TAKE NOTE: From September 1 through February 15 the Davis
Wetlands area (and hence this cache) is only open for
visitors on Mondays. At all times you can only visit between 7am
and 1pm.
OK, you've found Birdland. Short walk, nice view, right? But
you're kind of out in the open. Any birds that are shy will be far,
far away. You need a different place to watch from, someplace
comfortable but not so very obvious. And that's where this new
Davis Wetlands cache will take you.
If you're on foot or on a bicycle you can use the roads that say
"Official vehicles only". You're official! Not in your car, of
course! You do need to stay on the roads, and avoid any places
labeled "Danger" or "No trespassing" or "Employees only". When I
visit this area I bike the whole way from Davis, but you can park
in one of the parking areas noted in the waypoints. Maybe 2/3 mile
from parking lot #3, or more like a mile from the nicer lot #1 (the
one with the porta-potty).
On the way to placing the cache I saw a killdeer nest less than
a foot from the road. Not in the wetlands – along a farm road
on the way. In the wetlands I saw the usual ducks, geese, egrets,
and redwing blackbirds. It seems a flock of American pelicans is
visiting at this time. I saw some soaring in the air and I
think a bigger group of them out in the middle of the
water. As the water level goes down the wading birds are appearing;
I saw some avocets today.
The cache is good-sized but not waterproof – use the big
baggie that's inside. Initial contents are random tech gadgetry. A
USB cable. An incomprehensible pocket-sized password storage
device. Things like that.