Colusa Outing

We went on the fairly brief trek today up to the Colusa National WIldlife Refuge, about 55 minutes north of here, attempting to see the Falcated Duck which has been at the refuge since early December. The bird was seen all day yesterday, so we figured our chances were good, but no luck, it seems the bird did not put in an appearance today. Nevertheless, the refuge is a beautiful place, and for some reason we had never been there before. Whenever we’ve headed up north to go birding we’ve either gone to the Sacramento NWR or Gray Lodge, just a bit further north and to the east. A weak storm had blown through today, leaving a very pretty cloudscape. Just to the east of the Colusa NWR lie the Sutter Buttes. When we arrived they were practically hidden by clouds, but as sketched at left, by the time we left the clouds had cleared save a stratus layers just above the buttes.