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What is a Blue Goose?

10,000 Birds

The nesting colonies of blue-morph geese were not discovered until 1929 after a direct and intentional search by Dewey Soper (a widely-traveled Canadian Arctic ornithologist) that lasted 6 years and, until 1983, the two color morphs were considered separate species. These are some of the images I took as the geese were bathing and preening.

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Northern Pintails at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge

10,000 Birds

The Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex offers four photo blinds on three of their refuges which can be reserved, two on the Sacramento Refuge, one at Colusa NWR and one at Delevan NWR. This is what blind #2 at the Sacramento NWR looks like. The photo blinds are all extremely well built and clean.

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The Unique Black-necked Stilt

10,000 Birds

The male of the species has the upper portion of the head, back of neck, back and wings all glossy black. I found these beauties at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, one of the many locations the Black-necked Stilt breeds in the California Central Valley (map courtesy of Terry Sohl at South Dakota Birds ). www.youtube.com/watch?

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Vermilion Flycatcher in Colusa County California

10,000 Birds

The female of the species is beautiful in her own right but only the male had been seen here. We all birded the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge after leaving the cemetery. There we passed on our vermilion experience with a group of novice young birders being led by a school group from Sacramento. I was not disappointed!

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Ross’s Goose, the Little Snow Goose

10,000 Birds

Every autumn, tens of thousands of Snow Geese arrive in California’s Sacramento Valley following their long journey from the Canadian Arctic (click on photos for full sized images). The Ross’s Goose is the smallest variety of the white geese that breed in North America.

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Tricolored Blackbird in Trouble in California

10,000 Birds

The Results of the 2014 Tricolored Blackbird Statewide Survey confirm that this species is in rapid decline. ” The report continues: “Following the breeding season, most tricolors are found in the Sacramento Valley where they aggregate with red-winged and other blackbird species and feed, often in large flocks, on ripening rice.

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A Gathering at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge

10,000 Birds

As I always do on the way home, following a short visit to the San Francisco Bay Area, I take in at least one of the National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) found in the Sacramento Valley. I usually stop at the two refuges that have easily accessed auto tour routes, the Sacramento NWR and Colusa NWR.

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