Central California

It was another dreary, wet day today, but thankfully it wasn't pouring, and also thankfully the rain didn't damper (no pun intended) the time, as I was just planning on road-birding the area south of the junction of Berryessa-Knoxville Road and SR 128. Went in all the little roads on the map, the first of which was Steele Canyon Road, another lovely Valley Oak-lined road where I picked up the usual suspects, plus a Clark's Grebe and a cormorant where the water meets the road. This road ends in a very swank residential neighborhood, and after turning around and heading back out again, hit the game bird jackpot as there was suddenly a huge herd of Turkeys where two minutes ago there were none! One was in full display, but evidently living in a swank neighborhood didn't make them people-friendly as they scooted down the embankment the minute I pulled alongside them. About a block down the road a covey of California Quail did the same thing!

  

The lake from the end of Steele Canyon Road

        

Wild Turkeys in a suburban neighborhood!

Wragg Canyon Road was only three miles long and had nothing of interest, but interestingly stopping periodically along 128 was very productive (when I wasn't playing leap-frog with the grader cleaning up the mud slides)! At the first Call Box my county California Thrasher finally sang from the hillside, and stumbled upon a little trail near a marina that was probably a fishing access trail as it went down to the water and back up. But the spittle had let up enough to hike it, and had a very nice Varied Thrush in there. Further down at an overlook an Osprey whistled his displeasure at my staring at him, and down at the dam I was awed by the giant cliffs! I could understand the County Listers' frustration (or elation, depending on what the bird wanted to do), though, as a Bewick's Wren scolded annoyedly from the Napa side, but a Canyon Wren beeped from the Yolo side, and no Rock Wrens called from anywhere! A Common Goldeneye was behind the dam in a pond along with several cormorants (I think she was on the Yolo side...). Sure was a spectacular sight, though!

  

Wragg Canyon Road

        

Short fishing access trail along SR 128 (and, no, I didn't tilt the camera!)

    

The "foot" of the lake

            

                                    Osprey

   

At the dam, with Yolo County across the way

   

Looking back into Napa County from the Solano County line (i.e., the dam)

 

Impressive cliff face

The interesting thing about the rain is that it seemed to let up the closer I got to the lake, then as I headed away from it it started up again (in fact, the sun actually broke out a couple of times)! Had the weather been better I would have revisited Patrick Road and the sewer ponds, but it was so miserable I decided to go ahead and check in at Clearlake, and time how long it would take me to get from the motel to the top of Berryessa-Knoxville Road for the start of the Big Day tomorrow (and hopefully it won't rain)! Observed a dogfight between a young Redtail and a Harrier going up said road, and realized that after tomorrow, I will have driven that road four times this trip; do you Napa birders get up there very often (beyond the east lake road)?? Ironically I ran into more traffic today than I had the other times; I would have thought that on such a miserable day most people woulda stayed home, not negotiate a hair-raising, windy road (complete with stream crossings)!

Another pretty scene going up Berryessa-Knoxville Road