Monday, I took the long way to Chico to see if the reported swans and sandhill cranes were there. I got there just past dawn and found the swans still sleeping. But there were field after field of them. I moved past them and took their pictures. Think maybe I had over 100 pictures and saw over 1000 cranes before I was finished.
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| Wake Up, You Sleepy Heads |
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| Get Up, Get Out of Bed |
Then I went looking for the sandhill cranes that were supposed to be further down the same road. They were there but were way back. I finally found some a little closer and got to enjoy a little crane dancing.
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| Flying Sandhill Crane |
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| Doin' a Little Dance |
For an interesting discussion of sandhill crane behavior and interpretation of their dances, click
here.
My next stop, after some wandering around and getting lost, was the Chico Wastewater Treatment Plant Oxidation Ponds. Only this bird was close enough to photograph.This is our most common sparrow.
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| Juvenile white-crowned sparrow |
Then I wandered toward Chico, taking pictures as I saw them. I finally got there and planned to go for a hike. But I didn't remember what the entrance to Bidwell Park looked like and came all the way back to town after I was right there. By this time I was hungry so stopped for lunch before going back. I've heard that there are beautiful swimming holes along Big Chico Creek so I took Yahi Trail, which runs beside it, to look for them.
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| Hang in there, tree |
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| Nature's Carving |
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| Stream View |
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| Swiss Tree |
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| Path View |
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| View Up Hill to Bluff |
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| Toyon |
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| Basalt Fall in Creek |
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| Water over Basalt Rock |
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| Basalt Closeup |
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| Reflections |
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| End of the Trail |
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| Sunset View Looking Uphill From the Road |
I walked three miles out and only two miles back because I went down to the creek side so many times and did a lot of climbing over and around the basalt boulders.
I highly recommend this trail.
