Date: 11/6/25 7:32 pm From: Chuq Von Rospach via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Where would you go ...
On Nov 6, 2025 at 18:10:29, Jim Betz via Tweeters <
<tweeters...> wrote:
> if you had a week to 10 days - in 2026 - and birding here in the
> U.S. ... ???
>
> I'm thinking Bosque del Apache, somewhere in Texas, Florida, Maine,
> Arizona, or ....
>
How about…. California?
I’m thinking winter birding, say Thanksgiving through February, with a trip
starting near Sacramento with the Central Valley Wildlife Refuges. If
you’re interested in Bosque (Sandhills and cranes!) you’ll love the
Central Valley area, which is full of Geese (Snow, Ross’s, Greater White
Front, Cackling) and Sandhill cranes on the different refuges, plus all the
awesome winter ducks. Plus, it’s drivable from here, unlike Bosque.
Before moving here to Washington a few years ago to enjoy my dotage, I was
based in Silicon Valley, and very involved in Santa Clara County Bird
Alliance, including running an annual group outing to Merced NWR every year
(at one point I was #12 in most species on eBird for Merced, but no idea
where that is today).
If I were making this trip schedule for myself (and I actually have but
haven’t done it yet), I’d drive down into the Central Valley, spend a
couple of days on the refuges, then drive down to Morro Bay (another
favorite haunt of mine) for a day or two in that area, because it’s an
amazing birding area, especially in winter, and it is full of nice birds in
the harbor and nearby (and SEA OTTERS!), then drive up the coast to the Big
Sur area (or Pinnacles) for condors (and along the way, stop at Piedras
Blancas because the elephant seals will be gathering) and then up into the
San Jose area for a day or two there.
And if I had the time, I’d then head up the coast and stop at, say, Bandon,
Newport and Astoria on the coast on the way home. If you’re in a hurry, San
Jose to Silverdale is about 13 hours (ask me how I know), or a nice, fairly
easy two day jaunt.
The Lodi loop isn’t actually wildlife refuges but associated properties
(Consumnes River Preserve, Staten Island (a Nature Conservancy Property)
and Woodbridge Ecological Reserve, also known as the Isenberg Crane Center.
The four NWRs I wrote about are Colusa NWR and Sacramento NWR, and Merced
and San Luis NWR near Merced.
And if your curious about these, I’ve written som e-books over the years
(including a Birding 101 I’m fond of), but I’ll specifically suggest my
love letter to Merced NWR and "And the Geese Exploded: A Life With Birds” both
of which talk a lot about what I’ve learned about the refuges over the
years and why I love them.
As a fellow bird photographer, I can attest these places are generally
amazingly good photography locations (Sacto and Merced are both auto tours
like Ridgefield is, FWIW). Staten Island usually has a large cackler
population, Merced has large numbers of Sandhills, plus a large population
of Ross’s Geese (plus Snow), often > 40,0000. Sacramento has huge flocks of
Snow Geese, and Colusa is best for Greater White Fronted. All them
generally have Sandhills. You can find the e-books here:
https://www.chuq.me/ebooks
I’ll say this is what I miss most about having moved north, to be honest,
along with the folks I worked with at Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance,
but then, Washington has its own joys and advantages (and I’m only 2.5
hours from Ridgefouield here), so I’m not complaining.
If any of you want to chat about possible visits in more detail, just drop
me an email and I’ll be happy to share what I know.
These places aren’t as well known as Bosque, but if you’re a Sandhill or
Geese nerd with a camera, I’m willing to say they’re just as good with
smaller crowds, and a lot closer and easier to visit from here…
Chuq
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Chuq Von Rospach (http://www.chuq.me)
Silverdale, Washington
Birder, Nature and Wildlife Photographer
