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There are many reasons to visit the Cosumnes River
Preserve. The number and variety of birds is one, but the best reason is the wonderful walks and wooden
bridges that lets you walk right out into the wetlands. Within the first few minutes after entering the
Preserve I saw a Red-Tailed hawk, coots, ducks, heron and geese. You can also kayak the river which allows
you an even closer look.
The Cosumnes River Preserve is about a two hour drive from
Mariposa. It is located just off Highway 5 halfway between Stockton and
Sacramento. There is a visitor's center which is open on the weekends.
One of the highlights of my visit was getting photos of an
American Kestrel. It is not that we don't have these little hawks all over Merced County, but the minute
you get close they always seem to fly away. This little fellow posed for me in many different
locations. Seeing huge flocks of Great White-fronted and Canadian Geese flying overhead was breath taking. I
did get a few photos of the Sandhill Cranes, but it was from a distance. The photo I got of the Great Egret
showing it's tongue is really neat. I have never seen this before.
From the Preserve's Web Page
The Cosumnes River country holds
a very special place among California landscapes. The Cosumnes is a small river, a mere 80 miles long. Its
headwaters in the El Dorado National Forest rise at only 8,000' above sea level. From mostly rain, but also
snow melt, the river's water meanders from the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the Central Valley, just south of
Sacramento.
Yet the Cosumnes River is far more important than its size would indicate. It is the only remaining unregulated river on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. In its lower reaches, it flows through one of the biologically riche stregions in California's Central Valley, before merging with the Mokelumne River to flow into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and eventually the Pacific Ocean. The Cosumnes River Preserve was created to safeguard much of this unique landscape. The free-flowing nature of the river allows frequent and regular winter and spring overbank flooding that fosters the growth of native vegetation and the wildlife dependent on those habitats. More than 250 bird species, more than 40 fish species, and some 230 plant species have been identified on the Preserve. The Cosumnes River Preserve encompasses and protects thousands of acres of wetlands and adjacent uplands. These lands, once considered insect ridden, unattractive, and even dangerous, today are recognized as beautiful places with important roles in local and global ecology. Wetlands provide a diverse habitat critical to the survival of many kinds of plant and animal life. The Cosumnes River Preserve is recognized as one of California's most significant natural areas. More information is available at http://www.cosumnes.org/about_crp/index.html
The community of Galt, which is near the Preserve, is having
it's second annual Bird Festival on January 17, 2009. For more information
http://www.ci.galt.ca.us/site/WinterBird/bird2009.php
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