A Northern California bird sanctuary: Colusa Wildlife Refuge

Recently Hubby and I made our second trip to the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge in Colusa, California. We were there back in January in search of the falcated duck we never saw. But simply discovering the sanctuary made the two and a half hour, each way from San Jose, trip worthwhile and I told hubby we'd have to go back periodically throughout the year to see the new birds that come to stay with each new season.

Northern Shovelers

Since we were heading  up to WIlliams, just across the interstate, with our friend Dana to shoot wildflowers I knew we would also be able to zip over to the wildlife refuge and see some new birds as the website outlines which birds are around during different seasons. With winter behind us I knew the ducks would be leaving and the shore and wading birds would be arriving.

This is the second sign you'll see as you arrive at the refuge after turning south off HWY 20 East from Interstate 5.

Once again we saw lots of Greater White-fronted Geese near the observation deck. It was late in the afternoon so most were resting.

We also saw this well camouflaged lizard.

He's a western fence lizard. You can just barely see the cobalt blue patch on his throat. His stomach was probably blue too but you can't tell because of the shadows.

Black-necked Stilt

Our first shorebird sighting! A black-necked stilt searching through the marshy area near the observation deck.

According to Wikipedia it was probably looking for:

". . .aquatic invertebrates – mainly crustaceans and other arthropods, and mollusks – and small fish, tadpoles and very rarely plant seeds. Its mainstay food varies according to availability; inland birds usually feed mainly on aquatic insects and their larvae. . ."

We didn't stay near the observation deck for long opting instead to get back in the car and take the auto-tour driving route. At Colusa it is mandatory you don't exit your car while on the driving route so I was once again shooting from out the passenger window and sunroof with my monopod to get the following shots.

A White-faced Ibis?

My favorite shorebird that day was the white-faced ibis. Even though it looks like an adult I'm wondering if it could be a young adult which might explain the absence of the typical bright white feathers that normally outline the bare skin around their faces. Either way the colors on it's body and face were stunning. It took me quite a few tries to capture the iridescence of its feathers.

What a beauty!

The ibis themselves were plentiful so we had more than a few tries to get a good shot.

And it's always lunch time at the refuge. Last time you may remember I was able to photograph a pied-billed grebe eating a fish. This time we spotted this greater egret who appeared to be hunting so we stopped the car and waited a bit.

It didn't take long. A quick dart and gotcha! I was a little bummed its back was toward us which made it hard to see and focus. Luckily after catching its prey it turned around as if to face my camera.

Wow! I didn't know we had crayfish living in the waterways here in California! I thought they were a southern thing. I love how the skin around it's face is such a vivid green. That, like the crayfish, was completely unexpected.

*Gulp* and down it goes. It's neck became quite distended as it swallowed.

Western or Pacific Pond Turtle?

We also saw turtles in two places. I'm not sure if they were the same kind or two different species because one had very orange tinted skin and its shell was orange too.

As it turns out western pond turtles and pacific pond turtles are the exact same kind of turtle but with two different names. If they were birds I'd try harder to identify them for accuracy but for now I'll pass. Trying to find all of the names of the wildflowers in yesterday's post took a Herculean effort so I'm kind of burned out on Googling for now.

Ever want to just get away from the city? This was such a peaceful view of the snow capped mountains in the distance. It was the kind of moment when you just want to pause and "be."

As we rounded the bend we spotted the fourth great blue heron of the day. The thing is the first three flew away every time we got within 100 feet of them. This one posed nicely even if it was for only a minute.

As we continued on with the auto route I stood out of the sunroof to take this picture behind us. Just past those trees Hubby spotted either a beaver or muskrat swimming in the water to the right. One of the maddening things about photographing wildlife is that mammal, bird or reptile they all move quickly so by the time you see something you may have just a split second to get a shot in before it runs, flies or swims away. We also saw a GORGEOUS ring necked pheasant in the road but it also ran into the brush before we got close enough to get our cameras on it.

Thankfully the black-crowned night herons didn't move at all. LOL

Well, a few did like this one in flight. Catching it was kind of exciting.

At that point everyone seemed to be either flying away. . .

Or resting.

Funny how despite the vivid colors of the ibis and the action shot of the egret catching the crayfish my two favorites are the calm, more monochromatic images I began and am ending this post with.

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If you want to visit the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge here's how you get there from San Jose.

Their website describes the refuge this way:

"The 4,507-acre refuge primarily consists of intensively managed wetland impoundments, with some grassland and riparian habitat. The Sacramento Valley is one of the most important wintering areas for waterfowl in North America. Colusa Refuge typically supports wintering populations of more than 200,000 ducks and 50,000 geese."

Colusa National Wildlife Refuge - Visit their website by CLICKING HERE

• The best wildlife viewing time is in the early morning and late afternoon
• Wildlife observation is best during mid-November - January
• The refuge is open one-hour before sunrise to one-hour after sunset year-round
• 4,567 acres, including seasonal marsh, permanent ponds, and uplands
• CLICK HERE for a list of abundant, common, uncommon and rare wildlife sightings
• Restrooms are available near the parking lot
• In the winter dress in layers and bring a warm hat and gloves
• How to get there from San Jose: Take I-5 to the “Highway 20, Colusa” exit. Turn east on Highway 20. The Refuge is about 6.5 miles on the right. (Note: you will pass the Colusa Hunter Check Station turnoff a few miles before the Refuge.)

Where to see wildflowers in Northern California

For the past year my friend Dana and my Hubby have both been wanting to photograph a meadow full of blooming California Poppies.  When I Googled "best places to view california poppies northern california" a link to the "Top 10 locations of California poppy meadows and fields" came up on page one. That's how I learned about Bear Valley Road, located three hours north of San Jose and just across the interstate from the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge we visited in January.

So Dana, Hubby and I left San Jose at 6:30 AM thinking we would arrive just as the flowers opened up for the day.

Disappointingly, we discovered despite reading that mid-April is the best month to visit, we were too early in the season this year for poppies. I think we saw fewer than a half dozen poppy plants on the entire 14 mile drive. Since then I've discovered there are wildflower hotlines that you can call to learn what is in bloom and where.

Despite the lack of poppies we saw quite a few wildflowers that day. From the top row: Lupine just barely beginning to bloom, Cream Cup, and Stork's Bill Filaree. Second row: Bird's-eye Gilia. I love the blue pollen on the stamens of this flower. It's so striking and different. Third row: Tidy Tips, Broad Leaf Filaree, and Red Maids.

So, instead of the miles of orange blooming poppies I'd envisioned in my head we found two large meadows awash with thousands of small purple and white bird's-eye gilia, pale yellow cream cups and deep yellow tidy tips. It was still beautiful and I'm glad we went. . .

The question is do I make the 6 hour round trip drive again to try to see the poppies this year? Or do I wait until next year to go back?

To reach the meadows you'll take Interstate-5 to CA-20 BUS West which meets up with HWY 20 which you'll stay on for approximately 18 miles. At Bear Valley Road you'll turn north (right) and travel approximately 14 miles on a dirt to semi-paved road to reach the fields of flowers. Be aware that after heavy rains the dirt road can wash out so waiting for calm weather may be advisable.

You'll know you're close when you see this sign by the American Land Conservancy. All of the land on Bear Valley Road is private property so be respectful and don't trespass. The barbed wire fences won't stop you from getting great photos. Just park your car and walk right up to the fencing to take your pictures.

Beyond the flowers you can drive to the end of Bear Valley Road and turn right on Leesville. There we found the most picturesque farm and pasturelands.

The cattle and horses had plenty of grass and hay to eat.

With my 14-140mm zoom lens with the focal length set to 14mm.

And the same shot taken with a focal length of 140mm.

Happy cows in California.

As we headed back we happened upon three loose cows alongside the road.

Aw, a mother and her recently born calf.

He was so cute scampering after his mama.

What a surprise!

As we headed back towards HWY 20 we saw a roadrunner! Not this one, another one. I didn't even know we had them in Northern California. It ran in front of our car carrying something in its beak. It looked like a small mammal, maybe a large mouse or small mole.

We laughed it would be funny if we saw a coyote next. And then someone said it would be even funnier if a big rock fell on our car after seeing the roadrunner and a coyote. Just like in the cartoons. LOL

As we drove along Bear Valley Road I spotted another roadrunner on the hillside beside us. Then another! We stopped and were able to take a few photos from the car, through the barbed wire fence.

The Greater Roadrunner can run up to 26 mph.

That same day we were also shocked when we spotted western burrowing owls. I had so many pictures of them I had to split the day into three posts: This one about the wildflowers, the other about the owls and one yet to come about my second visit the the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge. If you're a bird lover Colusa is a definite "must see" stop.

After our day of sightseeing and picture taking we stopped for lunch at Granzella's Deli just before the entrance back onto Interstate-5.

Granzella's has a whole lot of olives! There were so many flavors to choose from and an open olive bar where you can sample them. I only tried one and liked it so much I purchased a big jar of the Hot & Zesty olives. I'm going to use them with pasta and maybe make my own green olive tapenade from scratch.

For lunch we ordered from the deli. Dana and Hubby had sandwiches and I had macaroni salad and 2 deviled eggs (4 pieces), and a small mint chip gelato. All were very good. But oops! I was so hungry I forgot to take pictures for you!

We sat here in this small dining area near the center of the store. There's also a sit down restaurant if you want something more substantial than deli food. In the back there's a sport's bar filled with dozens of stuffed (as in taxidermied) animals including two polar bears. Peeking in it reminded me of going to the natural history museum as a kid. Adults who hunt will most likely enjoy the ambiance. For a vegetarian like myself, or vegans, all of the animals may be a bit much. I'll be sticking with the deli on future visits.

The Sutter Buttes photographed in January 2012.

After never visiting the Central Valley it's now becoming one of my favorite places. I'm already looking forward to going back again. If you've never been there I'd definitely recommend making the trip up. We even spotted some motels and inns in Williams and said it would be neat to go up and spend the night so we can one day take pictures of the Sutter Buttes at sunrise. If we do you'll be the first to know here on the blog when I post the pictures :)

The Burrowing Owls of Colusa County

Recently hubby, our friend Dana and I all headed up to Colusa County to Williams, CA to hopefully view fields of blooming California Poppies. What we found instead was, imo, even better than flowers :)

Granzella's located at 451 6th Street Williams, CA 95987

I'd gone online and found an article that said Bear Valley Road in Williams is one of the top ten places in the state to see seas of blooming California Poppies. Another article said the roads can wash out and another article said to stop at Granzella's on your way to the meadows because you can pick up everything you'll need for a picnic lunch there. I made note of it as a street address for our GPS to navigate to.

From the South Bay you'll take the CA-20 BUS West exit off of I-5, stop at Granzella's, get back on the CA-20 BUS route and head West until it intersects with HWY 20. From there you'll travel about 19 miles southwest until you reach Bear Valley Road. There is a large yellow sign. Turn right just after the sign onto Bear Valley Road.

Once on the road all of the property on each side is private property. Photographing is no problem though because you can park wherever you are and stop to take pictures walking right up to the fence and shooting through it. Even where there isn't fence it's good to be respectful and not trespass.

California Poppies blooming amidst green serpentine rocks

These were the first poppies we saw that day. We were too early meaning both to early in the day so they hadn't opened up yet and too early in the season because there were very few poppies on the entire road. We probably saw fewer than six blooming plants on the entire 14 mile route. I tried to call a phone number I found online for current flower conditions but it had been disconnected.

Most of Bear Valley Road is dirt or kind of paved. The internet mentioned the road washes out sometimes. Um, yeah, we saw how that could happen.

The top of the slope didn't look anymore stable than the bottom. That tree would make me a little nervous in rainy weather.

To your left a creek runs alongside the road. It has no name that I could find online. Down in the cattails and rushes we could hear the call of red-winged blackbirds. The females are a non-descript brown but the males are quite showy.

A Male Red-winged Blackbird

Here's one! The male blackbirds flit about puffing up the bright red feathers at the top of their wings. As we watched them we also heard a cow loudly mooing nearby. I'd never heard such a vocal cow before! As we headed down the road we may have stumbled upon who the cow was mooing at.

A loose cow and her calf were meandering down the road.

A short distance further and we saw this sign by the American Land Conservancy, an organization that has conserved more than 274,000 acres of land nationwide. From their website:


"We conserve critical habitat for plants and animals, protect threatened lands and rivers, preserve working farms and ranches, and create new outdoor recreation areas that allow people to enjoy and explore the natural world."

We took it as a good sign that we were getting close to the meadows of flowers I'd read about online.

When we finally made it to the flower meadows we discovered there were no poppies blooming. We were disappointed but then Dana spotted some birds.

One look and I knew, because they were smallish, sitting on the ground, and because there were several of them, they were burrowing owls even though I'd never seen one in real life before. We had no idea there were burrowing owls in Colusa County! The absence of blooming poppies was quickly forgotten as we excitedly began photographing the owls from our car.

Opening the car doors caused the owls to fly away

I say "from our car" because if you opened the car door to step outside they almost immediately flew away so to take great owl photos from your vehicle here are some tips we figured out that day:

1. Roll down your windows so you're not shooting through glass.
2. Turn off your car engine. The slight vibration it causes can blur your images when using long focal lengths.
3. Brace your arms, hands or camera against the opening of the car window to help steady it.
4. I also used my monopod bracing it on the ground outside of the car. You can turn your tripod into a monopod by only extending one leg.
5. If you have a sun roof use it African safari style. I popped out the sunroof and braced my monopod on the center console between the two front seats. But only park and remove your seatbelt where it is safe to do so.

The owls remain very relaxed if you photograph them from your car

The easy thing about photographing burrowing owls is that they don't move around much, particularly during the day when they stand outside their burrows.  Here in California they most frequently use abandoned ground squirrel burrows.

Burrowing owls hunt by flight and foot and eat insects, reptiles and small mammals. They stand at approximately 8" to 9" tall and can live about the same number of years.

Almost all of the owl were shot with my 100-300mm telephoto lens and a monopod

While their numbers have declined steadily over time the owls are not yet listed as Endangered but rather a "Species of Special Concern." California's burrowing owls are protected under the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act as well as under the Fish and Game Code, Sections 3503, 3503.5, 3513, and 3800.

Reasons for their declining populations include loss of habitat, pesticides, poisons (particularly those used to kill ground squirrels), predators including raptors, coyotes, dogs and cats, reduced burrow availability due to the extermination of prairie dog and ground squirrel communities, and vehicle collisions, particularly at night.

As I watched, this owl flattened itself close to the ground. Why would it do that I wondered? To hide? Who was it hiding from. It hadn't seemed bothered by our presence in the car.

Um, maybe it was the very large bird of prey, flying overhead. Wow. It was huge! Immediately my mind went to eagle, not hawk. I've seen red tailed hawks many, many times before but this bird was much larger and heavier looking. And then there were two circling overhead!

This photo by John A. Vink

I was very challenged to get a photo because I hadn't brushed up on my automatic focal settings so I didn't have my auto tracking turned on. Hubby did though and got two great pictures that he loaned me. I am 99% certain these were mature golden eagles.

The owls didn't take any chances. They ducked down into their burrows because California's golden eagles will eat them for lunch. Turns out golden eagles will eat pretty much any small to medium sized mammals and birds. While their diets here typically consist of ground squirrels, jack rabbits and lizards they will kill birds as large as swans.

This photo by John A. Vink

I'm really going to have to practice shooting local birds (pigeons, sparrows, etc.) in flight so that the next time I have the chance to shoot an eagle I'll know how to use my camera to get pictures like hubby's.

All clear?

This photo by John A. Vink

As it turned out the owls had more to worry about than just the eagles. As we watched a lone squirrel approached an owl sitting at its burrow. Inexplicably the squirrel charged the owl!

This photo by John A. Vink

The owl easily launched itself upward. LOL It was rather playful. Neither the owl or squirrel were harmed.

This photo by John A. Vink

And when it was over the squirrel ran away and the owl went back to just standing beside its den.

Peek-a-boo!

Even when they're hiding the owls aren't impossible to see if you look carefully.

Most were standing right out in the open like this one. The dark holes beneath it on the side of the creek bed wall are burrows. I know this because I saw an owl sitting in the opening then disappearing inside.

Note the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge is just on the other side of I-5

On Bear Valley Road there were two locations where we spotted the owls.

The first was on the right hand (north) side of the road after passing the American Land Conservancy sign and immediately preceding a 90º righthand turn that sits at the southwest corner of the Keegan Ranch where we saw a sign that said they sell a wildflower guide. The second location was on the lefthand side of the road (west) shortly after making the above turn but before you pass the entrance to the Keegan Ranch.

If you go, bring your telephoto lens and please be respectful that on either side of the road you're looking at private property that is legal to photograph but not legal to trespass upon. I would also encourage you to disturb the owls as little as possible so planning to shoot from inside of your car when near their burrows is a considerate, but not required, gesture.

From what I read online this is just the beginning of the nesting season. It takes three to four weeks to hatch a clutch of eggs and another four weeks before the babies are ready to venture out so I'd guess by mid-June you might be able to see young owlets joining their folks outside of their burrows.

If you go and take pictures let me know! I'd love to see them.