Welcome to the second post regarding my trip to Merced National Wildlife Refuge on December 9th. After making my way around the first leg of the auto tour I parked my car beside the Bittern Marsh trailhead, but decided to wander over to the observation area first. There I found a great view out onto the large pond, which was full of ducks and geese, and I also found a sizeable crowd of perhaps six or seven people up on the platform. So I tucked in my camera and crossed to the east side of the parking area and entered the trail.
There I was happily alone, except for the constant flitting of small birds that were surprised by my appearance. Some sparrows and Killdeer made up most of the crowd, as well as a Black Phoebe that was slightly more sociable than the rest. The small trail was surrounded by water on both sides and the flooding was sufficient to make crossing difficult in one or two spots. However, as I came to the first crossroads a couple of Meadowlarks attracted my attention.
Meadowlarks are notoriously fidgety and rarely stay close or out in the open enough for me to get a decent view of them, much less a photo. I was pleased to see that one remained nearby but alert as I crept around a corner under the cover of dry weeds.
The area itself certainly seems marshy, and the random twists in the trail and crossroads that left one wondering about the best path added to the illusion of a natural setting. At one point there was a pretty little bridge that I was able to look back upon and take a photo of, which accounts for my best view of the Bittern Marsh.
Looking east from this point I saw the boundary of the refuge demarcated by a short fence, on the other side of which was a mowed field of alfalfa. I stalked a couple of Great Egrets and a Great Blue Heron, but was unable to get a decent photo. Moving forward after that failure, I became excited by what looked like dozens of geese feeding in the field - though as I got closer I was in for a surprise.
A pickup truck parked at the north end of the field and two hunters and their dog walked casually through the field towards the geese.. I swiftly realized that they were all elaborate decoys, and after exchanging a brief greeting with the hunters I doubled back towards the marsh and away from their position. I assumed they would not think it very respectful if I hung around while they were getting down to business. I just had time to see them switch on the rotational device in the center of the decoys that looked like geese flying around in circles, and to appreciate the effort they went through with their setup - there was also a two-story observation platform on the southwest corner of the alfalfa!
Heading back across the marsh, I really did not notice much nearby except for Chipping Sparrows and Killdeer, both of which I managed to get decent photos of. There was the constant croaking of Sandhill Cranes somewhere just north of the marsh but I had not seen any at the refuge all afternoon. Some flew overhead but it was at such a distance that I could not notice any details except to admire their strict V-formations.
Returning to the observation area across from the marsh, I was at first slightly disappointed to find that there were still several people there. I decided to man up and wander over despite the apparent facts that I was much younger than any of the other visitors, and that I was severely under-equipped. Besides being distracted by coots that were wandering all over the shores of the outcropping that led to the observation platform, I was at first mostly concerned with admiring the fancy tripods and huge telephoto lenses that were set up there.
I made my way up to the northeast corner of the platform, which was unoccupied, and assessed my view from above the edge of the pond. Feeling comfortable, I turned at times to listen to the conversations going on around me and to see who all made up the company. There was a gentleman who sat on the bench on the far side of the platform that talked liberally about his photography and birding experiences at this refuge and elsewhere, and who asked many questions of a South Korean couple that lived in San Francisco and was there with an older friend of theirs who still lived in Korea. He was a professional photographer who worked for the media and did not speak much English. My fifth companion was a tall gentleman who I was later introduced to as Steve Hannon, and he had an exceptional camera setup near the viewing lens that was mounted to the platform overlooking the pond.
I soon felt comfortable among such interesting folks, despite keeping quiet for some time myself, so I turned back to focus on the birds. I admit to eavesdropping on most of the conversation - it was hard not to do among six people in a space the size of a glorified elevator. There were a few Snow Geese floating around directly in front of my position, and they continued to move back and forth between the water and the greenery at the water's edge. Wherever there were geese nearby, there were also shovelers and coots!
The fellow who was sitting and describing the situation that unfolded before us was a retired school teacher, and he had been to the refuge a few times during the previous weeks. He rightly suggested that the little island that stood out in front of us formed a sort of barrier, and few of the geese seemed to come south of it (i.e. closer to us) though most of the ducks were on our side.
On the north side there were hundreds or perhaps thousands of geese, and the gentleman suggested that there were plenty of Ross's Geese and even Greater White-Fronted Geese among them. I had to sneak a look at the Sibley Guide to recognize the latter, and felt that his testimony was dubious until he rightly pointed out a small flock of them circling overhead. They came in to land and I managed to capture a couple of decent photos as they did so.
We were also informed that we should expect a majority of the geese that were on the refuge to gather in front of us for an astonishing display at precisely 4:00pm. With more than an hour to anticipate this fortuitous event, the conversation continued and I learned more about some people than I needed to know, though generally it was a pleasant time. Besides the geese there were a few Northern Pintails, which I had never recognized before. They were slightly more cautious than the more numerous shovelers and kept their distance from the platform, but I was able to admire them nonetheless.
As far as the geese were concerned things really started to get interesting around 3:30, but instead of more coming in to join the already abundant flocks settled on the pond, those began to leave! We watched as group after group became restless then noisily flew off to the north. It was an impressive sight but everyone was rather disappointed that they were going in the opposite direction. Holding out for the promise of a grand re-entry kept us perched on the platform.
Dismissing our hopes further was the fact that as they took flight, the flocks continued to grow larger, until the numbers left in the pond had dwindled substantially. Even so, it was an impressive thing to watch and those present openly conjectured about where the geese were all heading.
Sometime just before 4:00 such a huge flock of geese reappeared on the northern horizon that the soothsayer among us almost seemed justified. However, they settled down somewhere out of sight and we were only left with a sense of wonder!
With the island largely unoccupied after the geese departed, a group of at least nine Black-Necked Stilts decided to settle there. Immediately they offered up quite a display, as a few of them took to tumbling around in the air as if they were practicing martial arts! I simply have to post a sequence of photos suggesting their humorous antics - albeit deadly serious among themselves.
Realizing that my time was running short, I decided to say my farewells and pack my things in to leave the refuge. Steve shared his card with me and that led me to view some excellent photography at his website, which is stevehannonphotography.com. He also informed me about the qualities of shooting in RAW and editing them with the Light Rim program via Photoshop - something I'll have to look into. We packed up our things simultaneously to head home before nightfall, leaving the retired teacher and the Koreans to enjoy the golden dusk with the few remaining geese.
Wending north along the auto route again, I was full of appreciation for an afternoon very well spent, but The refuge would not be without its parting gifts! As my car bounced over the uneven dirt road and I raised dust near a few visitors who were standing along the edge of the pond away from the parking area (which is not permitted), I came to a turn that looked out over an large mown alfalfa field that was still within the refuge boundaries. There I saw hundreds of geese out feeding by the waning daylight! I could not resist stopping to take some photos of them, which put me into the crowd of those who were not following posted rules (e.g. you aren't supposed to stop and get out of the car except in designated areas).
I sat and watched the geese for a few minutes, with Steve pulling up beside. Twice a Red-Tailed Hawk swooped over their position and startled a great many into the air, which made for the only really interesting photos one could get from such a distance and angle.
Heading out for what was apparently the last time, I passed around the eastern side of the field and was able to see the geese up close and without startling them from my car, then continued on my way. Just after I packed my camera up I saw the silhouette of a Great Blue Heron ahead of me on the north end of the field, so I stopped the car and hurriedly set things up again... New lesson learned - don't put your equipment away until after exiting the refuge!
Without anything else to attract my immediate attention, I drove down the northern edge of the refuge with Sandy Mush road only a few meters away across a small fence. Just before reaching the exit I slowed down to admire a great flock of blackbirds moving across the darkening skies, and felt confident that I had just experienced one of my best days with birds (and fellow birders) to date.
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