Spring in a National Wildlife Refuge

All winter long I look forward to spring break because I know that at least one of those days will be spent in a fantastic natural area looking for birds and enjoying the newly emerging season of spring.  Last year we were down south and went over the mountains to the edge of the Mojave and Butterbredt Springs (you can read about that here), this year Pat and I went to check our Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge and then tour our way through some of the foothill country on the west side of the central valley as we made our way back to Napa.  We started the tour route at SNWR just after eight and were almost overrun by Jack Rabbits, along the route we saw many of the expected waterfowl species including a few late Pintails and some small concentrations of Canada and White-fronted Geese.  The Snow Geese had already left the refuge but we were treated to many Ring-necked Pheasants a few of which were fighting for the amusement of a possible mate.  White-faced Ibis and a roosting Great Horned Owl rounded out our more interesting sightings at the refuge.  After stopping briefly for lunch in Willows we headed east on Hwy. 162 and then south on some very small country roads into a beautiful valley called Bear Valley.  I don't know how many different valleys in California share this name but certainly it is a considerable number.  This speaks to what must have been a considerable bear population in the state at one time.  Probably referring to both Brown and Grizzly species as both were present during the days when english place names became fixed to various geographic spots. This long valley has a companion creek and a cattle ranching operation that is no doubt the present day iteration of the outfit that gave the valley its name.  The highlight of our trip through this valley was a mature Golden Eagle that appeared the moment after I took the photo at the top.  He was moving through the trees on the side hill on our left and I turned the camera a got off a few quite images of him flying and figured that that would be the end of the show.  I watched him sail behind a stand of oaks and he did not emerge on the other side so I figured he must have landed in one of the trees.  After pacing back and forth along the road looking for him we gave up and got into the truck to continue on down the road and around the brow of a hill.  As soon as we came around the hill I looked up to the left and there was our eagle and he had just dropped onto a meal!  We could never tell what it was he was tearing apart as it was down in the grass at his feet but he was not in the least concerned about us as we watched him from down on the road.

As we came to the bottom end of the valley we entered a narrow canyon whose passage would take us out to the intersection of Highways 20 and 16. Here we came upon the distressing sight of a cattle operation that was causing major stream degradation of Bear Valley Creek.  All along this stretch the cattle were in the water or on the banks and we spotted at least two carcasses as well.  The land and creek were signed private property along the road and I don't know enough about land use and water laws to know if this was something I could report to a management agency, let alone which agency I should contact.  It was distressing after such a great day out and I will try and follow up on it.  We did see a nice pair of Wood Ducks in a stretch that was not marred by the cattle.

From here we were back on main roads and followed Hwy. 16 down along Cache Creek and into Capay Valley.  We stopped a few times to look at the creek which is surprisingly large for an east flowing stream.  Checking my maps later I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised as it appears to be the outfall of Clear Lake. We eventually arrived back home in Napa at 5 pm. a full day's adventure in hand.

Huichica Creek and More Musings on Shared Sightings

Some rare time off of work gave me the opportunity to wander around at Huichica Creek this morning. I took along my mountain bike as I thought it might give me the chance to venture a little further than I usually do when going out there. The fact is the levees and dikes are quite extensive and if you follow them you can actually travel some distance in your explorations. Having the bike made it possible for me to see it all from a new perspective. I was thinking of my friend Roger who mentioned that he was looking for a place for his cross-country runners to train and I wondered if this held any promise. I sent him the map below, we'll see if he checks it out.

Another reason I went out there was to check on a Great Horned Owl nest I had found previously (yes, they are just fine). I posted that sighting to the Northbay bird list and received some criticism for doing so. There are some birders who feel this information should not be made public as they think it may reduce the chance of a successful nest. While I understand the concern of some, I have been hesitant to accept the idea that members of the birding community can't be trusted with the knowledge of a nesting location. Perhaps I am naive but I think trust and faith in people to do the right thing, to observe from a distance, to respect the bird and its needs is the way forward. There are of course the incidents that everyone calls attention to in which someone does something dumb or selfishly moves in for the perfect picture, but I think that for every one of those there are 10 others where a person connects to the natural world in a spiritual way or perhaps makes a personal commitment to get involved in the conservation of an animal or a place, or maybe best of all, passes the wonder and awe of nature on to a child. Somewhere there must be a happy medium between secrecy and openness between the narrow view and the broad view. In the end, no matter where you fall on the spectrum our wishes and desires remain the same: to preserve these beautiful creatures and the habitats that support them.