...............Just returned from central Calif. visiting my daughter and
grandchildren. Had a chance to do some birding around her place near
Jackson, Calif. and Gray Lodge Wildlife Area; Colusa and Sacramento
NWR....all about 80 miles north of Sacramento. I'm sure I missed many
birds due to lack of time.
...............We have lots of wintering waterfowl up here in our area,
but *not* anywhere near the astronomical numbers present down there.
*Zillions* of ducks!!!!! *Billions* of Snow Geese everywhere, along
with lesser numbers of Ross Geese, and plenty of White-fronted Geese. I
have never seen such multitudes of Snow Geese *everywhere* (many, many
,more then the numbers seen in Skagit Valley!!!!). Everywhere the air is
filled with the noisy cackling and hoots of geese!!!!!!!
.............Some Tundra Swans, and Sandhill Cranes, though the bulk of
these were further south.
.............Some of the birds observed---those that either don't winter
up here, or are never observed up here, are:

Mockingbirds
Yellow-billed Magpies
Plain Titmice
Black Phoebe
Western Bluebird
Wood Ducks
Killdeer
Turkey Vultures(plenty)
Mourning Doves(lots)
Brown-headed Cowbird
Moorhens
Western Meadowlarks( 25 in one location)
Snowy Egrets
Bushtit
White-crowned Sparrows(many--seen with equally large numbers
of Golden-crowned Sparrows)
Phainopepla(....a black bird with a crest---the northernmost of the
tropical birds that feed on mistletoe--that grows abundantly in the
foothills in Calif.)
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Yellow-headed Blackbirds

.............Lots of Red-winged Blackbirds along with some Tricolored
Blackbirds. Plenty of hawks....saw a small brownish hawk with a reddish
breast, but was too far away to identify.
.............Weather was unbelievably warm, 55-60 degrees, sunny and not
a drop of rain the whole time.
.............Just wrote this report mainly for those here who have been
to Calif or are interested in Calif. birds. Hope I didn't bore the rest,
but it broadens my horizons to see things in other parts of the West.

Cheers
Gerald Hamilton
Brush Prairie, Wash.
gerald at e-z.net