February Birding ☼ Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge

Wondering what birds you can find at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge in February?

Enough to make a five minute video!



Let's go birding!

Birds of Prey ~ Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Auto Tour

There are plenty of hawks and eagles hanging around the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge in February (and every other month, for that matter)!

Here are a few beauties we spotted during our drive through the auto tour this week...

Female Northern Harrier

Red-Shouldered Hawk

Bald Eagle

Juvenile Bald Eagle

I'll be posting lots more photos on Instagram and Twitter, so be sure to give me a follow 🙂

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Let's go birding!

Looking Back ☼ Best Bird Sightings of 2019

Another year, another twelve months of wonderful birding adventures!

Now that 2019 is coming to a close, it's time to look back and be reminded of all the great bird sightings we had this year.

5. Phainopepla, Gray Lodge Wildlife Area

4. Northern Harrier encounter, Modoc National Wildlife Refuge

3. Western Tanager, Lassen Volcanic National Park

2. Evening Grosbeak, Lassen Volcanic National Park

1. Pileated Woodpecker, Lassen Volcanic National Park

Plus, a few more sightings that were too memorable to leave out!

Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird, Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge - Pine Creek Unit

Osprey nest, Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge - Pine Creek Unit

Great Blue Heron Rookery, Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge

Rough-legged Hawk, Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge

Cooperative Hawk, Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge

Western Kingbird, Logan Creek Trail, Sacramento NWR

American Bitterns Sacramento NWR

Here's to another wonderful year of birding!

Let's go birding!

Beautiful Modoc National Wildlife Refuge ☼ Alturas California

Out of the all wildlife refuges I've been to in northern California, Modoc National Wildlife Refuge is my personal favorite. This gorgeous spot in remote Alturas has 360 degree views and hardly anyone around to distract you from getting your nature vibes.

From the auto tour route, you can blindly stick your camera out the window, snap a photo and it's guaranteed to be amazing! I literally did that very thing, and when I went through my photos after we came back home, I couldn't figure out which photo it was.

Tricolored Blackbird

There is a paved walking trail, viewing blind, and the Visitor Center is shiny and new after being completely rebuilt after a fire in 2015. The staff is very friendly and helpful.

Tree Swallow

During our visit, we spotted Northern Shrike, American Kestrel, Willet, Northern Harrier, Black-necked Stilt, Sandhill Cranes, Cinnamon Teal, Marsh Wrens, among dozens of other birds. I made a video of the refuge which includes--you guessed it!--a 360 pan of scenic gorgeousness. I also threw in some dashcam footage of the auto tour and boundary roads, a Northern Harrier in flight, and a Willet with its wings spread...

Visit the Modoc NWR refuge website here.

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Let's go birding!

SacValley Birding Hotspot ☼ Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge

One of the great things about the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge is that you can drive through the auto tour and then turn right back around and go through it again and see completely different birds. The wildlife and waterfowl is always busy fishing and hunting and they move around a lot, creating some fantastic photo ops for those of us who love spotting new birds.

You don't even have to get out of your car to get some amazing photos. But if you do, there's always the observation platform about halfway into the auto tour and it offers some great views of the refuge. I spotted several Yellow-rumped Warblers flittering around in the trees and waited patiently until one sat still long enough for me to snap a quick photo. Out of all the birds, I've found that these little go-getters are by far the most difficult to get pictures of. They never stop moving! So, even though this one's in the shade, I consider it a triumph!

Today's video is a compilation of the birds we saw during our latest visit to the refuge. Some of the birds featured are: Great Blue Heron, Red-tailed Hawk, Black-necked Stilt, White-faced Ibis, Double-crested Cormorant, Western Kingbird, Black Phoebe, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Great Egret, Northern Harrier, and some more of the Pond Turtles that I love so much.

Let's go birding!

Birder's Paradise ☼ Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge

Here is a video of just a few of the birds you can see at the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge in northern California...

Let's go birding!

Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge - Part 6

We saw so many birds during our visit to the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge that I came away with enough photos to be split into a whole week of posts! The scenery is absolutely beautiful at and around the refuge! Add in the mountains and the clouds and you've got a little slice of heaven.

Here are some more of the birds we saw on the auto tour...

Sandhill Cranes

This female Northern Harrier was really far away, so the photos are a little blurry, but I just had to share this stunning bird with you!

We encounter a lot of first sightings during our visits to wildlife refuges, but seeing cows in the middle of the auto tour was a definite unexpected first for us!

They really didn't want to move out of the way for us either!

See what I mean about the beautiful scenery?

Tomorrow, I'll post some more photos of the cute little ducklings we saw!

California Birding Hotspot - Part 2

It was so nice to have a tree swallow pose for me during our latest visit to the Sacramento NWR!

 Last time we were there, they were flying over the water so quickly that we couldn't get a clear pic.

 I love their teal feathers!

 Here are some more photos we took at the SNWR:

 I'm pretty sure this is a Northern Harrier:

It's nice to see the egrets in their breeding plumage...

Next up tomorrow: Ibises and Snowy Egrets getting chummy with each other...