Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, January 2010

Some former co-workers of mine planned this excellent birding the trip in the valley, and we all had a grand time tooling around, looking at birdies. SNWR is a bit weird, because the primary way of viewing the scads of wintering birds there is to drive a planned circuit and bird from your car. Great way to see A LOT of birds, though, including Bald Eagles, falcons, owls, a bazillion Snow Geese, only a tad fewer Red-tailed Hawks, and pheasants! I had a couple of new-for-me's, including a White-faced Ibis and the Greater White-fronted Goose.

Kind of a haul. I burned 3/4 of a tank of gas in my somewhat fuel-efficient 2002 Corolla, so make sure to start with a full tank. Williams is the last town on I-5 before getting there, and Granzella's is a pretty decent place to grab a sandwich.

Posted on 13 January, 2010 05:48 by kueda kueda

Observations

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

What

Greater White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Description

First time seeing (or perhaps noticing) this species!

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Description

Definitely a first. White face was not entirely visible, but you could see it when it turned its head. Pretty cool.

Tags

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Nuttall's Woodpecker (Dryobates nuttallii)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

American Wigeon (Mareca americana)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Great Egret (Ardea alba)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Brewer's Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

What

Gadwall (Mareca strepera)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Description

Think I've finally got this bird. It is a looker.

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Buff-bellied Pipit (Anthus rubescens)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

What

Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Description

The fog and the nearly eye-level angle created a pseudo-tilt-shift effect. Weird.

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Common Teal (Anas crecca)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

What

Snow Goose (Anser caerulescens)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Description

So many! Apparently they are very similar to Ross's Goose, the differences being that Ross's is smaller, and lacks the dark "lips" on the bill.

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Photos / Sounds

What

Cinnamon Teal (Spatula cyanoptera)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

Description

Previously I had seen one Cinnamon Teal at Coyote Hills. This time there were many, many, many. Quite astounding, but none close enough for a decent pic.

Photos / Sounds

No photos or sounds

What

Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)

Observer

kueda

Date

January 10, 2010

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