March | 2022 | onebreathkohala

Even without the headliner birds I described in the pervious post Merced National Wildlife Refuge provides some excellent birding. Much of the refuge isn’t accessible to the public, and much of what is accessible can only be enjoyed from inside an automobile. Visitors can drive dirt roads along a series of levies adjacent to the wetlands, but are prohibited from leaving their cars. The good thing about that is that birds fear cars less than they fear people, allowing closer approach from a car. So anyway, here are a few photos:

We saw many White-faced Ibis foraging in the shallows. These solitary birds only display their white faces during breeding season.

Small groups of gangly Black-necked Stilts were all over the place.

Northern Shovelers were by far the most abundant ducks in the refuge. Most were paired up like these two.

Ducks can be broadly divided into diving ducks and dabbling ducks. Shovelers are dabblers, as this pair demonstrate.

The gorgeous Northern Pintails were probably the second most common duck. Another dabbler. That’s a Ruddy duck (a diver) in the background. Ruddys were uncommon here.

This rather nondescript little bird is an American Pipit. The species used to be called Water Pipit. While frequently found near water they can be abundant in dry habitats as well. They were fairly common at the refuge the day we were there.

Lots and lots of Snowy Egrets. I liked this golden hour shot.

Another golden hour shot of a ubiquitous bird—a Killdeer. Such a beautiful bird close up.

The refuge was also rich in raptors, but I’ll leave that for another post.

A couple of months ago Marla and I took a day trip to Carrizo Plain National Monument. This four hundred square mile grassland has been referred to as California’s Serengeti. It’s home to over a dozen endangered animal species, as well as tule elk, pronghorn, and, in season, large numbers of migratory birds. On this day we saw pretty much none that. The trip was a complete bust with the exception of a brief sighting of a Prairie Falcon. It’s a vast place, and we were only able to spend a few hours there, so we haven’t given up on it, but we’re going to have to do some research and planning before we go there again.

But there was one good result of our trip—we met a nice couple with whom we exchanged pleasantries and who informed us of another popular wildlife viewing area: Merced National Wildlife Refuge. They said that this large, heavily-managed refuge had a spectacular array of wintering waterfowl and wading birds. They were so enthusiastic about it that we decided we had to go.

Well, they were right—MNWR is indeed spectacular. Thousands of Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese and Greater White-fronted Geese winter in the roughly ten thousand acres of wetland and grassy upland that comprise the refuge. We visited twice—in late January and again last week, and on both occasions the sheer number of birds on the ground and in the sky left us awestruck. The following photos are an inadequate attempt to convey some of the wonder.