Birds From Delevan and Sacramento National Wildlife Refuges

Green-winged Teal photos by Larry Jordan

I began the morning before sunrise at Delevan National Wildlife Refuge.  It was a cold morning with rain falling off and on but I did manage to get a few shots from the photo blind.  I was also able to watch some incredible courtship behavior of the Green-winged Teal.

There were large groups of Green-winged Teal with the males showing a series of courtship displays to the females and some threat displays to other males.  I enjoyed watching them through the bins and I photographed a few but they were pretty far away.

There were Northern Pintails in with the Green-winged Teal and some American Wigeon that I caught sneaking by the blind

American Wigeon Male Not Yet In Breeding Plumage

American Wigeon Female

And of course there were plenty of American Coots

Several times I was treated to the sights and sounds of the Song Sparrows that were flying in and out of the bulrush.

This friendly fellow came right over to the blind so quickly that I barely had time to get my camera in position to take this close-up

As the day wore on I saw many White-fronted Geese, Northern Shoveler, an adult and an immature Bald Eagle, Harrier Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks, Turkey Vultures, White-faced Ibis, Great Blue Heron, Black Phoebe and Killdeer to name a few.

The most abundant birds I observed around the blind, besides the ducks, were Marsh Wrens.  They were singing and carrying on wherever the bulrush grew.  They were busy building nests as I discovered when I got to Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge (SNWR).

One of the first treats received at SNWR was the beautiful melodious song of the Western Meadowlark

Followed closely by the sighting of a Loggerhead Shrike which seems to becoming more rare in these parts.  I didn’t get a good shot of the shrike but you can see a great photo of the Loggerhead Shrike taken by my friend Ken Schneider of Rosyfinch Ramblings by clicking here.

As I continued the auto tour at SNWR I spotted a Great Egret foraging in a grassy area near some very cute California Ground Squirrels that I caught during an intimate moment.

Then one of the highlights of the day occurred as a very friendly Savannah Sparrow followed me slowly along the side of the road for a good look.

There were Red-winged Blackbirds, Northern Harrier, Cinnamon Teal, and many more Marsh Wren on the road leading to the observation platform located about a third of the way around SNWR.

At the platform I saw Yellow-rumped Warbler, White-crowned Sparrow and watched the Marsh Wren building his nest.  I also had good views of a Snowy Egret perched in a tree there and this immature Double-crested Cormorant

Continuing on the last leg of the auto tour there were ponds filled with white.  American White Pelicans and the rusty faced Snow Geese were fueling up for the trip northward

Make sure you check out all the other great bird blogs during the 121st Edition of IATB Carnival hosted by my good blogging buddy Amber Coakley at Birder’s Lounge!  You may also want to step onboard the Friday Ark to see what birds are awaiting this week.