July 21, 2010 - Mt. Shasta, CA - I drove back down into California so I could go to the Lava Beds National Monument, and I'm glad I did. Not only because now I have walked through a lava tube, and I hadn't before, but also because it's a very interesting place. And if I hadn't made the trip to Lava Beds, I wouldn't have seen Tule Lake, which was the highlight of the trip for me!
On the way there I took a walk through a place called Discovery Marsh [photo right]. You may remember that marshes are some of my favorite places. This one was quiet, and beautiful. I heard many red-winged blackbirds, a sound which I love, and which instantly brings back childhood memories. I thought I saw some white-faced ibises, but they were too far away to be sure. I was delighted with this unexpected find, and thought this would be the highlight of my trip to Lava Beds. Not so.
On the way to Lava Beds I also went by Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge (pronounced "too-ley"). One of the things that made this lake so beautiful was the yellow algae floating on the top of the water. Another was the dark green tule reeds growing along the shore, interspersed with cattails, purple thistles, and lots of bushes full of this beautiful white flower that is unknown to me, but that smelled wonderful. With the wind blowing the lake, it made the water look a very dark blue - beautiful in contrast to the yellow algae. [photo above] I drove along the shore of the lake at about 10 mph, stopping many times, and saw so many water birds and ducks, including some I'd never seen before, some of which I've identified (Earred Grebes and Caspian Terns, for example), but many I'm still working on. There were thousands of birds out in the middle of the lake, too far away for me to see clearly. 
But there were also lots of mother ducks with ducklings near the shore, who hurried away from the shore as I approached. I saw one with 19 ducklings! 
The next day I did the walk through a lava tube. Then I drove by Tule Lake again. This time it was less windy, so I was able to see better, I saw some birds I hadn't seen the day before. I was surprised and saw three river otters playing in the lake, but they didn't stay around long.
I saw more American Coots than you can even imagine! And the second day I finally saw three white-faced ibises! (They didn't have white faces because it wasn't breeding season; they are actually almost an iridescent black.) It was another delightful day at the lake!! :-) 
Before I left the area I stopped at Petroglyph Point (part of the Lava Beds National Monument) and looked at the petroglyphs carved into a huge sandstone rock by the ancients who lived in the area. And while I was checking out the petroglyphs, a couple of barn owls were checking me out!
No comments:
Post a Comment