American Robins at Lava Beds National Monument

Lava Beds National Monument in the far northern reaches of California is a unique park for many reasons, biologically and geologically. And sometimes both. The park is "nothing more" than a vast field of geologically recent lava flows (I say "nothing more", because to a geologist like me, that's all the justification one needs to make a park out of it). The lava flows are honeycombed with lava tubes and craters, cinder cones and pressure ridges, and historical sites dating from the Modoc Indian Wars.

There's one thing the park doesn't have: water. Although the region is semiarid, it gets enough snow and rain to support growths of Ponderosa and Pinyon pines. But the water that falls on the surface quickly sinks into the joints and fractures that are pervasive in the basalt flows. There are no rivers, streams or lakes. That can make life difficult for the various animals that would normally inhabit these environments. One of those species are human beings. The Modoc people were able to utilize the waters of Tulelake at the north end of the monument. The lake is gone now, converted to agricultural fields, but park visitors can find water at faucets in the campground. It's pumped from a thousand-foot well. The water spills to the ground, and the local birds know all about it. They gather in the morning at the monument campground and take turns getting a drink. I didn't know this until I heard the caterwauling early in the morning while I was trying to sleep.

I got my camera and took a seat near the water faucets and saw a parade of birds, some of which were new to me. But not this one. The American Robin (Turdus migratorius) is one of the most familiar birds in North America. But that doesn't take away from their attractive appearance.

These birds were high up in the Cascades in September when I took these pictures, but they might be part of a migratory group that will arrive in the Great Valley in the next few weeks. Hundreds of them wintered in the mini-wilderness on our campus last year.

There were three more species waiting for water those mornings at Lava Beds. Look for the others in future posts.

Greater White-fronted Geese are Arriving in California!

These are birds who have traveled a very long ways. They breed and feed all summer in the far northern reaches of Canada and Alaska, but in fall they fly 2,900 miles south, pretty much without stopping until they reach northern and central California. Our valley is their winter home. A bunch of tired geese have arrived in these last few weeks. I've got pictures from two refuges, the Tulelake and Sacramento, both from my trip last week.

The Greater White-fronted Geese (Anser albifrons) of Alaska and Canada migrate into California, making stops at Tulelake National Wildlife Refuge before moving on to the Great Valley.

Some of the birds that I saw feeding in the fields of the Tulelake refuge will be spending the winter in a refuge just a few miles from my house in the San Joaquin Valley.

Tulelake National Wildlife Refuge may be one of the most beautiful bird habitats in the country. Mt. Shasta and California's largest volcano, Medicine Lake Highland, form the backdrop to the refuge. Tulelake is a small remnant of a once larger lake that covered a wide fault valley near the California-Oregon border. Water diversions at the beginning of the last century caused most of the lake to dry up, the barren lake floor now planted with potatoes and alfalfa. The present lake is 1/6 the size of the original.

On the fortunate side of the coin, there were some who recognized that Tulelake was a critical knickpoint on the Pacific migratory flyway. More than a million birds need the break to rest and feed before moving farther south. The refuge was established, and whatever water could be spared, borrowed or pumped was put into Tulelake. Unfortunately, the birds are too crowded, and there are outbreaks of avian cholera at times that kill thousands, but most of the birds are able to feed and move on. The ongoing drought has been particularly disastrous, as Tulelake is near the lowest priority in water claims in the basin. Nearby Lower Klamath Lake, another critical habitat, is dry this year.

We drove home a few days later, but made a brief stop at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge near the town of Williams to see what was going on. A six mile auto-tour trail provides access to parts of the refuge. We found that thousands of Greater White-fronted Geese had already arrived and started feeding in the flooded reservoirs and adjacent fields.

The White-fronted Geese show a great deal of variation and at least five subspecies are recognized. One of the smallest populations is the Tule Goose, which numbers only 10,000 or so and winters exclusively in the Great Valley, in the Sacramento and Suisan marshes.

I'm looking forward to seeing some of these beautiful birds in my own backyard soon!

Clark's and Western Grebes at Tulelake National Wildlife Refuge

Do those red eyes freak you out just a little?

There are two brand new species on the blog today, the Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis), and the Clark's Grebe (Aechmophorus clarkii). Can you tell which is which? We saw these marvelous waterbirds at the Tulelake National Wildlife Refuge in Northern California near Klamath Falls. 

The two birds are very similar and for a long time were considered the same species. Later on, it was determined that they only rarely interbred, and hybrids were few. There are suggestions in some studies that the Clark's Grebe feeds in deeper water.

The birds live practically their entire lives in the water, diving for fish and crustaceans underwater (they were frustrating to photograph because the moment they came into focus they would dive and disappear). Their legs are almost useless on the ground. They spend the summer in these mountain refuges where they breed, but will migrate to the sheltered areas along the coast in winter.

Photo by Mrs. Geotripper

The main visual difference? The Western Grebe is black around eyes, while the Clark's Grebe has white. The bill of the Clark's tends to be a brighter yellow.

California Quail at the Tulelake National Wildlife Refuge

I don't know why, but the California Quail (Callipepla californica) makes me smile more than just about any other bird. Their style of bobbing and running just looks comical sometimes. And their chicks! I'm reminded of ping-pong balls rolling along the ground and bouncing off each other when I see new hatched chicks.

I'm sure they are just living to their own aspirations. We ran into a covey of Quail while following the Tulelake National Wildlife auto tour along the lake shore over the weekend. They were hanging out all over a wooden structure in the field next to the lake shore.

Tulelake NWR was established as a critical component of the western migratory flyway. Most of the Arctic birds that winter in the Central or Imperial Valleys pass through there, taking a break and feeding for a bit. As we saw in the last post, some Sandhill Cranes have already arrived in region.

The California Quail was declared the state bird of California in 1931. I wonder sometimes why the California Condor wasn't selected for the honor, but going by looks alone, the quail is a winner. They're also easier to see, being found all over the state.

In any case, the quail is photogenic. Enjoy!

Photo by Mrs. Geotripper