Ode to a tree full of Babies, a sea of Pelicans, and a desert Oasis. Fallon- Part One

This last weekend I took a trip to the Oasis that is Fallon Nevada. The idea was for three of us, Burnell, Ruth and I, to head over the mountains from the Sacramento Valley past Reno, and south east to Fallon. Its a magic wetland that supports a huge bird migration every year. From what we had read, we expected to see thousands of water birds... and found them in small numbers, but what we did see was exceptionally moving. The place was full of babies, and flirting adults.


Driving down highway 50 (the Loneliest Highway) East Past Fallon, towards Stillwater reserve... I saw a bank of huge leafless trees, and a variety of birds sailing around them. We turned into the lane that headed closest to them. What we saw was unexpected. Three and and a few more trees full of large stick and reed nests. And Giant Blue Herons. And lots of Babies.

There were around 50 nests.
...and up to 5 chicks per nest. I saw 2-3 in many of the nests.

 Moms and Dads taking turns, watching and feeding.
Can I tell you how wonderful witnessing this was?

 Later we saw this raft of American Pelicans... And another lot we watched while eating lunch in the car.
More to come.

Comments

Popular Posts