Moment of Zen ☼ Tricolored Blackbird Edition

This birding moment of zen is brought to you by a male Tricolored Blackbird on the Discovery Marsh Trail at the Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuge in northern California...

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!

Discovery Marsh Trail ☼ Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuge Complex

We didn't see many birds on the trail across from the Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuge visitor center during our visit last month, but the wintry landscape sure was beautiful...

We did get to enjoy the serenade of a Tricolored Blackbird though...

Lower Klamath Wildlife Refuge in Winter

Our latest visit to the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge was absolutely amazing! We've never been to the refuge in winter and the snow-dusted mountains and foothills did not disappoint.

We saw dozens of different bird species and I highly recommend this area if you're looking to check off some birds on your Big Year or lifelist.

This is just a small sampling of some of the birds and ducks we spotted on the auto tour...

Tricolored Blackbird

Double-crested Cormorant

Bufflehead

Killdeer

What they say about the large concentration of Bald Eagles here is no joke either. We counted over thirty eagles between both refuges (Lower Klamath and Tule Lake) and I'll post those photos tomorrow.

Here's the link to the refuge website in case you need more info to plan your own visit.

Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge - Part 3

Our drive through the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge auto tour continues with the cliff swallow nests at the kiosk...

(Here's the post from last year that shows them building the nests with mud.) This time they were already built and the adults were frantically flying in food...

We saw lots of other birds, including red-winged blackbirds...

 ...a camouflaged Savannah sparrow..

 ...and a tricolored blackbird...

There's a great egret flying away...

I'll post more pics tomorrow...

A Game of Solitaire

While we were at Lassen Volcanic National Park, we spotted a new bird to add to our lifelist and Big Year list! A Townsend's Solitaire!

It took a bit of patience to get a few good photos because this active bird is quite the mover and shaker!

Tricolored Blackbirds can also be found all around the park...

 This one just happened to be singing his heart out...