Sacramento NWR wintering waterfowl

January 11, 2024 · Sacramento NWR, California · Tule fog burning off by 9 a.m., 38°F, calm · Fujifilm X-T5, 150-600mm

Drove up from Sacramento before light. The auto tour route opens early and the first ponds were full of ross’s, snow, and greater white-fronted geese, with pintails and wigeon along every edge. Fog was still lifting at 9 a.m. and it stripped out to a clean flat backlit stage. A Peregrine came through hard at about 9:30 and the whole pond blew up. I only got three frames, all blurry.

Always a good lesson in fall-back wide-angle panic shots.

Snow geese taking off over fog — Flushed by the falcon. My pictures were all bad but the memory is fine. Snow Goose 550mm, 1/2500s, f/9, ISO 2500

Ross's goose in foreground, snow geese behind — Ross's for comparison. Short bill, no grin patch. Ross's Goose 300mm, 1/1000s, f/5.6, ISO 800

Specklebelly on grass — Specklebelly, orange legs, banded belly. Greater White-fronted Goose 300mm, 1/1600s, f/8, ISO 1000

Pintail drake in fog — Drake in dim fog at about 7:40. Northern Pintail 250mm, 1/800s, f/6.3, ISO 640

Wigeon on water — White crown, cinnamon flanks. American Wigeon 250mm, 1/1000s, f/6.3, ISO 640

Green-winged teal close — Tiny and quick to spook. Green-winged Teal 150mm, 1/800s, f/5.6, ISO 200

Female harrier close — Female harrier within twenty yards of the road. Northern Harrier 300mm, 1/1600s, f/8, ISO 1250

Peregrine falcon in blurred flight — The incident. Left in at full speed. Peregrine Falcon 400mm, 1/1000s, f/6.3, ISO 1250

Great egret in fog — Foggy egret shot I keep coming back to. Great Egret in fog 400mm, 1/1250s, f/7.1, ISO 640

Red-tailed hawk on post — Fence-post red-tail. Common as dirt but always handsome. Red-tailed Hawk 500mm, 1/1600s, f/7.1, ISO 640