Let's pick up right where we left off, shall we? At the Consumnes River Wildlife Refuge near a pond filled with birds surrounded by mosquitoes...
In the midst of about six Snowy and Great egrets along with about 10 White-faced Ibis...
...a lone Great Blue Heron was wading.
After about 10 minutes at the pond, the mosquitoes became unbearable so I ran, not walked, back down the path towards the railroad tracks hoping to escape them. There is a gorgeous, huge meadow behind the concrete railroad trestle.
Eventually, this would be my path in my attempt to escape.
But for now, I stayed on this side of the tracks, and followed the path towards the river. Because what is more photogenic than rivers with railroad bridges?
I was tempted to walk across, but decided against it...this time...
I did stay up there for a bit taking photos. These were my favorites. So beautiful and peaceful. Except for the mosquitoes.
At this point, I was getting swarmed with more frequency, so I hiked my way through the meadow in search of the river. I never made it. It because just too much!!
I ran...literally ran...back through the meadow. People who were obviously wearing bug spray were looking at me like I was crazy. lol
I made it back to the woodland area where the mosquito attack lessened. So I stopped to take some photos of a turkey vulture lazily circling above me. He probably thought I was crazy too!
What a wingspan! #Impressive
I ran into another one of those thousands of bunnies.
And a blackbird (with lots of bokeh! #Love)
I crossed the road heading back to the boardwalk and my car. But, walking past the marsh, I noticed that there were lots of Green-winged Teals that weren't there earlier. Yay!
And a beautiful, elegant, gray Gadwall duck. Another "new" species for me.
And mixed in with the ducks were some Common Snipes! So many new birdies seen today! #Heaven
And an American Avocet, also seen earlier.
At this point, I got in my car and drove to another road inside the reserve. The areas alongside the road were closed, but you could see into the fields, farms, and ponds. There were a lot of blackbirds and gorgeous TALL wildflowers. And more White-faced Ibis wading alongside tons of coots.
I have to say, I was so happy to get some good photos of the blackbirds. Usually my photos of them turn out somewhat blurry. But NOT today!
Someone is lucky enough to actually live in the middle of the preserve.
As I drove away, I saw one last yellow bird and some golden poppies. It seemed fitting to make them my last photos for the weekend.
A beautiful day with lots of sightings and lots of exercise running from mosquitoes. I consider that a success. Now hopefully, I won't get West Nile Fever. ;-)
xoxo
