird CA??

    sactalent
    Thanks so much

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  15. The Snow Geese are an amazing sight to see. Thanks for posting Dawn.

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  16. Hi Dawn, I've been enjoying reading about your birding experience in the Sacramento area. Wish I could have been there. I certainly enjoyed my vacation in New Mexico -- it was quite chilly there, too, and beautiful. And I got to see lots of snow geese as well as sandhill cranes. I sure would have loved to have seen a bittern -- that would be a life bird for me. I learned on this year's trip to the Bosque del Apache that they host both the greater as well as the lesser sandhill cranes. I'll have to share my photos, etc, on my blog as soon as I get my photos edited. I sure hope we will get a chance to bird together one of these days/years. ;o)

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ok what do you really think?????