Source: Page 5 of White Noise Keywords: "burgundy," "way," "reminding"

From: "Dusty Bleher" <dusty@fsinc.com> Subject: Trip report -- Mendota Wildlife Refuge, 29.03.98 Date: 30 March 1998 Newsgroups: rec.birds

Hi all; Just thought I'd post a quick note about this weekends birding trip to the Mendota Wildlife Refuge. Mendota is in central California. The refuge is accessed from I-5, via US 33 to SR 180, and is located about 3 miles south-east of Mendota, off of 180. There is an excuse of an entry station there. Although there is no fee, you must stop and register. With some care, a typical (2X4) vehicle should be okay. But if you have a 4X4, use that. There are muddy areas, and you have more options if you don't mind driving through water and mud (besides, I LOVE to get the truck all muddy and covered with goo...(:-)!). There may be other accesses to that area, but the one off of state route 180 is the one we used. All-in-all it was a pretty good day. Besides the normal list of suspects for our area (if you want to know them in more detail, drop me an eMail), we found a couple of new (for us, anyway) birds. A first for us was the White Faced Ibis. A beautiful bird that is both; colorful and graceful to the eye in flight. The deep burgundy body feathers are a beautiful contrast to the iridescent green of the wings and back. The white outline around the bill, and the rich red of the eye area signified that these were breeding adults. We watched about 2 dozen of them feeding over a period of several hours. Farther along we found many pairs of Cinnamon Teal ducks. Their pretty, light blue bills and wing patches, were in marked contrast to most of the other colors one typically observes on birds. They seemed to be remarkably tame and permitted us to approach quite closely. Also in their company we found Ruddy Ducks. As surprising as light blue seems to be on birds, the male Ruddy has an even more intensely light blue bill. It is easily distinguished from the C Teal by his bright white cheek patches. The Common Moorhen was also found and is a welcome addition to our list (we don't typically do water birds). The bright red and yellow beak make it easy to spot and distinguish from the many similar birds that also inhabit this area. Besides Greater Yellow-legs, Blacknecked Stilts, Marsh Wrens, RWBB's, a dozen different kinds of ducks and sparrows of one kind or another, Northern Harriers, hawks, and the Common Yellowthroat warbler (such a bright and frisky little guy, with a mask like a little bandit, he's one of my personal favorites). We saw tons of water birds. Far too many for me to list without writers cramp. But our best catch was: The Great Blue Heron. Now I guess these guys are pretty ordinary...to most of you. But to us, they were rather neat. Just seeing one wasn't all that new. We'd just not had a chance to examine them in such minute detail. What was new were the 46+ nests that we found! I'd never seen them nesting, and didn't even know that they nested in this area. But watching those magnificent birds gently landing in the tree, exchanging caresses with their mates, and swapping positions on the nest was pretty impressive. We got to within 60 meters or so. Approaching any closer raised a lot of necks, and caused about a dozen of them to scold in alarm and eventually take flight. So we retreated to our original spot (about 100 meters) and watched them for several hours. We intend to go back with a blind, and spend a day carefully photographing and mapping their colony. So, anybody have any blind recommendations? Type, kind, size? Things to look for? Things to avoid? It should be light, suitable for at least two persons, and fit in the Land Cruiser without having to "pack" it. Those of you contemplating a visit to Mendota, are advised to check carefully for whatever hunting seasons are in force. I'd avoid the place from September 1st (start of the dove season) to after duck season (I don't know when exactly that ends). While I no longer do it myself, I have no particular animosity towards hunters "doing their thing". I just don't want to end up on some idiots fender because of an "I thought I saw a buck" excuse. In addition, the constant dim of shooting is not what I came to experience--BTDT! I guess Sunday was the last day of 'coon season. So for the moment at least, it should be quiet and peaceful there. There are a number of areas, some closed to all hunting all of the time. Others with various periods of access or restrictions. AFAICT, none of the restrictions apply to birders. The (dirt) roads are not at all well marked. And the parking lots can be hard to find (especially if you end up going the right way down a wrong way street--as I did, the signs are all facing the wrong way). Typical of our government facilities, the administration buildings and vehicles are first rate. The maps and materials for us (the guys that pay the freight) were non-existent. If we hadn't run into a warden, gently reminding us that we were in a "no being there zone", we'd not have known either. But she gave us a spare (but hard to read and understand) map. It was with her suggestion that we found the nesting area. Most of the folks that we saw there (a couple of dozen or so...) were fishing. It was certainly a nice peaceful place while we were there. Many of the levee's are closed to vehicular access and can NOT be driven upon with your trusty puddle jumper. However, mountain biking IS permitted on them. With an MTB you'll be able to get many places beyond an easy walk quickly and easily. While we didn't have them with us on this trip, we've been using our MTB's to permit us faster, easier access to the back country for some time now. We'll almost certainly be taking ours next time. We've made some back boards for our gear. So it's pretty easy to carry. Taking the portable (computer) was a good idea. I'd loaded it up with our Thayer CD. Too bad it doesn't have audio capability. Attaching my (2 year old) computer grade digital camera was not. It was a pain to use without having a 110 outlet for ancillary power. Besides that, 2 years ago, they thought that a 380X240 picture was more then you'd ever want to use. Phbbbbbbttt! I don't use a 1280X1024 monitor because I don't like the picture quality. I think I'm going to find myself a proper digital camera with a gonzo telephoto. I'd have loved to catch and post those GB Heron pictures. But don't have any because I chose to take the kludge instead of a proper camera. OTOH; I hooked up my cellular phone, and sent myself an eMail with the pix. Not too bad, really! One last item: Cynthia, dear! Are you listening? You missed a great trip! I hope that display you chose to work on, that you axed this trip for, was worth it. Cuz you certainly missed a helluva time. Perhaps some other time...(you weren't looking for Gambia, were you? (:-)!). Have fun y'all; Dusty & Penny Bleher San Jose, CA

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