Cranes and Geese 2006

This was a special class, only three days long.  But all three days were one long weekend to the Central Valley (11/18-20).  The first day's highlights included thousands of Sandhill Cranes along Woodbridge and Staten Island Road, and an estimated 8,000 Cackling Geese just beyond the crane sanctuary on Woodbridge.  In the evening we enjoyed the Snow and Ross' Goose spectacle at Sacramento NWLR, with a spectacular Sunset, followed by a tasty dinner at Pat'n Larry's Steak House.

Day 2 found us at Sacramento NWLR early in the morning, greeted by a somewhat dense fog.  Surprising was a Yellow Warbler Rusty turned up near the HQ, and a few folks got a look at a Bittern.  We used Rusty's Marvelous Maps to get ourselves to Gray Lodge, where we found mosquito researchers in white outfits at the parking lot.  After a drive around the refuge, we headed for Irrigation District #10, near Marysville.  There we found thousands of Tundra Swans, together with a very persistent White-tailed Kite.  Dinner was at Jimmy's Indian Restaurant, nicely arranged by Elinor.

Our last day we started at Hammon Grove County Park near Marysville, where huge King Salmon were swimming upstream in the Yuba River, and Turkey Vultures were feasting on those that didn't make it. A pair of Rock Wrens chased one another along the shoreline.  Later, at Spenceville Wildlife Area, we had a hard time finding many birds in the gray overcast, but Rusty turned up a couple of Rufous-crowned Sparrows, and we had a nice walk along the river.  Some folks glimpsed Lewis' Woodpecker and Prairie Falcon, and there were a couple of Say's Phoebes.

The total list for the weekend was 107 species, but the highlights were certainly the large numbers of geese, swans and cranes.