ROAD TRIP! Up the Creek with a Million Geese

We left from Citrus Heights, a suburb of Sacramento, between the city and Roseville. A dry, typical end-of-summer day for California’s interior – meaning it was pushing 80 degrees by 10AM. Cruising up Rte. 5 through the heartland of California really brings home the fact that CA produces more that 13% of the nation’s total of fruit and vegetables (as of 2015), and why many growers are hollering for more water. Our first stop was for lunch at a place off the highway called, unfortunately, the Olive Pit (who doesn’t want to eat in the pit?). Pretty good burgers, and a wonderful condiment bar, plus a truly awesome array of every style of olive you could imagine (chocolate stuffed, anyone?)

We tooled on to a place I’ve wanted to see for some time: The Sacramento National WildlifeRefuge, 70 miles north of Sacramento. The six-mile drive on the Refuge roads is worth a detour, even if sitting among a gazillion honking geese isn’t on your bucket list. Recent midwinter counts have shown that 5-6 million ducks and geese winter in the Central Valley. This accounts for 60% of wintering waterfowl in the Pacific Flyway: more geese, songbirds, ducks and other birds than you’d see in a lifetime. This is a popular stop for migrations in fall and spring, and we hit it at an ideal time. The refuge supports over 250 species of birds; most notable are the huge wintering concentrations (November - January) of 500,000 to 750,000 ducks and 200,000 geese. Raptor numbers swell as the waterfowl numbers increase, including bald eagles and peregrine falcons (we saw both – first ever sighting of a bald eagle, up close and personal). Waterfowl viewing is good between October and March. Shorebird numbers peak in the spring and fall, while some waterfowl and numerous migratory songbird species nest here during the summer.

A Refuge is NOT a sanctuary. We were alarmed to hear gunshots from across one of the viewing ponds: Hunting is considered an important wildlife management tool (the refuge calls it “a healthy, traditional outdoor pastime, deeply rooted in America’s heritage…. and in some instances…necessary for sound wildlife management”). Hunting on this and other refuges is heavily regulated and there are specific permits, fees, and restrictions in place. Still, an urge to duck among ducks was not out of place.

Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1937 with funds from the Emergency Conservation Fund Act of 1933 to provide refuge and breeding habitat for migratory birds, endangered, threatened, or sensitive species and other wildlife (and alleviate crop depredation by those pesky critters). The area of the refuge used to be a vacant, windswept plain; from 1937-1942, men from the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed levees, water control structures, and delivery ditches to create and sustain wetlands across the majority of the refuge.

It’s a great place to visit…but we had miles to go.