going to the birds

a few weeks ago, pete, cassie, and i loaded our gear in the car and headed to the central valley of california for a short camping and birding adventure. we arrived at gray lodge wildlife refuge an hour or so before sunset so we could see the evening "fly-off." if you have never spent much time in a place used by migratory birds, fly-off (and fly-in) are spectacular times of the day when THOUSANDS of birds make their way between their feeding areas and their roosting areas. while the central valley may not be the most exciting of places for human travel, the birds love it here. there are numerous refuges scattered across the landscape between chico and sacramento that are full of ducks and geese. i read about gray lodge a number of years ago in a magazine and it has been on my list of "places to visit" ever since. i'm making an effort to drag pete and cassie to these places this year and start crossing things off the ever-growing list. since it is prime migration season, it is also hunting season at the refuge. hunters sit in blinds at the edge of the reserve and shoot as the birds fly in and out of the refuge. the birds were pretty wary of hunters - they would even veer away from me as soon as i pointed my camera towards the sky. having grown up as one of those hunters on the edge of the reserve, i was not phased by the shots in the background as we hiked around the different ponds and channels. pete, on the other hand, was completely fascinated by this new world i had plopped him in. we saw at least ten different kinds of waterfowl (some new ones), quite a few wading birds, and a number of songbirds. definitely a worthwhile birding trip!

sunset at gray lodge

 pintails

 snow geese leaving the refuge for the night

 we spotted a whole family of otters (5 of them) in a pond the 

next morning - they were very curious and each one took a 

turn swimming towards the shore to get a better look at us

 pete the birder

coots...so many coots