National Wildlife Refuges

Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, California, 1908

The Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, located in rural northeastern California and southern Oregon, was established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 as the nation's first waterfowl refuge. The refuge, with a backdrop of 14,000-foot Mount Shasta to the southwest, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as both a National Historic Landmark and a National Natural Landmark.

The 50,092-acre refuge is a varied mix of intensively managed shallow marshes, open water, grassy uplands, and croplands that provide feeding, resting, nesting, and brood-rearing habitat for waterfowl and other water birds. This refuge is one of the most biologically productive refuges within the Pacific Flyway.

Approximately 80 percent of the flyway's migrating waterfowl pass through the Klamath Basin on both spring and fall migrations, with 50 percent using the refuge. Peak waterfowl populations can reach 1.8 million birds, which represent 15 to 45 percent of the total birds wintering in California. The refuge produces between 30,000 and 60,000 waterfowl annually.

The refuge is also a fall staging area for 20 to 30 percent of the central valley population of sandhill crane. From 20,000 to 100,000 shorebirds use refuge wetlands during the spring migration. Wintering wildlife populations include 500 bald eagle and 30,000 tundra swan. Spring and summer nesting wildlife include many colonial water birds, such as white-faced ibis, heron, egret, cormorant, grebe, white pelican, and gulls. 

I visited LKNWR many times during the mid to late nineties. It is one of the great wildlife refuges in the US. I'll show you a variety of photos that I have taken there.

Lower Klamath at Sunrise

Bald Eagle

Northern Pintail

Red Tailed Hawk along the auto tour and pointing the way to turn

Ross Geese with snow covered mountains in the background

Tundra Swan with Bald Eagle waiting for dinner

Lone Tundra Swan among the Canada Geese

White Fronted Geese with Ross Geese

Willet eating an insect it plucked off the shoreline

Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge

Since moving to Arizona in 2002, getting to some of my favorite places has been a little more problematic. When I can get away from the B&B for more than a few days (on a photo trip) I tend to head to Colorado or Wyoming. Of course there is the obligatory stop in Flagstaff to see our grandchildren -- well, their mom and dad too. But, I am usually in search of Mountain Goats or Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep on Mount Evans, or Moose in Northwestern Colorado, or Grizzlies and Wolves in Yellowstone.

So, some of my favorite watering holes have been neglected. One such favorite is Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge which is along the central Oregon/California border.

Winters there are the best time -- but, of course -- our busiest time and so impossible to get away. Hundreds of thousands of birds flock to the icy shallow lakes: ducks, geese, and swans en mass. Here are some photos:

Ross Geese

Tundra Swans and White Fronted Geese

Tundra Swans

 However, with all the birds come the predators! Bald Eagles are like the Mafia here, waiting for the right time to kill. For them "it's not personal, it's just business." Of course with all the Swans, Thanksgiving Day Feast comes every day for the Bald Eagle.

Tundra Swans with Bald Eagles in Background

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle Close-Up

Tundra Swans Flying

Lone Tundra Swan "hiding" among Canada Geese

Geese

On to Geese. I was going to start with the Brant Goose found along the Pacific Coast. I had many nice photos taken in the Puget Sound in Washington. They were some of my first photos when I was using a Minolta APS cartridge system. I must not have scanned them into iPhoto and don't have them anymore. Oh well. So, first up the most common of all geese, the Canada Goose abundantly found throughout North America (except Southern Arizona and Southern Florida. Then Ross's Goose, Snow Goose, and White Fronted Goose all of which migrate from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts to the Arctic in the summer. Geese are herbivores although they sometimes eat small insects and fish. 

Canada Goose

photo taken at Campbell Lake, British Columbia

Ross Goose

photo taken at Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon

Snow Goose (both light and dark forms)

photo taken at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, Washington

Snow Goose

photo taken on Fir Island, Washington

Snow and White Fronted Goose

photo taken at Tule Lake, California