Personally for me, it is still something that I will always mourn and always remember. But I will absolutely not let it change the love I have for my brothers and sisters of all nations. But the religious fanaticism (from all forms of religion) that inspire so much hatred is a big no for me and the largest lesson of 9/11 for me as well.
But on this September 11 in 2022, I felt I needed some time to focus on nature and healing. Although nature often brings some dark moments, it's still much preferred to the hatred that mankind brings into the world.
So off I went through Sacramento and into the "wilds" of the Yolo bypass to Vic Fazio Wildlife Area for some early migration birdwatching!
Flying over the causeway (I-80 freeway) high above the bypass, I almost felt like a bird myself! And I was happy to see what looked like a ton of birds out in the rice paddies.
But first, just coming around the first curve in the auto tour, I saw a unkindness! Actually I think it was very kind because it was a gorgeous Raven couple chilling together at the top of a pole. A group of Ravens is called and unkindness - probably due to some superstitious nonsense from medieval times. Nevermore! Not to me anyway.
The rice paddies that make up most of the wildlife area were so very lush with many shades of green amongst the different foliage. It was absolutely gorgeous on this early morning.
One area in particular seemed to be attracting all the birds! Maybe not all, but many of the Egrets and White-faced Ibis were hanging out together in a very plush paddy that still had water in it.
The Ibis with there brilliant plumage and bright red eyes are always one of my favorites to find. I wish I could reach out and touch those gorgeous feathers!
The rich, green and bronze feathers of the Ibis contrast so beautifully with the snow white Egrets. Such an amazing sight to see probably 25+ Egrets and 40+ Ibis in this one rice paddy.
Dinosaurs were also prevalent in Yolo on this beautiful fall day. I saw probably 10 Great Blue Herons in the various fields. The next pictures are from 3 of them. Sorry if some appear redundant, but these lovely, prehistoric-looking birds seemed like they were posing for me!
The thistles and flowers were putting on a show as well. I just love the different thistles we have in California and how photogenic they are!
This Egret was feeling fluffy against the brisk air. So cute!
There were of course raptors all around the area as well. By this time, it was just before sunset. Believe it or not, these pictures that follow were all on the auto setting of my little bridge camera and it does pretty well (except for extreme noise!).
So these look like they were taken in daylight but it was in reality closer to sunset; the picture below was taken at 6:28 facing West. The picture of the sunset about three pics down was taken with manual settings (to make both the sunset and the thistles visible) at 6:40 pm. Amazing different! This camera has a great focus capability! I wish I could get my Nikons to focus this well and any light. lol
It also has a pretty good capability of focusing behind things such as the Great-Horned Owl behind all these tree branches. It's not perfect and the leaves are clearly the primary focus but it's pretty good for such a difficult photo.
This is the Thistle Sunset I was talking about. Now granted, I am shooting extreme West - obviously right at the sun in this pic and the very last one in the post. The egret photos below are South West.
%20copy.jpg "Egret and Cattle Egrets at Vic Fazio Wildlife Refuge Yolo Basin California")
And now off into the sunset I go. Until next time. :)
xoxo
Panasonic Lumix Fz80
