Mallard at Gray Lodge

Issue #149 - The Delta: Where California Rivers Meet

Over eight thousand acres in the center of the Sacramento Valley were purchased and set aside in 1930 to preserve some of these wetlands that migratory birds need to survive. The Gray Lodge State Wildlife Area is sixty miles north of Sacramento. Located just north of California’s smallest range of mountains, the Sutter Buttes, twenty miles east of the town of Colusa, and five miles west of Gridley in the central valley of California, Gray Lodge is directly in the path of nature’s interstate highway, the Pacific Flyway.

​It’s impossible to predict where the great masses of arriving birds will settle. When you arrive at the front gate, roll down your window and listen for the honks, quacking, and whistling. The noise will give you a clue as to the direction of the flocks. I usually park at the nearest of the four parking areas on the western loop road, set up my camera, attach it to the tripod, and walk the rest of the way. Follow your ears. The chorus of millions of birds can be heard for a mile. Be ready for anything to happen. The distant sound of a hunter’s shotgun can startle an entire flock into flight. The sight is breathtaking when the sky fills with thousands of large white birds.