Greetings, Tweets -

I've been reading this thread with interest as I stopped briefly by the
Sacramento refuge four weeks ago on my way to visit family. Never having
been there before, I was doubly impressed at the variety and number of
birds, even at the end of September. I'd never realized how early
White-fronted Geese migrated -- they were there in the thousands. The place
reminded me of the Willamette Valley refuges at midwinter! 4 bitterns, 3
ibises, a few moorhens, a flock of Cattle Egrets flying to roost
(somewhere) at sunset, and my best look ever at a gorgeous Red-shouldered
Hawk. Brian Bell offered

>As a former resident of the Sacramento area I can reaffirm the
>information regarding the NWRs in the Sacramento Valley...[snip]..
>Probably of more interest is what is known as the Cosumnes River
>preserve - a cooperative effort of Ducks Unlimited, the Nature
>Conservancy, the Cal Dept. of Water Resources, Cal Fish & Game, U.S.
>Fish & Wildlife, and BLM. The Cosumnes is the last free running river in
>that part of the Sacramento Valley, and approximately 12,000 plus acres
>have been acquired and preserved for wildlife. This includes a
>significant area of riparian oak woodland.

Love those woodlands, festooned with wild grape vines! Question for you,
Brian (or anyone else):

For future reference, is there a good place in that area for finding pond
turtles? Couldn't find them anyplace I looked, though it may have been a
little late in the year...

Thanks! --

Janet Hardin
Port Townsend, WA
wings at olympus.net