Blue Goose ~ Day 176

November 19, 2014 ~ Ft. Bragg, CA to Willows, CA

As predicted, the glorious weather changed in the night and I left in intermittent rain. I found I had trouble actually LEAVING Ft. Bragg with its memories, so first went to Starbucks, then to Point Cabrillo, then to a little Seaglass Museum and then made one more trip past the Stewart Street house and the headlands across the street.

(Richard, I had no intention of doing this, but some spirit was working in me, I guess.....)

But I did finally leave, again driving through the coast range and redwood groves, on another winding road, in the rain which intensifies the dark places where the sun must shine only at nigh noon, given the tree density. The views are different in the mist and fog but still awesome.

When highway 20 exits the mountains just west of Willits, the habitat changes, first to immense soft, rounded, grass-covered hills, and then to the Central Valley of California - flat and fertile with farms and orchards. Only 5% of the historic wetlands are left in the Valley, and as water becomes more scarce, the 5% remaining is the lifeline on the avian Pacific flyway.

WWW.NORCALWATER.ORG:

Waterfowl migrate to the Sacramento Valley by the millions from as far away as Alaska, Canada, and Siberia. Sacramento Valley habitat supports approximately 44 percent of wintering waterfowl using the Pacific Flyway, attracting more than 1.5 million ducks and 750,000 geese to its seasonal marshes. 

There is a graph showing historic "megadroughts" on the USA Today website. It has been 850 years! since the west has endured a drought comparable to the current one. It's bad..... I keep looking at any water I see with a heightened awareness.  Coming from a Great Lakes state, it is easy to dismiss the urgency here.

After a quick stop at the post office in Williams, CA, to pick up my mail (thanks Dave and Ellen), I began my I5 NWR visits, the first being Colusa NWR where a 3-mile auto route showed what a refuge means in this valley.

Great Egret eating a large black something from the ditch - Colusa NWR - CA

Even though it was misting and approaching dusk, I appreciated more than ever the work and dedication and funding and perseverance that make National Wildlife Refuges a reality. There were 1000s of birds in the marshes and trees.

What I also noticed and something I hadn't seen on most refuges were signs insisting people stay in their vehicles or be subject to fines of $250. Also, more and more refuges forbid bicyclists and pets (although some allow dogs on short leashes). Usually the birds are more tame in these places, but they they still move away from humans. There are often a couple of miles of trails, but, really, the car is a good blind.

Greater White-fronted Goose - Colusa NWR - CA

At the end of the tour loop, I was driving along a diversion ditch (or maybe a small river) and saw a couple of roosting Black-crowned Night-herons and then realized there were at least 100 of them in the trees, along with a few Great and Snowy Egrets, all hunched over and settled in. Nearly every place I stop, a sight like this delights me. And they are all unique. Refuges near each other can have very different habitat and thus different fauna.

Where to sleep? I discovered that the majority of Walmarts in California discourage / forbid overnighters. But there are still a few, so I headed for Willows, passing the large, brightly lit Colusa Casino, almost stopping, but didn't. If Esther can easily win hundreds of dollars, maybe I could also??? Just kidding. I would have only eaten and slept there. It's the third time I've considered casino camping, but have driven on. The roads were perfectly straight with little traffic, heading north and paralleling the Sacramento River (hidden by levees) and then east. It was dark by the time I got to Willows, but I found a nice spot by two large RVs, under a tree, ate cheese and crackers and chocolate ice cream for dinner and slept well through this rainy night.

Two of the 100+ roosting Black-crowned Night-herons - Colusa NWR - CA