Huichica Creek - Napa River Marshlands

The last day of the year, cool and clear in the Northbay.  I was recently contacted by a Napa couple who had seen a few of my posts on the NBB list serve and they suggested I visit Huichica Creek.  There are a number of ways to access this Fish and Game managed area (click on the map image to see a pdf of the Napa and Sonoma Marshlands) and I assumed they meant from the HQ at the bottom of Duhig Rd.  I drove out there near sunset to see if I could pick up some more Short-eared Owls and parked in the staging area. There is a small marsh area along the creek that might prove interesting later in the year but there is no established wildlife viewing area here. I walked out an access road and crossed the railway line and walked along a dike separating two large ponds.  Here I found lots of waders and ducks as well as cormorants and a small group of Bonaparte's Gulls.  No owls out here but there was a promising group of eucalyptus trees near the end of the dike.  As I walked back I was treated to a spectacular sunset.  I was without a camera so it will have to be preserved in my mind only.  As I neared the farm buildings that serve as the unit headquarters and it was turning to dusk I scanned the openings on the ends of the barns and within a minute a Great Horned Owl flew out of the first and off to it's nocturnal business and then from the second a Barn Owl popped into view and flew off for the same.  A fine way to end the year and a good omen for 2012.