Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area

[BSS]

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/wa/region3/yolo/

I've been driving past this place near 20 years now wondering what it was. I finally swung by to check it out yesterday afternoon and ended up staying almost 4 hours. Great birdwatching and just geeking out on nature in general, and surprisingly peaceful being right off the highway and all.

No pics. You'll just have to see for yourself.

 

[Ted]

Living just east of Sac, I drive by there often as well. Thanks for the link. We'll check that out. Now is a prime time for the Pacific Flyway.

Here is one for you. We just visited Lynch Canyon between Fairfield and Vallejo. Great birding for raptors. A resident pair of Golden Eagles put on a great show for us. Lots of Red Tail hawks and Kestrals. Northern Harriers and even a Ferruginous hawk wintering down here.

 

[Lighthawk]

The last few weeks have been pretty nice to check out the rice fields in the Central Valley.
Now we're back to the wet stuff. I've wanted to check out Yolo Bypass for a while, just have to make time for it when I'm heading down 80.

Thanks for the link.


Here's a few shots from the last few weeks in the rice fields down by Marysville:

White faced Ibis

Tundra Swans

Red Tailed Hawk

 

[MarkBC]

The last few weeks have been pretty nice to check out the rice fields in the Central Valley.
Now we're back to the wet stuff. I've wanted to check out Yolo Bypass for a while, just have to make time for it when I'm heading down 80.
Thanks for the link.
Here's a few shots from the last few weeks in the rice fields down by Marysville:



Nice shots, Lighthawk!

 

[Cort]

Lighthawk the shots are beautiful but they sparked a nerve in me.

Begin RantThe whole Central Valley used to be one massive wetland...We Diked it Drained it and Dammed it to move the water about "efficiently"... talk about a complete cluster #uck!You can thank those rice fields and similar ones up and down the central valley for the decline of our natural fisheries and related ecosystems, what a shame.....The Central Valley steals water from Northern California (inter-basin transfer of water from the Trinity River was historically 90%....now down to about 70%) and in return they provide us low quality food, they contaminate that food with pesticides, they pollute the ground water, they pollute the return water, and the taxpayers subsidize the crops. All in the name of maintaining an unsustainable population of people. For some reason the powers that be don't understand that fish and all other wildlife need water, clean water that is. those of us who live in the real N. Cal (The State of Jefferson would be more appropriate) are faced with declining resources because we are forced to subsidize this crap. Our local fishery is a token of what it used to be along with the families that try survive off that fishery......and for what......crap food, empty subdivisions, failing levees...etc.
End Rant

Okay sorry guys/gals....just had to get that off my shoulders. This was not directed at anyone on this site in particular. Just felt the need to speak the truth....hope you understand.

Cort

 

[BSS]

boy you said a mouthful there Cort.

I'm sure you're aware of the sinking of the San Joaquin Valley since it has been drained and farmed and the aquifers not replenished, it's all well documented. It's a completely destructive ecologic disaster going on over there.

 

[Cort]

you bring up a good point...as you point out subsidence is huge in the central valley caused by the extraction of ground water, compaction of the soils....etc. There are actually some telephone poles that have old ground surface elevations marked on them that will blow you away.

I want to be clear here that I am not some elitist that believes we should not use our resources but to be honest the scales are so corporately tipped that it is sickening....prosperous for the few and taking of advantage of the many...and that goes for the many on both sides....I find it grotesque that the politicians...ummm I mean corporations... have found a way to pit folks born of the same cloth against each other (fisherman, farmers, loggers, conservationist) all in the name of water or wait was that money....ahh same thing.

Dang I am Ranting Again,

Cort

 

[ski3pin]

Bravo!

 

[DLN]

cort, well put and absolutely true. Great point concerning the degradation of the food supply in the name of corporate profits.

 

[SunMan]

I'm currently reading a good book that touches a little on this subject. The current pace of corporate farming, "animal factories" and what it is doing the the land is somewhat alarming. Might be worth a read for some of you.

http://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Table-Farming-Wendell-Berry/dp/158243543X

 

[Lighthawk]

Appreciate your thoughts, Cort. The Central Valley is but a shadow of what it used to be, along with all the fisheries of the great coastal rivers, and the original timber, and pretty much any other exploitable resource. What's shocking to me is how fast the rich environment has been degraded.

I read recently that the Truckee River fishery, which used to have magnificent runs of Lahontan Cutthroat salmon-sized trout, was completely decimated within twenty years. (http://truckeehistory.org/historyArticles/history18.htm) Reading Muir's descriptions of the waist high wild flowers covering the great Central Valley and looking at it today is a study in contrasts. It's a bit depressing, and certainly worth a rant or two!

When I read up historical accounts, it often appears as if pioneers were hell-bent on killing most of everything they could lay their hands on. I recently read about an early explorer of the Owens Valley, a Mr. Searles, who upon seeing a momma grizz and cubs has a first instinct of killing them all. Of course we have none in California anymore. Sigh.

It seems the common thread is to extract the greatest amount of resources at the lowest cost for the highest profit without concern for the consequences. (sorry for all the absolute values in that statement) Have we learned anything from the past? Sunni's link to the book by Wendel Barry looks interesting when you consider that we (consumers) might very well be the resource being exploited for profit today.

 

[highz]

Cort, I see I need to learn more about this. I have a question that probably someone can answer: If we stopped corporate farming, and converted the existing farmland in the US to more eco-friendly family farms, would we still be able to feed more than 300 million people? In other words, is agribusiness really more efficient than better farming practices, or is that a myth?

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

I'm not sure what time of year it happens, maybe only in the Summer ?

But if you go out there at sunset / dusk there are thousands of bats that live under the causeway. (I think 250,000)

They all fly out of the same spot each night and make for a river in the sky of bats.

They just keep coming out for what seems like forever.

Kinda cool.



http://www.sacbee.com/2009/05/21/1878708/bats-master-the-skies-over-yolo.html



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http://www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/wa/region3/yolo/

I've been driving past this place near 20 years now wondering what it was. I finally swung by to check it out yesterday afternoon and ended up staying almost 4 hours. Great birdwatching and just geeking out on nature in general, and surprisingly peaceful being right off the highway and all.

No pics. You'll just have to see for yourself.




.


.

 

[nixfwc]

I could not agree with you more. I live in Chico and we are fighting to protect the aquifer and rivers from Westlands agribusiness and the Metro Politan Water district in LA. The last significant aquifer is under us and the corporations want to pump it south to water the desert. If you want to learn more check out Aqualliance.net web site. We regularly post updates to the north valley water situation. We need support, as it is David against Golliath.

 

[HERR42]

when i was a kid we used to go duck and goose hunting in the bypass. no guided high dollar stuff....teenagers with an old beat up pickup, an aluminum boat and a 5 hp motor to buzz around in the canals.

we used to crawl across mud flats, it was a mess....i cant believe we did it now.

there used to be so many ducks that when startled, the "whirlpool" they formed would darken the sky.

its all gone. what is left of the flyway is a microscopic remnant. i havnt seen a swan in many years.