I came to Tulelake, California to visit the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge and the Tulelake National Wildlife Refuge, the two refuges in the Klamath Basin that are in California. I am staying at the local fairground’s rv park because I can get a full hookup site for just $13 per day with my Passport America discount card. It is nice, facing out to farmland. This is a very small farming town with no housing developments, no Walmart, no big grocery chain, or fast-food outlet, and hardly any traffic. People in town park their rv’s in front of their houses with no problems.
As you can see above, I got my first picture of a wild bald eagle! Saw it on the auto tour of the Tulelake refuge. Think the tall posts like it is on are put out to attract raptors, as there are no wires attached to it. Seeing eagles is common in the area. They have more eagles in the Klamath Basin than any where else in the U.S., except Alaska. Nearby Bear Valley National Wildlife Refuge is there to protect a major nesting area of eagles. Visitors are not allowed, but I’ve read where on winter mornings you can often see hundreds of eagles fly out to hunt for food from the highway near the refuge border.
A breeding adult eared grebe.
A western grebe, one of my favorites.
American avocet
As soon as these white pelicans saw me, they flew off to join a large group of pelicans on the lake.
A male ring-necked pheasant. The female was very quick to run off, while the male just took his time.
When I passed through Klamath Falls last year, I was bugged. The bugs are still here. On visiting the Tulelake refuge in the morning, there were bugs swarming all over near the water: midges, mosquitoes, gnats, moths, etc. They covered my truck cover. I had to brave them to get my pictures. Think the midges outnumbered the mosquitoes, as I didn’t get any bites. When I returned later in the day, there were much fewer bugs, but fewer birds too! So I’ll just be sure to dress appropriately and take along repellent.
Birds seen but not pictured (so many): night herons, blue herons, egrets, ducks (many different kinds), geese, cormorants, red winged and yellow headed blackbirds, white faced ibis, black necked stilt, killdeer, and many more I can’t recall.
Second morning trip to Tulelake refuge.
The eagle was there again, just on a different post.
There were a couple of hawks by the Visitor’s Center.
Pelicans fishing as a group.
Some midges on the back of my truck.
The only blue heron I have seen at the refuge. He has been at the same spot twice.
