Ruby-crowned Kinglet ☼ Colusa National Wildlife Refuge ☼ Shot of the Day

Sometimes a photo turns out so wonderfully that you want to do a happy dance when you're out birding on the trail...

Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Colusa National Wildlife Refuge


Let's go birding!

Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge ☼ Codora Unit

We took a walk through the Codora Unit of the Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge, looking for songbirds...

Here a few of the swallows' nests under the overpass...

The birds were tough to see, even with no leaves on the trees, but they sure make a lot of noise!

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Bewick's Wren

Black Phoebe

And when we arrived at Packer Lake, guess what we saw! Our very first beaver sighting!

Visit my travel blog, Vaughn the Road Again, for more about the refuge and to watch the video highlights from our walk!

Gray Day at Gray Lodge Part 1

Last week we went back to Gray Lodge Wildlife Area and saw six new species to add to our Big Year 2017 list. It was a gray, cloudy day, but that didn't keep us away! And it didn't keep us from taking some great photos!

These adorable quail hurried across the paved trail right in front of us, the little plumes on their heads bee-bopping the whole way!

 This downy woodpecker followed us along as we walked...

There were lots of warblers in the trees and they are nearly impossible to get a shot of because they never stop moving!

 

 

More photos from our trip will be posted tomorrow!

The Big Unit

Here are a few of the photos we took on the walking trail at the Codora Unit of the Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge...

It's a great place to see a lot of little birds. You've got to be quick with your camera because they move FAST!

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Great Blue Heron in flight

White-crowned Sparrow

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Bushtit

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Lincoln's Sparrow

Now that I've discovered the Merlin Bird ID app, I can officially say I've seen my first Bushtit and Ruby-crowned Kinglet! The app is amazing and helps a ton when you're trying to identify tricky birds. My Big Year 2017 is going to be even bigger because of it!!!