San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge (51)

This morning at 8 our friend Lynn picked us up and we drove two hours to the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge in California's Central Valley. Our goal: birds. Ducks, sure, but especially snow geese and sandhill cranes, which are overwintering now along the Pacific Flyway. 

It was a chilly morning, and foggy. We walked the several-mile trail at the refuge and observed waterfowl through our binoculars, identifying such species as the white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons), northern shoveler (Spatula clypeata), American wigeon (Mareca americana), and of course the ubiquitous (and noisy) American coot (Fulica americana). But once we left the wetland behind and ventured into the riparian areas, birds were scarce. We did see a few cranes high overhead, ghosts in the fog. But otherwise just a few songbirds, sparrow-like objects. Here's some of the landscape we walked through:

So we decided to head for a viewing platform that Lynn had visited in the past (also part of SJRNWR), see what might be there. It was a bit of a drive: it's all farmland out there, and the river interrupts through-travel. We were seeing very little in the way of avian life, but who knew? We might get lucky.

WELL. 

Somehow, we managed to bypass the platform itself by a short distance, and arrived at a dead end. There, though, on all three sides, were mown fields, and the mown fields were absolutely full of snow geese (Anser caeruscens). I've never seen so many at once. As we looked closer, we also saw some white-fronted geese and a horde of once-rare Aleutian cackling geese (see below). Jackpot! I took a few photos and videos, which of course do no justice to the experience: the sight of all that goosiness, the sounds of their calls and their flapping wings, the rhythms of their takeoffs (en masse) and landings (less so). This interface isn't cooperating with an upload of a video, so here's one on IG (at 15x magnification, so a bit impressionistic, but it gives a good idea of the commotion).

At one point, almost two entire fields of birds lifted up and flew away—many of them across the road to the third field, but many more of them, it seemed, deeper into the refuge. Soon, all we saw up close in those particular fields was dry grass. We sure got lucky with our timing. (Here's a sequence of photos. Alas, I was not ready with video.)

It was spectacular! 

On our way back out we made it to the viewing platform, where absolutely nothing was happening—save the several hundred white-fronted geese we passed in a field, who were unspectacularly minding their own business, pecking quietly at the ground. 

The signage at the platform, however, informed us that the Aleutian cackling goose (Branta hutchinsii leucopareia), which we'd been (excuse us) writing off as "just some sort of Canada goose [Branta canadensis]"—they do look similar—had become almost extinct, largely due to predation by arctic foxes introduced on their breeding grounds for hunting. In 1975, the total population had declined to fewer than 800 birds. "Protection and management . . . under the Endangered Species Act came just in time," the sign explained. "The introduced foxes were removed from the nesting islands; geese were relocated onto fox-free islands to re-establish populations; the birds were protected from hunting until their numbers rebounded; and actions were taken, such as the establishment of this Refuge, to protect and improve winter habitat." Today, the population may be as high as 180,000—an amazing comeback; what's more, virtually all the Aleutian cackling geese in the world overwinter in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties in the Central Valley.* It's been an active effort to manage and protect that has paid off in spades. The bird was removed from the Endangered Species List in 2011. 

Note their white necklace: when I saw that, I thought,
"Hmmm, those aren't just any Canada geese."
I was right. They're not Canada geese at all!
(not my photo)

We also learned about another successful conservation effort at the SJRNWR involving the very rare (and still endangered) riparian brush rabbit, but I'll just leave a link for that. For now. Maybe in the future I'll delve more fully into other such stories in California. I can always use material . . . 

It was a great day, starting out quiet, ending with a whoop and a holler. Nature is amazing!

*As we were driving home, I was chatting via WhatsApp with two friends, one of whom lives on Kauai. She knows about Aleutian cackling geese because, as she said, "We have ONE that migrates here EVERY year, for, at least, 10 years. I really need to see these kids in numbers!" Field trip! I'm happy to accompany her. There is nothing like seeing tens of thousands of birds take to the sky!