The Sutter Buttes from the Gray Lodge Wildlife Area
We had heavy rain over the past two weeks. In fact 14.31" fell in five days!!! Our total rainfall for the two weeks was 16.82", bringing our Water Year Total to 34.10", which is equivalent to more than half of our annual rainfall!!! There were a few breaks between storms, during which we managed to get to three different wetlands.
Gray Lodge Wildlife Area
The first one we visited was the Gray Lodge Wildlife Area, down in California's Central Valley. As you can see in the above photo, it was a foggy, overcast day. Surprisingly, we were the only visitors there! To our delight we walked the three mile loop with only birds for company!
Snow Geese - Anser caerulescens
Probably the main reason that there were no other visitors there was the lack of Snow Geese in the wetlands. Usually there are thousands of them, but this year we only saw them fly overhead. None of them landed! They were headed south, so maybe they went down to the Sacramento Delta. I couldn't find any reasons for this change on the internet. We plan to revisit Gray Lodge later this month, and hope the Snow Geese will be here then. I'll keep you posted.
Great Egret - Ardea alba
Black-crowned Night Heron (adult) - Nycticorax nycticorax
We also saw several adult Black-crowned Night-Herons! The Cornell Lab of Ornithology states, on their website at https://birdsoftheworld.org/:
"Black-crowned Night-Herons are opportunists feeders that eat many kinds of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine animals. Their diet includes leeches, earthworms, insects, crayfish, clams, mussels, fish, amphibians, lizards, snakes, turtles, rodents, birds, and eggs. They also eat carrion, plant materials, and garbage from landfills. Rather than stabbing their prey, they grasp it in their bills. Black-crowned Night-Herons normally feed between evening and early morning, avoiding competition with other heron species that use the same habitat during the day. They may feed during the day in the breeding season, when they need extra energy for nesting."
Black-crowned Night Heron (juvenile)
Nycticorax nycticorax
When I first spotted the stocky bird pictured above, I didn't know what it was. When I got home, I used iNaturalist.org to identify it, and found out it was a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron! How cool! I've never seen a juvenile before! Juvenile Black-crowned Night Herons don't get their adult feathers until there 2nd or 3rd year! The following information about this subject is from the website at https://www.heronconservation.org.
"Juveniles have brown plumage, very different from that of the adults (McVaugh 1972). The head and upper parts are grey brown with buff, white, or rufous spots. Lores are green and the irises are orange yellow to brown red, changing to red at 2-3 years. The stout bill is dark and horn. The upper bill is black with yellow or green sides, becoming black with green sides at one year. The lower bill is horn, turning yellow with horn tip or yellow green with black tip about 1 year, and black by 2 years. Upper wing is grey brown with lighter spots; flight feathers are grey brown with white tips. Upper tail coverts brown. Rump is grey brown streaked with white. Tail is grey. Under parts are grey with dark brown streaks. The legs are yellow green to olive green, turning yellow by 2 years. By the age of one year, the juvenile is still has a brown wash, brown cap and back, with some spots remaining and striped below (Davis 1999). Older juveniles (2-3 years) gradually take on adult characters, becoming more solidly dark above with the spots disappearing and lighter below, with some remnant brown feathers persisting on the head, back or wings."
Black-crowned Night Heron (juvenile) - Nycticorax nycticorax
This adult Black-crowned Night Heron was just across the pond from the adult pictured above. Adult male and female Black-crowned Night Herons are monomorphic (look the same).
Green Heron (adult) - Butorides virescens
Every year we see Green Herons at Gray Lodge, and this year was not an exception! We came across several of them in the first section of the trail, walking around on the Parrot Feather plants!
Green Heron (adult) - Butorides virescens
As I watched this one adult, it quickly snapped up a frog from among the plants! Wow! Although fish are their primary food source, Green Herons also eat leeches; earthworms; aquatic and terrestrial insects such as adult and larval dragonflies, damselflies, waterbugs, diving beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, katydids ); spiders; crayfish, crabs, prawns; snails; frogs, toads, tadpoles, and newts; snakes and lizards; and rodents!!!
Pied-billed Grebe (adult) - Podylimbus podiceps
We also came across a Pied-billed Grebe holding a fish!!! I didn't recognize it because it was in its non-mating colors! Pied-billed Grebes eat crayfish, aquatic insects, leeches, frog, tadpoles and fish. This particular Grebe kept dropping and picking up the fish, again and again. Perhaps it was waiting for it to die!
Common Gallinule (adult) - Gallinula chloropus
There were lots of these Common Gallinules in the wetlands. Surprisingly seeds and snails are their most important foods! Commonly eats seeds of aquatic and terrestrial grasses, smartweeds, and pondweeds; duckweeds; flowers, seeds, and vegetative material of water lily; and seeds and vegetative material of various other aquatic plants. They also eat , beetles, true bugs, ants and wasps, true flies , spiders, crustaceans, dragonflies and damselflies, leeches, and moss animals!
Gray Lodge Wildlife Area
We reluctantly left in the late afternoon, when the clouds and sunlight were putting on a show, with plans to return soon!
View north of Sierra Valley, from the vicinity of the Steel Bridge
Sierra Valley
The second wetland we visited Sierra Valley, which was absolutely beautiful with the recently fallen snow! Luckily for us the temperatures warmed up between storms, and the roads weren't snowy or icy and travel was easy and safe! Yay! We drove out to the Steel Bridge and saw some amazing wildlife!
Red-winged Blackbirds - Agelaius phoeniceus
On the way there we stopped and observed a large flock of Red-winged Blackbirds repeatedly perching on the barbed wire fencing, and then taking off all at once in a synchronized group! Just fabulous to watch!
Red-winged Blackbirds - Agelaius phoeniceus
I didn't know that they would stay in the Valley during the winter! In the winter they primarily eat seeds, and insects if available. Since the ground wasn't covered in snow, they were probably able to find enough seeds to eat. I imagine if the snow gets deep, they will migrate south to snow-free areas.
The Steel Bridge with a Bald Eagle Presiding!
As we drove up to the Steel Bridge I met two birders driving by. They stopped and said that there was a Bald Eagle on a telephone pole just before the Steel Bridge. So we walked down there, and sure enough the Bald Eagle was still there! WOW!!! We slowly approached it on the road, and were able to get some beautiful photos!
Bald Eagle - Haliaeeteus lucocephalus
Bald Eagles are BIG raptors! They are 31" in length, with a wingspan of 80"!!! When we got about 50 feet away from it, it took off to the south. Immediately another Bald Eagle flew up from the ground and joined this one!!! Together they flew off into the distance! Wow! What a beautiful sight! Bald Eagles mate for life, so this may have been a mated pair!!
Bald Eagles eat fish, waterfowl and water birds (Herons, Coots, etc), small mammals (Muskrats, Rabbits, Ground Squirrels), and carrion (large mammals). How lucky we were to see two Bald Eagles that day!
River Otter with fish in its mouth - Lontra canadensis
Another surprise sighting was a River Otter! We were driving near the Steel Bridge when I spotted a River Otter with a large fish in its mouth swimming below us! We stopped the car, jumped out, and watched it swim to shore, haul the fish out of the water, and eat it!!! WOW!!! This incredible sighting probably lasted for five minutes or so! I have been to the Steel Bridge many, many times over many years and have never seen a River Otter there! I was totally thrilled, and of course took a ton of photos!
River Otter hauling a fish out of the water - Lontra canadensis
River Otter positioning its captured fish - Lontra canadensis
River Otter eating a fish - Lontra canadensis
A video of the River Otter eating a fish!
River Otter heading out after eating most of its fish!
It was so exciting to see this River Otter! How privileged we were watch it!!!
There were also several Northern Harriers skimming over the tops of the grasses, tules, and sagebrush, searching for prey. They are a medium size raptor, measuring 18" in length, with a wingspan of 43", and a weight of 15 oz. They eat medium to small birds and mammals, as well as reptiles and frogs. Unlike other raptors, they rely on auditory clues from their owl-like facial disc of feathers, which helps them locate prey acoustically! They can be found in Sierra Valley year-round.
Since it was 38 degrees we opted to eat lunch in our car. While we were there, a Northern Harrier flew down the road right towards us, and passed us at eye level just outside the car windows!!! I was in its usual hunting position, with its wings spread wide and its head looking down at the ground!!! It was amazing to see one so closely!! I'll never forget that sighting!!!
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Northern Harrier (female) - Circus hudsonius
I didn't get a close-up photo of a Northern Harrier that day. The ones pictured above were taken on previous trips to Sierra Valley. The first one really shows the facial disc of feathers! What beautiful raptors!
Northern Harrier pursuing Red-winged Blackbirds
From the Steel Bridge area we toured around Sierra Valley to the east before we reluctantly had to head home. It was truly an unforgettable day out in this beautiful, big-sky valley! Hope we go back again soon!
The Sutter Buttes from the Marysville Rice Fields
The Marysville Rice Fields
The third wetlands we went to were the Marysville Rice Fields! I'd been meaning to go there before the big rain storms, but didn't make it. So we went down a few days after all the storms. The fields were mainly full to the brim, and there weren't a lot of birds in them. We did luck out however, and saw quite a few Tundra Swans and some Greater White-fronted Geese!
Tundra Swans - Cygnus columbianus
Tundra Swans breed in the arctic and come down to California's Central Valley for the winter! These large swans have 7' wingspans, are about 4.5' tall, and can weigh up to 16 lbs.! Like Bald Eagles, they mate for life. When feeding, they do not dive, but submerge their heads to forage for the leaves, stems, seeds, and tubers of aquatic plants, such as rice.
Tundra Swans couple with offspring - Cygnus columbianus
We saw several young swans in the company of their parents. Apparently they remain with their parents during their first year, and then associate to some degree for up to three more years.
Greater White-fronted Geese - Anser albifrons
Greater White-fronted Geese also migrate down from the arctic to spend the winter in the Central Valley. They feed on marsh grasses, sedges, berries, and seeds from agricultural crops. They are primarily diurnal feeders, and roost on wetlands at night.
We usually also see White-faced Ibis, ducks, shorebirds, and raptors when we visit the rice fields, but not this year! Hopefully we'll check them again in the near future!
What the heck is this?
What's happening on the River?
Check back in two weeks, on January 17th, for the answers to these questions and more!
Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated, please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Thank you!
