Recently I attended a dinosauer reunion ( several of us who started as fire fighters for Cal Fire in 1954) at Los Banos, Ca. While there I checked out some NWRs in the area. The best for this time of year was the smallest ( The Merced Unit on sandy marsh Rd). As usual I took too many pics but I've narrowed them down to 21. Starting with a Red-winged Blackbird.
Killdeer
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Red-tailed Hawk.
Great Blue Heron.
American Coots
Double Crested Cormorant
Wren???? (maybe a house wren)
Black-necked Stilt
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Western Meadowlark
A mixture of Snow Geese and Ross's Geese
A dark Ross's Goose.......The locals refer to these as blue Ross's
A couple of Pintails in with the Ross's.....Don't know what the smaller duck is.
Northern Shoveler
American Avocet at the end of day.
Wren???? (maybe a house wren)
Years ago when I worked in this country I would see Yellow-billed Magpies all over the place. I didn't know that there was any other kind. I spent three days looking for one to photograph with no luck. The morning I started back home I spotted some in a field just before I got to the freeway. They let me get a couple of pics.
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Resin my first thought was a Marsh Wren but it looked too drab but I bow to your superior bird knowledge.
Great pics adel!!!
I love the Black-necked Stilt, the Egret in flight and the Western Meadowlark!
Congratulations on finding the Yellow-billed Magpie!
Wonderful birds, adelbertcat. I also love the Egret in flight and the Meadowlark.
Wonderful!
Looks like you had a great day, adelbertcat! Have you come down from you high yet?! :))
adel & Resin,
I googled the Merced NRW. The following quote from it's home page lists habitat for Mash Wrens.
The refuge provide important breeding habitat for Swainson's hawks, tri-colored blackbirds, marsh wrens, mallards, gadwall, cinnamon teal and burrowing owls. Coyotes, ground squirrels, cottontail rabbits, beaver and long-tailed weasels can also be seen year round.
Grasmussen............Thanks. I did see a Coyote, ground squirrels and cotton tail rabbits. There is supposed to be Nuttall's Woodpeckers in the area but I didn't see any.
Wow, those pictures are great. I love the Black-necked Stilt. I think he should paired with a penguin in a cartoon version of the Odd Couple. I love the magpie too. I haven't seen a magpie since I was kid.
