White Tailed Kite

Didn't get much sleep...strange surroundings do that...and anxious to get to Merced Wildlife Refuge at daybreak, which I did, standing on the Platform at the entrance watching first light, and hearing lots and lots of first calls!...a few Cows' mooos mixed in...too dark for Bird pics, except Birds overhead (for sometime), and so took Sunrise pics and clips--yet another collection!....scenic, and cold....before Sun was up over the Horizon, heard Owl, Great Horned, back in the Cottonwoods...went to looksee...no luck...returned, and Sun came up...clips...but Sun didn't warm things up much....paddled back along Two Trails thereabout, named Meadowlark and Kestrel....and sighted Two Great Horned Owls on the far side of the Cottonwoods...one blurry pic...missed a good pic, hesitated to check what I was seeing with the binocs, and in that moment Little Bird buzzed Owl, and Owl flew off...Both Owls were back and forth in the Trees, but I couldn't follow--one has to stay on the Trails...rolled along in Silver to Bitten Marsh...again, Water Birds take off from the movement and noise...and more Hawk sightings...Redtail, Harrier, Redshoulder on way to Marsh...had thought to sit on the Picnic Bench and snack, but Bench was wet with dew...so gathered the gear, and thought to go for a walk on the One Way Road. all the way around!...halfway to the Cottonwoods by the Cows, sighted Kestrel in Snag...digi pic and clips for sometime....a bit further on, sighted White Tailed Kite perched on Area Closed Post (see Redtail pic), and eating Gopher or Mole...digi pics and clips....further along, the Cows were all looking at me...pic for sometime...and sighted a House Cat waiting in the Grasses for Gopher...pic....along the way, Crows, more Redtails, another Kestrel, Black Phoebe, some Sparrow Like Birds..pic for sometime...past the Entrance, another Redtail....and up ahead, a maintenance worker in a pick up sighted me, turned about, and came down the Road to looksee..."How come you're not in your car?"....I'd seen that rule on the sign just a bit back when I walked past the Entrance..."Stay in you car"...what could I say..."It was dark, I didn't see the sign."....worker remembered my Jeep parked at Daybreak...and was a bit incredulous that I had walked all the way around from Bitten Marsh!.... courtesy and kindness prevailed, and I got a lift back to Silver...on the way, Redtail flew up with Gopher Snake...quick enough to get pics, but blurry, in the hurry bumped the selection from tV to aV..hmmmph..."oh, if I had only been on foot!"...whole circumstance reminded me of Lost World movie when the paleontologist unbuckles and hops out of the safari jeeps on tracks!!...it had been a charming walk, but back at Silver, Picnic Bench was occupied, and felt it was time...on the way out, one last pic of Blue Heron posing, unlike earlier when Herons kept flying off at my approach, like most the other Birds!...Birds at MWR are very skittish....rolled along to Moss Landing, a long ride, and arrived in time for Sunset...pics...oh.. Otters were about as expected...pics...One Otter was out in the Ocean and paddled around the Breakwater into the Harbor, all this during the Sunset...pics...lots of Sunset pics and clips...it was knockdown.....locals were even impressed by how calm the Bay was...cold to cool, hazy cloudy.... got a room, same motel as before....shopped in Marina for gloves and warm headgear...hot dog and nachos...that and tuna sandwich all I had all day!...oh...some pastries brought along from Last Chance for a late snack...and a banana...tv doesn't get cbs, so missed my Tuesday shows...hmmph...but has free wifi!...cool...tomorrow, sunrise at Elkhorn Slough....Birds stir about at Dawn, Owls hoo hooo...midday, they're resting I suspect, and hard to find...oh...the Red Shoulder at Bitten Marsh..pic up...looks to be the same Red Shoulder I saw last visit, and perched in the same Cottonwood Snags...a guess is that the Redtails soar about in open areas, Harriers over the Marsh (Harriers are called 'Marsh Hawks' too), and Red Shoulders perch and wait...driver reported Bald Eagle about around Thanksgiving....at MWR, it is not only hard to take pics because of the lighting, and distances, but hard just to see and id Birds...so many are new to me, and I dont know calls well enough...one can hear Birds just fine thereabout, except when local farm machinery is roaring like a tree branch chipper, like all morning!...oh, I walked out to the Photo Blind (there are a few places to walk--too few), and thereabout are two cement pipes in the ground, each with a little padded stool, where one sits, eyes level with the ground...I guess that works, when the Birds are about...not nearly so many as last visit...but still a lot, and for sometime the Waterbirds...oh...and Rabbits and Ground Squirrels about....