From: sari@ncd.com (Sari Lynn Goldbaum)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Birding at Klamath NWR and Tule Lake, Northern CA
Date: 9 Nov 92 18:32:57 GMT
Organization: NCD

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	I spent this past weekend in the northern-most part of
California, bordering Oregon, at Klamath National Wildlife Refuge and
Tule Lake.  We were going to see the Snow Geese migrate - supposedly
there were to be several hundred thousand of them there at once. 
Author Barry Lopez said:

 	"The staging of white geese at Tule Lake in northern California
 	 is one of the most imposing - and dependable - wildlife spectacles
 	 in the world."

Well, I guess the geese didn't read that quote, because the huge
numbers weren't there.  (There's some mystery going on as to where
they actually are.  The refuge's biologist told us that they all had
left Alaska as expected, and some of them had gone to Sacramento, and
a much smaller number had come to Klamath, but they couldn't find a
large number of the birds that left Alaska.) Not that the trip was a
disappointment - far from it!  There were still lots of geese - Snow
Geese, Canada Geese, White-fronted Geese, Ross' Geese.  (So there
were only thousands instead of the hundreds of thousands that were
expected.)  Many ducks - Northern Pintail, Mallards, Ruddy Ducks,
Shovelers, Gadwalls, Lesser Scaup, Green-winged Teal, Canvas Backs,
Buffleheads.  And the birds of prey were unbelievable - everywhere
you turned we saw Northern Harriers.  We also saw lots of Red-tailed
Hawks, several Rough-legged Hawks, Kestrels, a Prairie Falcon and a
Cooper's Hawk.  But perhaps the most unbelievable part was the
numbers of Bald Eagles.  One time we were standing at the side of one
of the lakes, panning our binoculars, and saw not less than twelve
Bald Eagles sitting or flying!  A couple of times they were just
sitting in the road, maybe two carlengths in front of us, eating a
dead goose or duck.  There was one that sat on a utility pole and let
us walk right up to him with our cameras.  They will be a good reminder 
of the incredible feeling of being so close to such a magnificent bird!  
We also saw several Golden Eagles and a Great Horned Owl.

	It was really wonderful to have a spotting scope along - we felt like we
were so close to the birds, and yet we could stand far enough away
that we didn't disturb them.  We used our binoculars most of the
time, but the scope helped with some tricky identifications.  Also,
with seven of us on the trip, there were many times when someone
couldn't find the bird that everyone else was looking at.  It helped
to be able to say "Here - I've got it in the scope!"

	I added more than a dozen birds to my "life list", but as a new transplant to the west coast, there were many common
things I had not seen yet, like the Common Raven and the Western
Meadowlark.  Although I enjoy keeping a list, I don't think I'll ever tire of watching all birds, from the new sightings to my "old friends" like Great Blue Herons, of which I've seen thousands.

	I highly recommend a weekend trip to Klamath and Tule Lake!

--------------------------------------------------------------
Sari Lynn Goldbaum      	
Network Computing Devices 
On-Line Tech Support Engr.	
sari@ncd.com