Millions of Birds

Most surprising about Merced County is their bird population.  Although all you see as you travel down Highway 99 is town after town, there are other attractions further out in the wide expanse of the valley farmlands.  Take the Correctional Facility for instance.  It's basically right next door.  The plan was for them to grow all their own food.

That didn't last long at all since prisoners around here would rather sit on their beds than work outside.  So much for rehabilitation.

Back when this wildlife refuge was created, times were tough in the farming business.  Our cattle ranch was going broke selling cattle for 35 cents a pound when they cost 50.  To help out with the money side of the equation, my Dad would hire on as a caterpillar and heavy equipment operator at night while working our cattle during the day.

He started out in the rice fields, a pretty muddy messy kind of place to work.  Once the rice has grown to size on a steady diet of water, the fields are drained and left to dry.  It always took too long to dry and the rice had to be harvested.  He was such a good operator that when the refuge came about, he hired on to build their system of levies and dams to control the same water to allow migratory birds the perfect stop-off point.

The huge number of birds were completely destroying everything in site, causing the farmers to go broke.  This refuge was built providing them the perfect habitat and food resource to keep them away from farmers fields.  It worked.

It was a funny group of guys that built and maintained the refuge, these nighttime drivers who were always playing practical jokes on each other.  If you don't know what axle grease is, it's very thick, sticky and nasty to smell.  They were always putting it on each other's sandwiches and even on the seat of the tractor.  What a mess that was to clean up once they sat in it to the screaming laughter of the guy who put it there.

During the winter months, millions of birds lay over here gorging on rice and hay fields during their wintertime vacation.  The number of birds is staggering, as is the varieties.  The main component is Canadian geese, great blue herons and sandhill cranes.  Unfortunately on this day, all I could see was this crow.

I knew it was the wrong time of year ... winter had come and gone, as had spring.  That means all the water had been let out the back door and the fields were dry as a bone.  I drove and drove before finally seeing this little dove.

At LAST!!  A beautiful little white egret.  These guys stick around all year long, waiting for the nice tender shoots of hay and corn which they don't eat.  What they are after is tiny shrimp, fish, frogs and even mice, usually in the ditches next to farmers fields.

I was a tad late.  That means no birds.  I drove for a couple of miles before finally discovering a bit of water left in one field.  In spite of my driving ever so slowly and creeping along the road on foot, they have an eye for movement and I scared them into flight when I tripped over a log.  RATS!!

My stalking skills need some improvement.  Although there are some blinds out here just for photography, there was nothing to hide behind along the narrow dirt road.  The view across the expanse of the refuge was pretty boring.  This is usually full of water and a huge variety of things that fly.

Out in the middle are huge rafts of cattails that are perfect for hiding your nest of babies.

Only one other field had just a bit of water left and about two dozen egrets.  They are pretty spectacular when they all fly up at once.

I drove the entire property which is over 10,000 acres.  The main reason for building this refuge was to lure the migrating birds away from farmers fields where they were destroying crop after crop.  With lots of good feed and water here, farmers can actually harvest their own crops and get them to market. 

This is what it looks like when the birds are actually here.  I have some great images ..... somewhere!!

It was a nice diversion and the best part ... I didn't see a sole the entire day.  Most likely they knew all the birds were long gone.  Better luck next time.