June 9, 2009. Not a bad day for birds. Saw a group of yellow-headed blackbirds in a swampy area along Highway 97, south of Macdoel--a first sighting for me. Rather striking birds. Large with bright yellow heads, black bodies, and white wing patches. Further along the road, saw a large magpie. Near Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge saw many birds in the water--mostly mallards--but also four white pelicans, a wren of some sort singing earnestly, clinging sideways to the reeds at the edge of the water, and later two pairs of pheasants along the roadway. Terns over the water as well. Hundreds of swallows nabbing the huge (I mean huge) mosquitoes. Oddly, these mosquitoes mostly ignored us when we got out of the car, unlike the giants I’ve encountered in Alaska that dive like Stukas the moment you open the car door.
Bad lunch. Bad dinner. The only good food moment was the gelato at Granzella’s, in Williams, CA. Skip the food. Go straight for the gelato. Tomorrow off to see Lava Beds National Monument. This area would be well worth a trip just for the birding.
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