American Bittern Sighting

American Bittern sighting on the auto tour

at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge in Northern California...

Let's go birding!

 

American Bittern Sighting ~ Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Auto Tour

What an absolute delight to see an American Bittern on the auto tour at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge!

He looked a little grumpy to see us, so we took a few photos and moved on down the road...

Let's go birding!

 

Autumn is coming to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge!

What a beautiful day to take a drive through the auto tour route at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge!

There isn't much water yet, but there are still plenty of birds to be found. Ducks are already beginning to arrive and we spotted an American Bittern in one of the canals less than five feet away from the car!

I look forward to returning in a few weeks when the geese are there and filming some video of the walking trails...

Let's go birding!

American Bitterns ☼ Bird Photography

For as elusive as American Bitterns are supposed to be, we sure have had some spectacular luck spotting them at the Sacramento and Colusa National Wildlife Refuges! Here are a few of our best sightings of these magnificent birds...

Let's go birding!

The End of Spring ☼ Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge

Beautiful purple calico flowers (Downingia) are what's left of the superbloom at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge.

Here's a video of the birds we saw on the auto tour route in late May, including Red-winged Blackbird, an American Bittern eating a fish, Western Kingbird, an American Avocet sitting on a nest on the island at the Pool 2 extension, Downy Woodpecker, and Ring-necked Pheasant...

Let's go birding!

Bold Bittern

What a treat to get to see an American Bittern on the auto tour at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge!

2017 Top Moments

As the year comes to an end, I'm looking back at all of the wonderful birding moments we had in 2017. And, boy, are there a lot of them!

Gosh, I really shouldn't have limited myself to just 10! This year was such an incredible birding year for us that it's tough to narrow down all the wonderful experiences we had.

I probably should have formatted this list as a countdown, but our number one moment is just too darn wonderful to put down at the bottom! Here it is...

1. Hands down, our number one birding moment of 2017 was seeing a Vermilion Flycatcher. At a cemetery...in Northern California. Talk about starting the year off with a bang! (January 26th.)

Read the original Vermilion Flycatcher post here.

2. Watching a Ruddy Duck perform his awesome courtship display at the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge.  (May 18th)

Read the original Ruddy Duck post and watch the video here.

3. Spotting a Burrowing Owl on the side of the road...on the same day we got to see the Vermilion Flycatcher! (January 26.)

Read the original Burrowing Owl post here.

4. Finally seeing our very first Wood Ducks (yay!) at the Gray Lodge Wildlife Area. (February 1)

Read the original Wood Duck post here.

5. Birding at sunrise at Llano Seco. It might be teeth-chatteringly chilly at 6 a.m., but experiencing the sun come up and bathe the landscape in color is something we'll never forget!

Read about our March 9th visit here.

More pics from the magic hour on November 6th are here.

6. Seeing TWO American Bitterns, one right after the other, on the auto tour at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. (April 10)

Read the original Bittern post here.

7. Hiking the Sheepy Ridge Wildlife Trail at the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Complex. I don't know if I've ever seen such an ah-mazing view before! (November 6th)

Read about our Adventure with a capital A here.

8. Finally seeing a Cattle Egret...and he was on a cow no less! (September 20th)

Read the original Cattle Egret post here.

9. Seeing a Great Horned Owl and then a coyote (our first!) at the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. (March 14)

Read the original post about the owl here.

Read the original post about the camouflaged coyote here.

10. Adding 11 new birds to our Big Year list in beautiful Fort Bragg. (May 4th)

See all the birds we spotted ot the coast here.

And, because we had many more memorable birding moments, here are a few honorable mentions...

* All the times we spotted Kestrels on Road P... (and there were A LOT of them!)

Find all of my American Kestrel posts right here.

* After waiting at least a decade, we finally spotted a Yellow-headed Blackbird (at Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge).

Read the original Tule Lake NWR post here.

* Seeing our first Yellow-billed Magpies in 15 years!

Find out where we found these striking birds here.

* And finally, because they are my favorite, I have to mention all the gorgeous Great Blue Herons that graced us with their regal presence throughout the year...

I've rounded up all the times I've posted Blue Heron pics here.

All right, I'd better wrap up this list or else I'll never stop meandering down memory lane!

In total we saw 168 birds this year and brought our lifelist up to 180. I'd say that's a pretty successful birding year! I look forward to the new year and to hopefully adding a White-tailed Kite and Horned Lark to that list. Those are my wishlist birds and you never know...2018 might be the year I finally see one (or both!)

Here's wishing you a happy and healthy new year!

Happy birding,
Rachelle Vaughn