Wetland Report: Catching the Tale End of Winter at Merced & San Luis NWR

Personally, I'm not sad to see winter go.  March in the Great Central Valley is a mixed bag of late winter storms and early spring sunshine, but warmth is certainly on its way!  With the last few days of winter at hand (if a beautifully calm, sunny day of 70 degrees can be considered winter!), Eric and I paid a visit to our local wildlife refuges to have a look at the changes being wrought across the landscape.

The wetlands at Merced NWR

At Merced National Wildlife Refuge and nearby San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, the numbers of winter waterfowl have certainly decreased.  A good number of ducks and geese are still present, though.  (And there always seems to be an abundance of American Coots!)  Northern Shovelers are present in the highest numbers, but a few teals, gadwalls and wigeons are scattered among them as well.  The brilliant blue bills of the male Ruddy Ducks are beginning to show some color.

A pair of Cinnamon Teal

A large flock of Snow/Ross's Geese is still hanging around the wetlands at Merced NWR (though they were too far away to identify.)  Flocks of Greater White-fronted Geese and Cackling Geese, several hundred strong, are still present as well, mostly in the pastures and grain fields surrounding the wetlands.

Distant Snow/Ross's Geese and Sandhill Cranes at Merced NWR

A few hundred Sandhill Cranes are still here as well, their croaking calls carrying great distances on the still air.  If you haven't gotten out to see these beautiful birds yet this winter, you still have a chance!  But they won't be around much longer before they take to the skies and return to their northern breeding grounds.

Lingering Sandhill Cranes

The descending whinny of the secretive Sora and the maniacal laughter of the Pied-billed Grebe are common sounds of the late winter and early spring wetlands.  Also listen for the strange, resonate plump-plump call of the American Bittern and the incessant chattering of the Marsh Wren.

A somewhat rare glimpse of a secretive American Bittern

Check the shallows and mudflats for sandpipers and plovers.  Late winter seems to be the best time to spot elegant American Avocets feeding in shallow water.

Elegant American Avocet

Trees and stands of reeds are alive with large flocks of boisterous blackbirds: Red-winged and Brewer's Blackbirds are the most common, but keep an eye and ear out for colorful Yellow-headed Blackbirds and our Central Valley special, the Tricolored Blackbird.  They both sound different than their more familiar Red-winged kin, and an oddly hoarse note out of place can alert a good birder to the presence of another species.  For me, it's often much easier to pick out Tricolored Blackbirds by their song than to decide if the wing patches are fire engine red and yellow (Red-winged Blackbird) or brick red and white (Tricolored Blackbird)!

Two Yellow-headed Blackbirds hanging out with a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds.  Their hoarse calls gave them away!

Warmer weather brings out the flying insects, and flying insects bring swallows!  Migratory species like Barn, Cliff and Northern Rough-winged Swallows have returned to join our resident Violet-green and Tree Swallows.  Swallows are always a delight to watch as they perform their aerial acrobatics overhead.

Tree Swallows - for once sitting still!

Be on the look out for mammals as well!  Coyotes, mule deer, rabbits and ground squirrels were all out in force, enjoying the sunshine and fresh new growth of spring.

A pair of mule deer wade through the grasslands of San Luis NWR

Comments

  1. mollie brownMarch 25, 2019 at 12:55 PM

    Is that some little critter in the foreground of the pic of the sandhill cranes?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Siera NystromMarch 27, 2019 at 12:43 PM

      Yes it is! An out-of-focus California ground squirrel surveying the grassland :)

      Delete

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