There are now millions of Snow Geese and Greater White-fronted Geese in the Northern Central Valley – if you haven’t seen them up close and personal, I suggest you take a drive out to Llano Seco, the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, or Gray Lodge Wildlife Area and experience these beautiful birds first hand. Both the SacNWR and Gray Lodge have driving loops. Both refuges have daily fees, however if you have your Federal Duck Stamp (which I encourage everyone to purchase because almost all of the money goes to conservation – and you can get them at the post office) then you can visit the National Wildlife Refuges and not have to pay the daily fee. If you have your California fishing license or the new “Land’s Pass” you can enter certain State Wildlife Areas without having to pay the daily fee. 

When you’re out there, driving the loop or walking on one of the walking trails, the wonder is not just from seeing the thousands of birds, it’s HEARING them! They are often “talking” to one another and it is quite special to be able to hear them, sometimes very boisterously calling. Bring your binoculars or your camera, and enjoy a few hours of admiring our wintering feathered friends. It’s good for the soul. Take your child or grandchild with you and introduce them to the birds! 

Although we have decided to cancel the Snow Goose Festival, which would have been in January, we will be having Facebook Live visits to local birding areas and other fun programs. You’ll be able to find out about these on our Facebook page or on our website. Speaking of our website, we are currently having it completely overhauled by long-time Altacal member and birder Billie Sommerfield. This will make it much easier to keep it up-to-date. 

We are very excited! Regarding local bird sightings, Liam Huber (our new Field Trip Chair) has been finding rare birds in Butte County quite frequently. We can’t even keep up with him. Red-Necked Grebes, Pacific Loons, Vermilion Flycatchers, White-Winged Scoter – so many fun birds to chase, right here in Butte County. 

We also welcome Karen von Bargen to the Altacal Board of Directors as the Lands & Sanctuary Chair (see her bio below). She has recently retired and wanted to become more involved with Altacal. Those of us who use eBird to record our bird sightings often see her name pop up attached to our “needs” lists, so she must be getting out there on a regular basis to bird around Butte County! 



Enjoy the winter, and if you can, help out with a Christmas Bird Count from December 14th, 2020 to January 5th, 2021 – wherever you are!