Back to Merced

We returned to Merced National Wildlife Refuge last weekend. Just like last year, it did not disappoint. Thousands of snow geese, lesser sandhill cranes, and Ross’s geese, along with abundant northern shovelers, cinnamon teal, and other assorted waterfowl winter in the heavily managed wetlands and grassy uplands.

It turns out that the 100,000-acre refuge was established in 1951, not so much to aid wildlife as to attract the geese away from nearby farmlands where they were causing damage to crops. Much of the refuge is planted in corn and winter wheat to attract and sustain the wintering birds.

Most of the wildlife viewing at the refuge is done from a car. There’s a four mile unpaved driving loop that traverses both wetland and upland habitat. You’re directed to remain in your car for the majority of the route. A benefit to this is that most birds fear cars less than they fear exposed humans. We were able to approach much closer to many birds from our cars (our friends Mike and Katharina accompanied Marla, me, and Marla’s brother Steve in a separate car) than would have walking. We didn’t see as many cranes as we had last year, but we saw a lot of good stuff:

Snow geese taking off in the evening golden hour. There may be some Ross’s geese—similar so snow geese, but a bit smaller—in there somewhere, but I can’t find any.

The crowded skies can necessitate some fancy maneuvering.

Three sandhill cranes among the hoards of geese.

This redtail hawk has nabbed an unfortunate coot. The refuge is rich in raptors, and positively brims with coots.

A Wilson’s snipe eyes us warily. We saw several of these little sandpipers on this trip, but none last year.

These foraging white-faced ibis lack the feature for which they are named. They only show white faces during the breeding season.

An ibis flying in the morning light.

Cranes against the rising sun.

An awesome spectacle

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.

Dawn at the Refuge, with Sandhills still in their nighttime roosting spots.

A little later in the morning and many geese—Snow and White-fronted—have taken to the air while the Snow Geese in the foreground wait around. Those are Northern Shovelers in the extreme foreground.

Sandhills flying in from the wetlands to these newly-mowed uplands. I’m guessing they’re coming to dine on insects and the like that have been exposed by the mowing.

Sky and land full of Snow Geese. I bet there are more than a thousand visible in this photo. Care to try counting? Ross’s Geese, similar to, but smaller than Snow Geese, also winter in the Refuge. There may some in this photo, but we were not able to identify any Ross’s during our two visits. If you click on the photo you can see a few Greater White-fronted Geese mixed in, both on the ground and in flight.

Cranes coming in for a landing with Snow Geese and a few White-fronted Geese in the foreground. I like the way two of the cranes on the ground are looking up at the incoming cranes.

Greater White-fronted Geese were not as superabundant as either Sandhill Cranes or Snow Geese, but they were still everywhere you looked.