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This Website is Dedicated to Alvin Alexander Cheyne January 10, 1921 - June 17, 2005 |
Refuge
Centennial
Free
guided tours at
ABOVE:
Birds take flight at the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge.
BELOW:
A bald eagle dines on a bird at the Lower Klamath National Wildlife
Refuge.
By
LEE JUILLERAT
H&N Regional
Editor
We’d
almost turned around.
“Let’s
drive a little farther,” I’d urged my friend, who genially obliged
and we continued driving along a bumpy, unpaved road that isn’t part
of the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge’s recommended tour
route.
Within
minutes we saw and heard them — thousands of ivory white snow geese
— sitting on the edge of the ice. Even with the windows rolled up, we
could hear their pitched yelps and barks that author Barry Lopez, is his
classic book, “Arctic Dreams,” described as, “like a storm squall
arriving, a great racket of shaken sheets of corrugated tin.”
For
another hour; the three of us individually wandered up and down the
road, caught up in the spectacle of sound and colors. The snow geese
contrasted vividly with the dullish gray frozen water, open water and a
cloud-speckled sky that reflected both the open ponds and birds.
Sometimes, it’s worth appreciating what a privilege
it is to live here.
Sights and
sounds
Sights and sounds aren’t guaranteed, but the
likelihood of viewing thousands of waterfowl is almost guaranteed
Saturday, March 15, during a special tour of the Lower Klamath National
Wildlife Refuge. The guided outing is part of the ongoing celebration of
the refuge’s 100th anniversary.
Refuge spokesman Dave Menke said the upcoming free
tour will give experienced and novice birders a chance to learn about
wildlife habitats while viewing the current spring migration. A recent
aerial survey counted more than 800,000 geese, swans and ducks on the
The timing is ideal because mid- to late-March
coincides with the peak of the spring migration. Menke and other refuge
staff will explain how habitats are managed to serve large flocks of
hundreds of migrating birds that travel the Pacific Flyway each spring
and fall.
Birding experts will have spotting scopes so tour
travelers can view and identify many of the different species of
waterfowl and other birds, including such raptors as bald eagles,
rough-legged haws, northern harriers and great horned owls on the
refuge.
Menke said the family friendly tours will meet at the
Lower Klamath Refuge entrance parking area at
A second refuge tour will depart from the
To make a bus reservation, call the refuge
headquarters at (530) 667-2231. Call the refuge for more information,
including directions to the refuge.
Side Bar
Celebration
The
Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge was created
To
celebrate the centennial, refuge employees and the Friends of the Refuge
group are hosting a series of monthly public events. For a list of
month-by-month Centennial events, visit the refuge Web site at www.fws.gov/klamathbasin
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