Category: Sacramento NWR

Where you find White-Faced Ibis you’re apt to find Black-necked Stilt and that was true on our latest visit, though there were a lot fewer Black-necked Stilts than there were White-faced Ibises.  We saw ibises in both the Sacramento and Colusa NWR, but we only saw a few stilts in one small area of the Sacramento NWR so I suspect the stilts haven’t started migrating yet.

There seemed to be two pairs of stilts, but they were rarely close enough to get a shot of two together. 

Either they were so accustomed to visitors or were so intent on finding food that they were indifferent to us and made it possible to get some nice photos.

I don’t think I’ve ever gotten closer to a Black-necked Stilt than I got to this one,

and this is one of my favorite shots ever

because it emphasizes the stilt’s delicate legs. 

Loved seeing all the geese and ducks at the Sacramento and Colusa  National Wildlife Refuge, but it was even more special seeing the White-Faced Ibis because we never see them in the Puget Sound area.  

Here in the West it’s nearly impossible to confuse the Ibis with any other bird, as they have a distinctive profile, particularly that long, curved beak

When seen through a telephoto lens or binoculars, they appear tall and lanky, 

so it always comes as a bit of a shock when you actually see them next to a Northern Pintail because it reminds you of how short they really are.

They’re deceptive in other ways, too.  Judging from the first two photos you’d probably think they’re a dull, green color (and they are in winter plumage), but they’re anything but dull when caught in the right light.

Unfortunately, despite a lot of shots, we never got a shot of a glowing, radiant White-Faced Ibis and had to settle for this shot of one with the sun coming from its left.

The photographer in me was definitely disappointed that we couldn’t capture one in better light, but the birder in me was still excited to see them at both refuges.

There were far more geese than ducks at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, but there was a wide variety of ducks.  The Cinnamon Teal is a beautiful duck I seldom see, so I was looking forward to seeing one at the refuge, though they refused to cooperate.  The only one I saw close-up had his head tucked under its wing and refused to budge the twenty minutes Leslie and I were taking pictures at the mid-way outlook.  In the end, I had to settle for this shot of one in the distance.

There were, however, several male Gadwalls, another duck I seldom see,  that seemed more willing to pose.  I’ve long admired their subtle beauty. 

It’s also been quite a while since I’ve seen Ring-Necked Ducks locally, but there were several at the refuge, including this pair.

I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t recognize this duck 

until I saw it swim away and it became obvious it was a male Green-winged Teal.

I usually see them at Theler Wetlands where we are looking down at them from the dike or the bridge and seldom see them from the front.

Ironically, my favorite duck shot of the day is this shot of a male Northern Pintail,

a duck we see quite often locally.  What makes it special is that the ponds at the Sacrament NWR are higher than the road you are driving on, which allows you to see them at eye level. At Theler I would have to lay down in the wetlands to get this angle.  

everywhere a goose.

We have been visiting the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge for several years, but I was surprised by the number of geese we saw feeding on the refuge on this visit.  We may have seen more geese in previous years, but they have usually been in the pond, not feeding on the refuge.  This time, just the opposite was true. I suspect that’s because the farmers’ fields have been rototilled in preparation for Spring planting, and the geese are forced to feed on refuge grasses before heading north.

We were greeted by flocks of Snow Geese

and Greater White-Fronted Geese

at the beginning of the auto tour, and they were far from alone as geese could be found throughout the refuge.

I generally dislike photos where parts of the main subject are cut off, but with so many geese it was hard to find a lone goose

or a pair close enough together to capture in a single shot.

If we lived in the Willows area we would probably take the geese for granted, but seeing so many Snow and Greater White-Fronted geese was quite a treat for us considering that they are a rare sighting around Puget Sound unless you are willing to drive north to Everett.