I have been driving to Orange County from Sacramento every other month for the last couple of years to spend time with my mom who is 103 years old. I always pass a large colorful billboard promoting the Pixley National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) which is part of the Kern NWR complex and often thought about stopping.
I left LA earlier than expected last week and decided to detour to Kern NWR on my way home. The Kern NWR is northwest of Bakersfield in the southern portion of California’s Great Central Valley. There are two refuges in this complex, the Kern NWR and the Pixley NWR. Kern has a 6.5 mile auto loop and a number of walking trails. Pixley has several walking trails with elevated viewing platforms.
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Kern is one of the many NWRs dotting the Central Valley providing rest stops and winter havens for millions of birds along the Pacific Flyway. As such, Kern NWR is very quiet in May. But I still found a wonderful assortment of birds.
First, it is the summer home for hundreds of swallows. As I drove into the refuge, dozens of cliff swallows could be seen swooping and flying all around the office building. There were mud daub nests under the eaves. I finally was able to photograph a number of cliff swallows. These are lifers for me. As I drove through the NWR, swallows could be seen along the entire route, skimming over the ponds, flitting among the rushes and hanging out in the trees.
Cliff Swallows fly up to their nests under the eaves of the NWR office building.
There was constant activity as the swallows visited their nests. Note the tail sticking out of the eaves.
A nearby dead tree served as a convenient perch for a few birds.
At one point, a couple of trees were filled with dozens of cliff swallows.
There were two large ponds along the auto route still filled with water. There were several more that were dry.
Here are some of the year-round residents.
A Ruddy Duck in full breeding color.
A Ruddy Duck hen with half a dozen ducklings swimming in line.
A beautiful Cinnamon Teal stands on a dried pond bed.
A Gadwall drake stands tall.
A group of juvenile Gadwall ducks swim away as their mom stretches her wings.
A pair of Pintails stand on dry marsh while a Gadwall pair wander by in the water.
A Mallard takes off as I drive by.
There were a number of other waterfowl and shorebirds.
An Eared Grebe in breeding color.
A grebe and young in one of the ponds.
Common Gallinule (Moorhens) wander among the bullrushes.
White-Faced Ibis forages along the shallow edge.
My best guess is that this is a Whimbrel.
One of a number of Black-Necked Stilts I saw at the NWR.
One of the many Coots I saw at the refuge.
The sparrows and blackbirds were extremely skittish. But here are a couple of marsh birds I was able to photograph.
Brown-Headed Cowbird wanders along the edge of a pond.
A Mockingbird perches atop a signpost.
While I saw several egrets flying overhead as I drove toward the refuge, I didn’t see any along the auto route. I also saw a hawk’s nest and a crow’s nest on utility poles near the refuge but didn’t see any of those birds while visiting.
Next winter, I definitely plan on making another detour on my way back from LA. It will probably be full of winter migrants.
We are in for a week of pleasant weather with the temps staying in the 80s after we had a mini-heatwave with 5 days in the 90s.
What’s up in your neck of the woods?
