Sacramento NWR.

The first leg of my road trip went pretty well.  The dogs are being good- alerting me to every single cow, horse, and sheep we pass- and the car is being good too.  I even fit in a few hours on the Sacramento NWR auto tour. 


It was early afternoon and fairly warm, with a strong breeze keeping things pleasant.  The blackbirds and the Marsh Wrens were the loudest birds by far, only outshined by Jake and Ralph's whining when we came across a perfect trifecta of river otter, squirrel, and jackrabbit.


I was psyched to see so many Western Kingbirds...


A flock of White-faced Ibises flew overhead and landed, unfortunately, out of sight...


Other waterbirds inlcuded Black-necked Stilts and American Avocets...



I even managed a lifer at the refuge- an Ash-throated Flycatcher!  Please excuse the bad windshield shot...


There were roughly one billion coots hanging out in the water, and roughly one Common Gallinule:


My first one not in Hawaii.   Not a lot of birds were feeling like posing but these Snowy Egrets were being serious hams:



Alright, that was about it... I will leave you with one last bird from the rest stop just south of the refuge on I-5...


Yeah.  This cowboy and his rooster were chillaxin on the lawn.  Good times!!

Comments

  1. So the epic begins, and not at all badly...I hope this Odyssey ends well.

    It looks like that Rooster may have committed murder

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  2. Looks like a great start to the trip! Love the Snowy Egret double take!

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  3. Excellent birds for your first stop eh and one lifer already!! Yippie to that. LOVE those snowy's on one legg how cute. HAVE safe travels!!

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  4. Awesome photos of WEKI and SNEG. Are you sure that trucker wasn't dead? I know black bean chili can cause that sort of reaction as well. I hope he's okay!

    Nice birding :-)

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  5. Wow, looks beautiful! I'm living vicariously through you. Love the egrets. Can't wait for more.

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  6. I'd say you're off to a great start! Love that the dogs are with you. Goooood stuff!

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  7. Whee! I love those California birds.....

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  8. Hi Jen, looks like another great birding outing. Pretty soon you will train your dogs to help find the birds for you too. Love all the critters, especially the jackrabbit and the birds are great too. Happy Birding!

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