Part II Cosumnes River Wildlife Refuge 4/17/16

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

Nikon D3300

Survivor MMXVI - Cosumnes River Mosquito Preserve 4/17/2016

My Survivor dream has come to an end.  *sob*  I have learned, much to my chagrin, that my breaking point comes at the hand (stinger?) of mosquitoes.  And I learned this the hard way.  

By venturing out to the Consumnes River Mosquito eerrrr Wildlife Refuge on a sunny spring morning after the most rain we've seen had for years, I tempted fate.  And it got me.  I stupidly didn't have any mosquito spray and I have NEVER been attacked by such swarms before. It. Was. A. Nightmare.  And of course it happens when I'm almost two miles away from my car.  

Fortunately, editing these photos after a week of suffering reminded me that it was a pretty amazing outing in terms of birds I saw.  Some were completely new to me.  

But the bites!!  I ended up with about 10 on each arm  with about 20 more on my legs, back, and neck.  40 bites!!  So freaking itchy!  I tried not to, but now I look like a methhead covered in scabs.

Oh well...on to the photos!  My first encounter was with a familiar face.  Black-necked Stilt!

I didn't park my car at the visitor's center, but opted to park at the marsh across the road where the boardwalk is.  I'm glad I did because there were a lot of ducks and other water birds there that I hadn't seen before.  

Such as these American Avocets!

There was also a cute Cinnamon Teal couple dabbling about. 

And another species that I haven't had the pleasure of seeing before, Green-winged Teals.  This is the first one I saw, but I saw a lot more later. 

I don't know what this little bird is.  But he was very fast and caught a dragon fly meal right in front of me.  

 And then he went to sit on top of a tree and digest.

Next I found a Northern Shoveler.  This guy has the traditional green head...not the unusual purple like the one I saw in Merced. 

FLIGHT

I crossed the road and started walking towards the visitor's center and Cosumnes River.  This paved path takes you through a lot of trees and meadow-type terrain.  There was also a bit of semi-stagnant water, but no mosquitoes...yet...  But there were definitely woodland creatures.  I saw approximately 530,245 bunnies.  Not really, but at least 8 on my walk.  I got pictures of two.  This guy was the first. 

 There weren't a lot of flowers, but there were some cool thistles. 

And then there was a woodpecker!!  And unlike in Point Reyes, I actually had a clear view of this guy.  Yay!  They look similar, but this one is a male Nuttal's Woodpecker vs the Acorn Woodpecker in Point Reyes. 

In addition to rabbits, there were copious fat-tailed squirrels.  I don't think that's an actual breed. 

Soon, I was near the railroad tracks.  

Right after this, I rounded a corner and between me and the elevated tracks was a long expanse of standing ground water. This is where I first encountered mosquitoes, but not many so I forged on. 

To my right was a plowed field where I could hear the telltale high-pitched "kill-deer!  kill-deer!" but they were well camouflaged amid the broken ground with remarkably similar coloring.  I was able to capture a not-so-great picture of one.

I also got this not-too-great capture of a yellow bird that kept flitting around in front of me.  But it was very quick and would only alight for a few seconds.  Not sure what it is. I think Google convinced me it is an adult female breeding American Goldfinch. 

And then...I hit the bird jackpot.  And the mosquito jackpot, but I didn't realize that yet.  I saw a pond filled with white birds.  I always get excited when I see egrets, and there appeared through the foliage to be maybe several kinds.  

I had to take a detour down a path in order to be able to get a good picture.  The pond was on my right and a dense stand of woods were on my left.  This is when the annoyance began.  It's really hard to take photos when you are constantly flipping your hair and hands to try to get mosquitoes away!  I'm itching just thinking about it.  So any blurry photos can thank the bugs. 

I got to see a new to me species in this pond!  The White-faced Ibis, seen here along with a Snowy Egret. 

 Another Snowy Egret

   

I call this one Blue Reflections of a Great Egret

And this one is Awkwardly Beautiful Landing of a Great Egret

And on that graceful note, I'm going to pause for now.  I can't stand thinking about the mosquitoes any more tonight!  Plus Bates Motel just came on and I need to focus on Sheriff Romero's beautiful eyes.  

Good night!

xoxo

Nikon D3300