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1/11/04 Tundra Swans Photo shoot rec. for Humboldt Co. - if any of you are this far north, the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge is currently home to hundreds if not thousands of migrating birds. Tundra swans are arriving daily and on Friday, 1/9, we counted 80 of them in a pond very near the visitor's center. Awesome photo opportunities abound at this refuge! I volunteer there on Fridays and can give anyone who is interested more specific information! Betsy canoe@inreach.com 1/13/04 San Diego to Seattle Suggestions Wanted Q: I will be driving north on I-5 north from San Diego to Seattle. What I am primarily looking for is suggested stops I can make that would only involve an hour or two of commitment. ____________ I didn't spend too much time on the I-5 corridor on my Northern California trip but I found a few places that might be worth a stop. Thousands of Sandhill Cranes can be found on Staten Island west of Lodi on Hwy 12. The Nature Conservancy has purchased much of this farmland and still farms the area to the benefit of man and wildlife. Gray Lodge Wildlife Area along the Gridley-Colusa Hwy. east of Colusa is worth a stop. It is $2.50 to take the driving tour but the number of waterfowl there is amazing. Directions: From the junction of Interstate 5 and Highway 99, take Highway 99 north to Live Oak. Turn west on Pennington (North Butte) Road. Turn right on Almond Orchard Avenue and continue to entrance. The distance from the town of Live Oak is about eight miles. Alison Sheehey P.O. Box 153 Weldon, CA 93283 ____________ I'd also recommend Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, adjacent to I-5 south of Willows, though you should check with the Refuge to get bird counts. It would have subjects similar to going to Gray Lodge. Another excellent place, but well off I-5, is Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, which straddles the California-Oregon line south of Klamath Falls, Oregon. It contains the largest overwintering population of bald eagles in the 48 states. There's also the Columbia River Gorge just east of Portland and, somewhat off I-5, Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in Washington. Howard Levin HLevin1617@aol.com ____________ Unfortunately the fastest way to Seattle is Hwy 5 and it is the least photo friendly. To get some worthwhile shots along the way may take some sidetrips. One side trip well worth taking would be Burney Falls. The trip covers a triangle and you would leave Hwy 5 in Redding and would connect with Hwy 5 in Shasta City. Burney Falls has photo opportunities that are beautiful. Burney Creek drops into a canyon and along with it, several underground streams also come out of the sides of the canyon. It can be viewed from the top or you can walk down the paved path to the bottom. The best lighting for the falls is in the morning. Later in the day, the sun is behind the falls, but photo ops still exist regardless of where the sun is or even if there is no sun. Take Hwy 299 east out of Redding about 55 miles past the town of Burney about 5 miles and turn North on Hwy 89. Burney Falls Park is about 6 miles north of the the 299 and 89 intersection and is well maked. When you leave the park, continue north on 89 and it will bring you back to Hwy 5 at Shasta City. The trip along 89 will offer serveral views of Mt. Shasta which is beautiful at this time of year. The trip from Redding to Burney on Hwy. 299 also has many photo ops. Hwy 299 and Hwy 89 are both well traveled roads and driving on them is not a problem. However if there is a snow storm, chains may be required. Two weeks ago Hwy 5 was closed north of Redding for about 14 hrs and chains were required when it did open, so to travel to Seattle would suggest that you carry chains. I retired to the town of Burney 4 years ago because of the beauty in this area and am still enthralled with it. I think that this side trip would take about 2 extra hours, allowing for photo time. I guess it would depend on how many times you stop to take pictures. On Hwy 5 north of Shasta, there is a rest stop that has great views of Mt. Shasta. Margaret Branam mbranam@farwest.150m.com ____________ If you stop in Dunsmuir, there are some nice places to photograph there. I'm not sure how Mossbrae Falls is in the winter (and also that its a ~30 min walk down train tracks to get there, so thats likely a bit of a streach). If you pull up a Yahoo Map of "Dunsmuir, CA", you will see Shasta Retreat and Shasta Springs on there. In essence, you go to Shasta Retreat, and then follow the river to Shasta Springs on foot. The falls are to the side before the railroad crosses the river. Ask a local how the falls are this time of year. Map of the Area Mossbrae Falls I believe that Mount Shasta is a must. The best view of Mount Shasta in my opinion is along highway 97 in the Klamoth Forest area. This turns off from I5 at Weed (and there's a good BBQ place in Weed as you head that way). There is a vista point that has a rather impressive view of the North side of Shasta. You can't miss it (unless you're not watching the road and have your head around back gazing at Shasta). Michael Turner mturner@netapp.com ____________ More Subjects:
Wolf Creek: Tiny place about 20 miles north of Grants Pass in Oregon, Wolf Creek Tavern (still there I hope!) is a former stage stop, and a good place for a meal - I believe it's part of the state park system. judywilcox2 pwilcox@telis.org 1/15/04 Mushrooms in Marin right now . . . Just got a call from Sue Mace telling me that there are mushrooms all over the place at Indian Valley College in Marin and that you don't have to walk very far at all to find and photograph them. She says they found around 50 varieties of mushrooms. I looked this up on the 'net and found a few websites that may be of help:
____________ Mushroom Message: 2 I found these guys about a week ago on Mt. Tam: http://www.jwallphoto.com/010404-04.jpg Another excellent web resource for local shrooms is: http://www.mssf.org John bobcat9.geo@yahoo.com 1/19/04 Elephant Seals The elephant seals are on the beach at Piedras Blancas just north of San Simeon. I was lucky enought to see 3 births and 2 mating pairs. I have placed 3 images from this trip in my photo album under cmurdock. I observed the entire mating procedure but only scanned the "politically correct" mating pair. It is well worth the trip to this elephant seal colony right now. I plan on going again next month to observe the "weaners" and sparing males. mtnmom4me 1mtnmom@cox.net 1/18/04 Recap of Kern - Tulare wildflower season In anticipation of the beginning of wildflower season have put together a recap of the 2003 season as I experienced it on the 2004 central California wildflower hotline page. http://natureali.org/2004_wildflower_report.htm Alison natureali@highstream.net 1/19/04 Raptors in SD County Apparently Ramona is an important stop on the raptor migration flyway according to an article in the San Diego Union: "The raptors – golden eagles, red-tailed and ferruginous hawks, merlins and kestrels – are soaring, circling and diving over the grassland. The show is free. So is a view of the birds through a high-powered scope and an expert's explanation during Hawkwatch 2004, a program by the Wildlife Research Institute, located at 18030 Highland Valley Road. "About 50 people turned out yesterday for Hawkwatch, which is in its 12th year and is held every Saturday morning from 9 to noon during January and February. The 7,000 acres of grassland surrounding the institute are part of the county's "Hawk Alley," the busiest spot for raptors in the county." Here's the web address for the article: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20040118-9999_1mi18hawks.html Carol Leigh caroleigh@calphoto.com http://www.calphoto.com http://www.photoexplorations.com |
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Links checked and updated on: January 20, 2004 Text and photos are copyright © Sunny Walter (unless otherwise noted) For more information, contact sunny@sunnywalter.com |