After Breakfast, french toast and bacon in Town, Mt. Shasta City, loaded the Gear and rolled off in Silver in the Rain...oh...first checked oil, and added some antifreeze--have sorta forgot routine car care things, and to do is brakes and tires for sometime soon, but okay for now....Rain let up when I got down the Pine Covered Hills hereabout, and past Town, Weed...odd name..anyway, rolled through Sage and Pine Countryside with a covering of Patchy Snow...Road dried out, lots of Trucks, just a few cars....Rainbow thereabout...couldn't pull over until too late for pic...sighted Small Hawk...oh..heard Flicker, and Blue Jay, and saw Scrub Jay, in the morning...just after turning right from 97 to 161, sighted Big Wings circling over a Small Lake (which may have been flooded and frozen over Pasture)...checked with binocs...really Big Wings!--Bald Eagle....and there was a Road right next to the Lake, with no Signs!...and Eagle landed on the Ice, and I was able to Park and walk out and set up the digi....the new tripod doesn't work very well...part of problem is weight of the scope...but was able to get clips, and farfar away newer camera pics... sighted another Eagle even further out...Eagles would fly about, swoop down, make a fuss on the Ice after something, and then perch awhile....for a moment, Eagles were together....left off, Eagles too far away, and Redtail flew overhead, and too far away....sighted Klamath Wildlife Refuge (there are at least six different WRs hereabout), and turned in at the Sign to looksee...one View Area...Waterbirds faraway....it's hard to tell where one can and cannot drive...some parts are for viewing, other for hunting, and a lot are closed...wanted to use time for the next WR, Tule Lake...and it was more of what I expected...a nice Visitor Center, and a RideAbout Road that might not have an end...I got lost a couple times, and was using gas!...Tule is pretty far away from everything...oh...more about Tule WR for sometime soon....all the Birds I saw I mean, and the Landscape....I started out on the Road a bit dissappointed...quiet...and a few Waterbirds faraway....sighted Harrier Hawk ahead over the Farmland, over one of the Long Canal Ditches...on one side of the Road was the Refuge and the Lake, and on the other Farmland...the other Refuges have been similar too--surround by Farms...in fact, most of the Refuges look to be reclaimed Farmland--Elkhorn, Merced, Sacramento.....I rolled along after Harrier...one can see from Harrier's flight how the name is derived...short flights with swoops at the Grasses....my attention came back to the Road ahead (wondered a bit if now and then cars end up in the Lake!), and I sighted a group of Ravens under what I thought was a Telephone Pole...actually, Poles are set up along the Road for Raptors....and Two Bald Eagles were atop the Pole...one was feeding on Waterfowl...Ravens were chasing scraps...I approached Eagles with the same routine as I do Hawks in the Valley....pics...roll forward a bit...more pics...I know I'll reach that distance where Hawk will fly off, so each pic may be the last....and with Silver, I have to turn sideways on the Road...and look out the Passenger Window, or sometimes the Driver Side....Passenger works best, as I can lean over and down for unobstructed higher view...oh, I could solve this problem by taking the top down!..yesterday, photog had sunroof....but I haven't studied out taking the top down yet...besides, it's cold hereabout!...anyway, Eagles did fly off when I got too close, but flew back--Eagles wanted Waterfowl...so I was able to get some knockdown pics, and a handheld clip too....I've discovered I can hold the newer camera right next to my face, and still see the lcd screen to locate, albeit the image is blurry being right beneath my eye!....hd clip for sometime....Eagles flew off, but there were many more Poles, and many more Eagle sightings!....Hawks too...for sometime...and sections of the Road brought me close to Waterfowl, and some more pics for sometime...returning to the Visitor Center, sighted Black Tail Deer, and took a short Hike up the Sheepy Trail for an Overview of the Lake and Marsh, which has a Trail I didn't have time to walk...asked where the nearest gas station was, Town, Merrill, and rolled off...a fine Visit, with more to post!....tonight's whereabout?...I had to ask, 'Is this Klamath Falls?", when getting a motel room...a day of backtracking on the Roads!...closing last night's post, I lamented the weather report of Rain...and indeed, if it had been raining more today, pics would have been problematic, but the Sky, and Light, after the Rain, was great--Providence smiled!....the background grey sky was the same exposure value as the foreground--Eagles and Hawks and Waterbirds...and occasionally the Sun would break through and splash lLight on the Birds...this is something photogs look for in the Valley...maybe it was the weather, or it being midweek, but I was just about the only tourist on the Road...maybe five other cars, and all far apart....Tule is remote...the Town, Tule, is photo op itself, as are the other Towns hereabout...
1 comment:
Loving your trip...don't drive in the lake!
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