Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Kicking Some Ash

...and we're back!!!

The high for today was 104 but the low was in the sixties, so we figured it would be cool enough to head out and finally do some birding. We've been dealing with the Carr Fire in our area (you can read my post about it here) and besides the sweltering summer heat, it's been too smoky to do anything outdoors anyway.

We haven't been to our local refuge since April and gosh, I sure have missed it! I didn't take many landscape shots like I usually do because it's so smoky that you can't even see the beautiful mountains that surround the valley. So depressing.

I'm really glad we decided to take a drive through the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge auto tour because birding truly invigorates my soul (as corny as it might sound) and we really needed something positive in our lives after these past couple of weeks.

The only other time we've gone birding at sunrise was at Llano Seco (you can read those posts here) and I'm happy to report that Sacramento NWR didn't disappoint either!
Here is the sun coming up, looking like a pink ball of fire...
At the time, we didn't realize there were spiders in the shot, but after looking through the photos at home, we noticed the row of them hanging from the reeds...
Kind of creepy, but also sort of beautiful...

And on to the birds!
There isn't much water at the refuge this time of year, but what little there is of it was full of a group of Long-billed Dowitchers.
Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge auto tour
These guys move so quickly that it's tough to get a clear photo of them! Luckily, we managed to get at least one shot where you could actually see the long bill!
Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge auto tour
There are more shorebirds in the queue for this week, so be sure to come back tomorrow!
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