Of Swans and Geese

Not too far from the northern end of the beautiful King's Valley Highway is the incredible Baskett-Slough NWR (National Wildlife Refuge) which none of us had seen before either! We arrived there when the lighting was wonderful (much better then these photos indicate) around dusk (they say early AM and around dusk/sunset are the best times to visit). BTW--this refuge isn't too far from the town of Dallas, a town I first visited in early summer of 2010,

so it isn't far out in the country--but it seems like it is.

Some of the surrounding terrain.

Our first sighting of birds--

hard to see I know

(sorry)

next time at a NWR I will definitely use my zoom lens:(

These are swans;

I have a thing about swans--

maybe it was the Ugly Duckling story of my childhood,

but I LOVE swans so it was quite exciting to see these!

Another view--

we were at the kiosk/visitor area off the highway

but there is a road that goes through the wetlands

and there is at least one trail open in the wintertime

(be forewarned---you cannot just go anywhere in the refuge in winter;

this is to allow the geese and swans a chance to rest

before they migrate northwards in the springtime).

Geese---I am thinking these might be the Dusky Canadian Geese

they were talking about but am not sure. I need to look at the guide again.

Another photo of the geese we saw--there were loads of them!

Hoped you enjoyed our little visit to the NWR:)

Blessings,

Aimee