We had a couple of mini-adventures while at Tulelake. When we first started driving on the dirt road that takes you all over the refuge, we entered at a section where the water was bordered by the paved road and by the dirt road of the car path. (I've made a brown circle around the place on the map.) There was a log across the immediate corner there and, on this log was sitting a bird I couldn't immediately identify. It was sitting out in the open and I just couldn't figure out what it was. As I stared at it, a small movement in the corner of the pond caught my eye. The log on which the unknown bird was sitting had formed a trap for hundreds of really tiny fish, some of which were leaping out of the water, all of which were milling around in seemingly frantic movement. The odd movement that had caught my eye was a garter snake which had discovered LUNCH! It was in the water catching many of the little fish. We couldn't figure out what to watch! Ivan took a couple of photos of the snake while I grabbed the bird book and was mortified to realize that the bird on the log, right out in the open and preening, was a Virginia rail! Rails are pretty secretive and this one was in no hurry to resume that lifestyle! It sat for several minutes while Ivan was photographing the snake, not 30' away from it. It was the best view I've ever had of this rail! (FYI - Ivan is back in end-of-vacation mode and hasn't give me his photos yet, but I'll get them before too much longer and will post them.)
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