Gray Lodge - January 23, 1999. Eight birders challenged the gray morning and set off for Gray Lodge with clouds and threatening rain. We stopped en route to the refuge to view Burrowing Owls along Chico Durham Highway. While there we were treated to flyovers of both Bald and Golden Eagles. Before returning to Highway 99 a flock of 150 Sandhill Cranes parachuted into a Field adjacent to Pentz road.

The road into the refuge parking area reward us with a Cooper's Hawk, Golden-crowned Sparrows Downy and Nuttall's Woodpecker, American Coot, Common Moorhen, Gadwall, Shoveler and Ring-necked Duck and White-tailed Kite.

We parked in the Museum Parking lot and viewed the pond to the south of the lot. It was the beginning of Ducks deluxe. We had three species of Teal: Cinnamon, Green-winged and Blue-winged, as well as Gadwall, Shoveler and Pintail. We next walked out to the viewing platform. We added Cal. Towhee, White-crowned Sparrow and Yellow-rumped Warbler to our Passerine numbers. Upon the platform we had fantastic looks at many of the ducks already mentioned. Our number of waterfowl species also increased; we added Ruddy Duck, Eurasian and American Wigeon, Ross's, Snow, White-fronted and Canada Geese and Wood Duck. An American Bittern flew by giving all in attendance a great look.

We drove the loop adding thousands and hundreds to the number of Ducks and geese we saw. We saw about a dozen Eurasian Wigeon. Red-tailed Hawks, Kestrel, White-tailed Kite and Sharp-shinned Hawk rounded out our Raptor count on the refuge.

Going out the road we had come in on we saw Black-necked Stilts and a Greater Yellowlegs. We drove back roads back to Chico and were rewarded with 400 to 450 White-faced Ibis on Riceton Road, and Cattle Egret, Ferruginous Hawk, Common Snipe and Evening Grosbeaks on Agua Frias and Dayton roads. - Richard Redmond