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USFWS
California United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Colusa National Wildlife Refuge
5/14/2009 Continued south to Colusa NWR. Here I took the auto tour and saw many more birds
including ducks, egrets and red-winged blackbirds.
The park sign
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A view over the area
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One bird ...
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... and another ...
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... and another
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Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge
5/13/2009 On the way passed through the Lower Klamath [NHL] and Tule Lake NWRs.
Did see lots of ducks, pelicans and other birds.
The park sign
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A nice panorama of the area
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9/24/2025 Lower Klamath NWR/NHL. This is the first waterfowl refuge in the U.S., located in the Klamath Basin, with shallow freshwater marshes,
open water, grassy uplands, and croplands. For the checkboxes this guy provided, it proceeded to be consistent with our more typical experiences
of no wildlife. We took a walk to an observation area, but just observed dried streams and grass, although we did find the plaque.
The refuge sign
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At a kiosk ...
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... interpretive signage
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Ken by the little boardwalk ...
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... that I read
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... with more signage ...
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A view of the area ...
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... with distant mountains
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A view of a waterway ...
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... where Ken photos
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... the NHL plaque
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Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge
5/12/2009 ... headed north of Sacramento to the Sacramento NWR. A gorgeous day, sunny in the low 70s.
Checked out the visitor's center, then drove the auto tour. Saw a decent number of birds, mostly ducks including from a watch stand.
The park sign
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A view of the area ...
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... and a flora close-up
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Boardwalk with telescope ...
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... and a target
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Same kind of guy
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Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge
5/14/2009 Stopped north of Sacramento in the [Llano Seco Unit of the] Sacramento River NWR.
This unit is small; went on an observation deck for views of some birds, then walked about 1/3 mile to another platform
but not many birds there.
The park sign
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Informative signage
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A long view ...
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... and closer up
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A great panorama from the observation deck
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Me on the observation deck
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San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge
9/13/2008 Down the mountains and to Chula Vista, near San Diego, to the Nature Center.
Took a shuttle to the visitor center which had nice sea life exhibits. Strolled on the nature paths, part of the
San Diego Bay NWR [Sweetwater Marsh Unit]. Nice views of SD in the distance, and some birds around the bay.
The park sign
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A look back to San Diego
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One kind of wildlife ...
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... and another
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Hanging out on stumps
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Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge
5/13/2009 On the way passed through the Lower Klamath [NHL] and Tule Lake NWRs.
Did see lots of ducks, pelicans and other birds.
The park sign
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Panorama of the lake
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Another lake view
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A pelican
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9/25/2025 From there we stopped at a photo point for the Tule Lake NWR. The refuge is a significant staging area for migrating waterfowl
during spring and fall migrations; and while today’s wetlands represent just a small fraction of the wetlands that existed prior to reclamation, they remain
crucial as a critical resource for the 80 percent of the migratory waterfowl in the Pacific Flyway. Here there was a path with effective rubber mats over the
grassy/marshy area to a blind building where we could photo the gazillion water fowl on the lake, and birds swooping around eating insects. This is probably
one of highest concentrations of wildlife in the NWRs that we have visited, sometimes seeing nothing.
The refuge sign
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A refuge blind ...
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... accessed by this nice path
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Looking out over Tule Lake ...
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... with a little blind
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Ken in the big blind ...
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... with more views ...
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... of the lake and birds
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