Last week we made the first of our pilgrimages to a spot where Sandhill Cranes winter over. It is still early in the migration and there seemed to be fewer there this year. I caught these images just as the last rays of the sun were setting over Mt Diablo.
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Living along the Pacific Flyway provides a treat; many birds pass through or winter over around here. Our most well known and popular of the winter visitors is the Sandhill Crane. But, in this post, I am going to present another visitor, one less known, the Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii).
The Cackling Goose and the Canada Goose look nearly identical and they are related. Until recently they were considered 2 subspecies of a single species. The Cackling Goose is smaller and makes a distinctive cackle instead of the Canada Goose’s honk. One of the field marks I use to identify them is a white band at the base of the black neck; its not a perfect identifier but it is very good.
While the Canada Goose is ubiquitous year around, I have only seen the Cackling Geese, reliably, in a limited area and only in Late October and November. One birder told me that we get the Aleutian Subspecies; there are several other subspecies.
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On our last trip to the Eastern Sierra, we explored Big Pine – Death Valley Road. Twenty-five miles from Big Pine, CA, the pavement ends, and you enter Death Valley National Park.  The route took us through Eureaka Valley, over the Last Chance Mountains to Crankshaft Crossing where we made a right to continue on Death Valley Road. That led us to Ubehebe Road then to Scotty’s Castle Road and further to Stovepipe Wells. It was a fun trip through beautiful desert despite the tire shredding rocks and washboard grating on the road. If you ever take this route be careful. Have really good tires and plan your timing; there are many washes that cross the road. They were all in good repair when we took the trip in early autumn. But, they could be bad in other times of the year.
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We spent some time exploring Big Pine – Death Valley Road. Along the way, we found some interesting things: A beautiful forest of Joshua Trees, and a wonderful White-tailed Antelope Squirrel. All of this set against the scenery of desert mountains. It was beautiful trip.
Be aware though, if you decide to explore this road, we have read that is one of the most dangerous roads in the country. We found the route to be in good shape but there are some things to consider. We found a lot of tire shredding rocks. There are numerous washes that cross the route so it could be flooded, or the road surface washed out. With photography stops, it took us 7 hours to get from Big Pine to Stovepipe Wells.
This post shares some images from the section between Big Pine, CA and the entrance to Death Valley National Park. I’ll share images from Eureka Valley and Death Valley in a future post.
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This past week we visited Calaveras Big Trees State Park. It is one of several groves of the Giant Sequoia trees in California. It is a wonderful place to saunter through a forest which includes about 20 of these precious giants as well as large pines and cedars.
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On our day trip to the mountains, we decided to visit and photograph a burn scar; a section of burned forest from a fire a few years ago. The burned trees were intriguing with their swirls of white wood and black charred wood. The grasses had repopulated the area and the Rabbit Brush was blooming. It was a fun time.
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Last week we took a day trip into the mountains. We travelled along RT 88 from Jackson, CA to Rt 89 and followed it over Monitor Pass and down to Topaz then returned. It is a beautiful trip through the Sierra Nevada. While we enjoyed clear skies, at places we could see smoke hanging over distant mountain valleys.
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Earthwatcher 