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Snow & Ross's Geese
26 Dec 1999 at Merced NWR |
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 Merced
County is a stereotypical Central Valley county. It is mostly agricultural
fields but has some grasslands in the east and a bit of savanna foothill
to the west. In the birding world it is best known for its waterfowl refuges
— Los Banos NWR, Merced NWR — and the wetlands along Sandy Mush Road. These
attract geese, swans, Sandhill Cranes, and puddle ducks in winter, and
White-faced Ibis and Swainson's Hawks breed in summer. San Luis Reservoir
on the western edge hosts huge numbers of diving ducks and gulls, including
vagrants from time to time. Nearby riparian stretches and local campgrounds
are good passerine migrant traps.
County birding statistics and links are on Joe Morlan's site. A nice introduction to county birding sites is on the Stanislaus Audubon Society site. |
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For Merced County the focus is on the flocks
of wintering geese — Snow and Ross's in these shots — that bring drama
to a winter's day. These were all taken the day after Christmas in 1999
during a loop around Merced NWR.
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| All photos & text © 2006 Don Roberson; all rights reserved. | ||
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