California Birding

The cliffs above Tule Lake

Lower Klamath NWR
Tule Lake NWR
Near Tule, California
February 17-18, 2014

I finished birding in the Ashland area at Emigrant Lake on Highway 66, so it seemed logical to take that route to my next destination, Lower Klamath NWR.  All I can say is thank God that the weather was good!  What a roller coaster ride!  The road is narrow with more twisting turns than Chubby Checker singing to an American Bandstand crowd of teenagers.  (I know, that really dates me, but heck, I'm sitting here with Nat King Cole singing Route 66 in my head!)  Still I reached Keno with only slight cramping in my white-knuckled hands and turned south into California.

California Quail

It pays to be lucky.  Almost as soon as I drove into the refuge I saw something that made me pull off the road to investigate.  It turned out to be nothing, but as I got back in my car a magnificent male Ring-necked Pheasant emerged from the brush about thirty yards ahead of me, looked both ways, and casually flew across the road followed by a hen.  I've seen pictures of pheasants before, but was stunned at how really beautiful it was.  I wish the view had been longer, but I doubt I'll ever lose that mental image.
Sometimes you chase targets and more or less ignore the other birds.  Sometimes you bird for fun and soak up the chance to see some of your favorites.  So far, this trip has been devoted to targeted species.  The afternoon at Lower Klamath was all fun and games and no targets.  I can stand still and look at ducks and other waterfowl all day long.  There were thousands of ducks including Buffleheads, American Wigeons, Northern Pintails, Ruddy Ducks, Redheads, Greater White-fronted Geese, Canada Geese, Cackling Geese, and Tundra Swans.  Bald Eagles topped every pole, and Northern Harriers patrolled every field.  A few White-tailed Kites soared, swept and fed along the road's edge.  Fantastic!

Canyon Wren

 The next day it was back to business.  I had a number of target birds that could be found near Tule Lake NWR so I found myself back in California again.  I like to buy patches at every park I visit, so I stopped at the Visitor's Center.  Lucky again!  Inside the Center, a huge window faces a set of feeders and running water.  The ground was absolutely alive with birds and among them were several California Quail.  Lifer!

Russ Namitz said that there would be a good chance of getting two of my target birds opposite the entrance to the auto tour.  The terrain looked great - high cliffs towering above a field of rocks.  I searched to no avail, so I drove farther south.  The car scared up a bunch of little birds, so I hopped out and scanned through the little flock.  There was a California Towhee!  It was another lifer, but those two targets were still out there.  I searched the cliffs and worked the fields all the way to the entrance to Lava Beds National Monument.  Still no luck.  I turned back north and searched again.  On a hunch I stopped in a field that had a single tree.  I walked up to that tree and started searching.  There!  On the left!  A Rock Wren!  I watched it moving among the rocks for a few minutes, and finally started back in the direction of the car.  Suddenly another bird flew over my head from behind me, perched on a rock, and sang out.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing!  Canyon Wren!  I was thrilled to get one of the wrens ... I never expected to get both of them.  Amazing.

Rock Wren

Next I turned onto the auto tour.  After a few moments I noticed something odd looking.  It appeared to be an enormous chunk of styrofoam floating on the water.  Suddenly, it exploded into white and black motion.  At least 5,000 Snow Geese swirled into the air, surged back and forth and finally settled back into a tightly packed block.  I've failed repeatedly to embed a video into this blog.  It's too bad because just a few seconds of video would give you a sense of the extraordinary experience this was.  A photo will have to do (below). 

The rest of the afternoon was much like the drive at Lower Klamath.  There were thousands of ducks, including a large raft of Canvasbacks.  I also added Common Goldeneye, Northern Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck and Hooded Merganser to my California list.


With a feeling of complete satisfaction, I turned myself toward Klamath Falls and the northern portion of the Klamath Basin.

A cloud of Snow Geese

Black-tailed Deer

Canvasbacks

Bald Eagles were everywhere!