A Day in the Country

 Video - Through the Lens: Snow Goose Migration

What began as a quiet trip north to the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge turned into a full day of birds, fun and adventure with Mr. B, which included one of his world famous "Short Cuts"!  Above is the first bird we spotted on the auto tour - a White Tailed Kite.

And a lovely Snowy Egret sitting atop a dead tree.

I had Mr. B open up his car's sunroof so I could see more.

 

A few Greater White Fronted Geese flew by (they are much darker than the Snow Geese)....

....and to our left we could see some Snow Geese and ducks had landed but if you look really hard near the horizon you will see thousands of birds flying in to the refuge.

    The geese migrate from the upper northern reaches of Canada, Alaska & Greenland to overwinter in a calmer climate.

 

 

As we drove further along the auto route we began to see and hear more and more geese.

 

 

 They were so excited and so noisy. 

 

 

You could make out the Greater White Fronted Geese from the Snow Geese as they flew low overhead.

  Good thing Mr. B remembered to close the sunroof!!!

 

 As they settled on the water more and more flew in.

Suddenly we were in the middle of it with birds next to us, in front & back of us and overhead.

 

And then we rounded a corner.....

 

....and in the relative calm I noticed a Northern Flicker on a tree branch watching the excitement below as well....

 

 ...as three hawks soaring overhead.....

...and calm ducks enjoying the beautiful day.

 

As we drove away Mr. B suggest taking an "alternate" route home.  That only meant one thing - his epic "short cut"!  (cue in everyone in the car doing a big groan!)  While I love Mr. B, his short cuts are almost always long cuts.  The joy is in his face as he shows whoever is in his car the delights of getting off the main road and experiencing the country.

 

At first I said "no" but then looking at his long face I changed to "OK" and his grin was so big it made it all worthwhile! 

Here we go......he swung West from Williams on Hwy. 20.  Then South on to 16 through some tiny towns I have never heard of in my lifetime of living in California.

The first exciting thing we saw was a Cowboy Camp where I guess they teach you how to become a cowboy?  And then several "Watch out for Elks" signs.

 

 

 We followed Cache Creek through Rumsey, Guinda and on to Tancred and Brooks.

Onto Cadenasso, Capay, Esparto and Madison.

We didn't see any Elk but we did see....

....an elk sculpture.....

 

 

 ...a bear climbing a pole and a.........

....a bull on top of a BBQ joint.

And some pretty country that I never knew existed!

 

Thanks Mr. B for the "short cut"....at least this time!!!

Now back to civilization......

 

 

"Civilization is a limitless multiplication of 

unnecessary necessities."

--Mark Twain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Mr. B close the sunroof quick!!!"

-- Jeanette

PS - when a million birds are flying overhead, protect yourself at all cost!

Natures Comfort

Every morning I wake to birdsong, although lately there has been a little lamb bleating from somewhere across the creek, along with a very young rooster who starts to crow at 2:30am....yipes!

Year round we have a flock of Canadian Geese overhead or down the creek and an occasional turkey or more often a night time skunk. Last night we heard two Coyote's for the first time in awhile.  There are a lot of squirrels and deer that like to nibble my rose buds.

We don't live in the country but in a semi-rural suburban neighborhood. I like these sounds as it feels comforting to live with nature. As I get older, I find I have trouble killing a spider or an ant. Even snails that destroy my garden give me pause as I just fling them away from my garden instead of mushing them like I used to. Is this because I am older and have more respect for life?

This morning I found myself cheering for a bee that came through our bedroom screen door....while my husband was trying to find the electric bug-zapper, I was cheering for the bee to escape before he came back...................the bee escaped! .......yes....!  Although, I'm still not sure how I feel about living with a mosquito all night long.....itch, itch....! I grew up in this neighborhood that we still live in and when I was small, there where so many toads every summer that you could not walk across our lawn in the evening with out stepping on one...where did they all go?   I know some of them went down the back of my blouse to be squished by my two brothers who .....were boys....and my loving brothers....who liked to torture me!  But there used to be thousand's of these toads and tadpoles....also, there used to be Walnut tree's in Walnut Creek as well as Oak trees in Oakland.  Mr. b always says, "Places are named for things that they destroy"....like Walnut Creek and Oakland. 

“Birdsong brings relief

to my longing

I’m just as ecstatic

as they are,

but with nothing to say!

Please universal soul,

practice some song or

something through me!”

--Rumi