Saturday, March 4, 2017

Sacramento Zoo

I went to the Sacramento Zoo and have pics to share! We saw lots of cool animals and birds and I think the giraffes and the red pandas were my favorite.

Right when we walked in, there was a Great Horned Owl to greet us...
Great Horned Owl
 A variety of waterfowl were hanging out in the pond...
White-faced Whistling Duck


American White Pelican
If this guy looks familiar it's because I see them in my backyard every day! This smart House Sparrow was mooching off the food in the Hornbill's cage...
House Sparrow

Red Kangaroo

Southern White-faced Owl
Of all the ducks in the pond, we'd actually already seen most of them out in the wild at our favorite wildlife refuges. It was neat seeing them closer up, though...
Hooded Merganser

Wood Duck

Comb Duck
This cutie patootie was a blast to watch...
Red Panda
 How can you not love this guy's face and want to bring him home with you???
Reticulated Giraffe

Unfortunately, I don't think my ceilings are quite high enough though...
Masai Giraffe
Last month, it was practically a miracle that we saw our first Wood Duck ever at Gray Lodge Wildlife Area. At the zoo, there were dozens of them posing for the camera and looking all rainbowy and shimmery in the sunshine...
Wood Duck

Orinoco Goose





Friday, January 27, 2017

Whiskeytown Lake


It turned out to be a gorgeous day at Whiskeytown Lake!

All of the surrounding mountains are capped with a dusting of snow because of all the storms we've been having...







 The highlight of our visit to Whiskeytown Lake has to be the Common Mergansers we saw at Clear Creek.


As we were crossing the little footbridge, we noticed three females on the rocks below.


clear creek whiskeytown lake





(For more photos of the birds we saw, including the Acorn Woodpecker, visit my birding blog Wings and Daydreams!)




Cormorants were drying out their wings on the buoys...




Friday, October 7, 2016

Lake Siskiyou ~ Mount Shasta, California

Lake Siskiyou in Mount Shasta, California...

Lake Siskiyou Mt Shasta California

View of Mt. Shasta from Lake Siskiyou... This hot summer has melted almost all of the snow off!

mt shasta california

There's a Great Blue Heron fishing at the bottom of the photo...

lake siskiyou mt shasta california

What a spectacular view!

I could have stood there and watched him for hours. It would have been neat to see him catch something, but no such luck. After a while, he walked off to look for a better spot.

great blue heron lake siskiyou mt shasta california

There's Wagon Creek Bridge...

wagon creek bridge lake siskiyou mount shasta california

If you look closely you can see Castle Crags in the distance...

lake siskiyou mount shasta california



Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Burney Falls

McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park is a beautiful place to visit. Lake Britton is great for swimming, boating, and fishing...

Lake Britton California

And Burney Creek separates the falls from Lake Britton...

Burney Creek California

But the real jewel here is Burney Falls...

Burney Falls California

This 129-foot waterfall simply takes your breath away when you are standing in front of it.

 Burney Falls California

Behind the falls is one of the few known nesting sights for the black swift.

Burney Falls California

We didn't see any swifts during our visit, but we did see this nest high above the falls...

nest Burney Falls California

It looks like it might belong to an osprey, or maybe even a bald eagle.

Burney Falls California


No wonder the falls were called "the Eighth Wonder of the World" by Theodore Roosevelt!

Burney Falls California

Burney Falls California



Tuesday, September 6, 2016