Going to the Birds of Baum Lake

We are lucky to live in such a beautiful area. Why do I spend so much time inside on the computer?

Early this afternoon, I tweeted:

“So many to-do things…I am trying to get off into the woods but I am glued to cyberspace…”

I grabbed my camera, jumped in the jeep, and headed out of town.

I wanted to see how many pelicans were out on Baum Lake waiting to have their picture taken. On the way, I decided to stop at PacWay.

“This is an awesome sculpture garden,” I thought. “I should put some pictures of it up on the Internet so people around the world can see it.”

When I got there I was surprised to see so many people there browsing around. About twenty visitors to the area. The metal sculptures are becoming one of our most attractive tourist spots.

There was a lovely group of people from Happy Valley and Fort Bragg…

and another group from Sacramento. They all got excited when a doe danced through the nearby pasture.

It’s a lot of fun to get out and meet friendly people from out of town. In this case they had questions.

“Are you a local?”

“Where can I buy a RV battery?”

“When was the first metal sculpture put up here?”

I did my best to answer, explain some of the history, and suggest places. This family was on their way to Burney Falls so I also suggested they stop in the visitor center for more info.

Then I headed to Baum Lake. What a motley crew of pelicans awaited me.

Then I saw a bird I didn’t know standing on a stick.

Some pelicans wanted to get in on the picture.

Overhead, this guy flew into my zoom.

Then I met a nice couple up for the weekend.

They asked about Hat Creek I told them about Frank Baum, Crystal Lake, the fish hatchery, Pacific Crest Trail, the short-cut through PGE campground to Cassel Forebay, etc… They got really excited when I told them where the Rising River and Clint Eastwood’s ranch were.

Speaking of the Crystal Lake Fish Hatchery, the last I heard they were still closed because of construction on their intake. I decided to drive over and have a look-see.

Hurray! They are open to the public again. I met an enthusiastic young Fish and Wildlife seasonal aide named Brad. He told me that in the early plantings the fish were a little smaller than normal this year. The reason is that they fed the fish less while the water levels were fluctuating due to the construction on the intakes. Now they’re back to feeding them more and the fish are up to normal size.

Also Brad told me that water levels were good, not only in Hat Creek, Burney Creek, the Fall River area etc., but also farther east over to Alturas. A lot of the ponds that were dry last year have been replenished by this year’s El Nino.

Just yesterday alone the fish hatchery had an inch of rainfall and Brad said he’d heard that there may be intermittent showers through the summer. We’ll see. I’m expecting 1oo+ degrees by Burney Basin Days.

Well, that’s all my little brain and shutter-eye could hold and behold. I headed back to the computer.

Refreshed! it sure is nice to have so much beauty within 15 or 20 minutes of Burney!