![]() | SacramentoWetland Walk Trail |
Wetland Walk Trail at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in California. Published by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS).
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U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Sacramento
National Wildlife
Refuge
Wetlands Walk Trail
Guide
Welcome to Wetlands Walk
Come explore the wonders of
our wetlands along the trail that
meanders through shallow marshes,
along a creek, and past deep ponds!
N
Lo
ga
nC
Seasonal Cycle
During the fall and winter, the
Refuge wetlands are flooded.
Thousands of ducks and geese are
on the Refuge at this time. In the
spring, waterfowl migrate north as
the water recedes, while shorebirds
and songbirds are more common.
During the summer, most wetlands
are dry, therefore, resident animals
are often found near permanent
ponds.
Viewing Tips
The best times to see wildlife are
in the early morning and late
afternoon from November through
February. To increase your chances
of seeing animals, take binoculars,
walk slowly, talk softly, and stay on
the marked trail.
Trail Tidbits
It takes at least an hour to leisurely
walk this two-mile trail. However, a
shortcut allows you to return to the
trailhead from the halfway point.
Numbered posts correspond to the
stops in this guide.
Quiz Yourself!
Pictures of the plants and animals
are numbered. See how many you can
identify correctly! Their names are
listed on the last page of this
brochure.
ree
k
99W
4
3
5
6
2
7
1
Shortcut
Entrance Road
9
*
8
14
11
13
Start
Here
12
10
I-5
Visitor Center
Benches
2
*
Parking
Auto Tour
Wetlands Walk
Trailhead
To begin the walk,
follow the trail across
the entrance road.
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1. What Are
Wetlands?
1
There are many different kinds of
wetlands. Wetlands may be as small
as puddles or as big as lakes, and
they may contain fresh or salty water.
Some wetlands contain water all year
long, while others dry out in summer.
The wetland you see here is a freshwater marsh. On the Wetlands
Walk, you will be exploring wetlands
that include seasonal marshes,
permanent ponds, vernal pools, and
riparian (waterside) woodlands.
Each one supports unique plants and
animals that have adapted to this
soggy environment.
3. How Important
Is This Creek?
Logan Creek provides water for
some of the Refuge’s marshes,
through a system of canals and pipes.
Along the creek grows a special forest
of cottonwoods and willows — trees
that like to keep their roots wet.
This riparian woodland provides food
and shelter for a variety of animals.
Raccoons, egrets, and herons hunt
for fish and crayfish at the edge of the
creek. Deer, rabbits, and owls seek
relief from both the hot summer sun
and cold winter rains under the trees.
Nesting songbirds find insects here to
feed their young.
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2
Notice the variety of plants in the
seasonal marsh along the creek...
2. A Seasonal
Marsh
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4
Historically, the Sacramento River
flooded in the winter and spring. The
floods created vast seasonal marshes.
Beginning in the late 1800s, most of
the Sacramento Valley was
converted to farmland.
Marshes like these have
been created to provide
homes for animals that
need wetlands.
Water is drained from
the marsh in late spring
so a new generation of
marsh plants can sprout
in the warm, moist
pond bottoms. In the fall, when the
seed heads ripen, the marshes are
reflooded to bring an abundance of
food within easy reach of many birds.
Follow the trail across the auto
tour and to the right to explore the
secluded riparian (rye-pair-ee-an)
woodlands . . .
5
Look in the willow trees for nests,
and along the creek banks for
beaver-chewed trees.
5
4. The Duck
That Nests In
Trees
Unlike most other ducks, wood ducks,
or “woodies,” nest in holes in trees.
Because so many riparian woodlands
have been cut down throughout the
United States, nest boxes like this one
have been placed to make up for lost
nesting trees.
Notice the entrance of the nest box
is small enough to let adult wood
ducks in but keep raccoons and other
predators out. However, many other
animals will use the boxes, including
owls, honey bees, and woodpeckers.
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6
9
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Look for tracks of wildlife along
the creek and trail.
5. Wetlands
Are Working
For You
Wetlands act as a living filter.
Agricultural and urban runoff may
enter these wetlands via Logan
Creek. Marshes can absorb excess
chemicals thereby helping to purify
the water before it returns to the
Sacramento River.
Listen for lizards, pheasants, and
rabbits as they scurry away to hide
from you — a possible predator!
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7
6. Smell The
Marsh!
During the walk, you may have
noticed a faint rotten egg odor. In
wetlands that are flooded for a long
time, dead plants and animals collect
on the bottom and rot slowly, creating
a thick black muck. Special bacteria
that live naturally in this waterlogged
muck release a sulfur-containing gas
as they break down dead plants and
animals. This gas gives the marsh its
characteristic, rotten egg odor.
Look for floating cut cattails which
are evidence of muskrats digging for
roots to eat.
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8. Permanent
Or Year-Round
Ponds
Many plants and animals depend on
permanent ponds. Dense cattails and
bulrush in and around the edges of
the pond offer nesting places for
yellow-headed blackbirds and snowy
egrets. The open water, with floating
plants, provides a place for animals
to feed on aquatic life year-round.
Given time, the cattails and bulrush
will replace the floating plants, until
very little open water is left. This
cycle of plants replacing each other
is called succession.
Every so often, permanent ponds
are drained to recycle nutrients, and
cattails and bulrush may be burned
to set succession back so that floating
plants may grow once again.
Look and listen for marsh wrens
calling within the bulrush.
7. You’re Halfway!
While you take a break near the
eucalyptus trees, listen and look
for songbirds and turkey vultures.
You may hear the deep bellowing of
bullfrogs or witness the heron’s slow
stalk and quick spearing of a crayfish.
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15
16
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At this point the trail splits.
Continue straight ahead to go
back to the visitor center.
Follow the trail crossing to
the entrance road to continue
on the Wetlands Walk.
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8
As you walk between the
permanent ponds, notice how
the tall, dense bulrush and
cattails provide excellent
hiding places for wildlife
and you!
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9. Survival
In The Marsh
Muck!
Wetland plants have evolved unique
ways of coping with oxygen-poor soils.
Air-filled tubes run from their leaves
to their roots, forming a snorkel
through which the plant can breathe;
they also help the plant float. Cattails
and bulrush have additional air-filled
cells around these breathing tubes,
which provide extra support for their
tall stems.
19
Bulrush have no leaves!
Gently feel their spongy stems.
10. Grasslands
And Alkali
Meadows:
Who Needs
Them?
At first glance this flat, treeless
expanse looks dry and deserted,
particularly during the summer
and fall. But jackrabbits, ground
squirrels, pheasants, red-tailed
hawks, and coyotes feed in these
grasslands year-round. In the fall,
some grasslands and alkali meadows
are burned to control invasive weeds,
return nutrients to the soil, and
stimulate the growth of rare, native
plants. Winter rains cause grasses
and wildflowers to sprout. Wigeon
and geese join the resident wildlife
to graze on the tender young grasses
and wildflowers.
The grasslands are part of the original Colusa Plains.
Much of the Refuge looked like this prior to the early
1900’s.
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11. Wetland
Nursery
Wetlands are “nurseries” for many
animals. Dense plants protect young
animals from predators, and there’s
plenty of good things to eat.
The western pond turtle, bluegill,
common garter snake, green darner
dragonfly, cinnamon teal,
black-tailed deer, and
muskrat are just a few of
the animals that raise their
young in the wetlands.
Smartweed, also
called knotweed, is
characterized by its slender
leaves, knobby stem joints,
and nodding, pale-pink
white flower spikes.
24
12. Vernal
(Springtime)
Pools
Vernal pools host a unique community
of plants and animals adapted to the
dry-and-wet cycle. In the summer, the
pool appears lifeless, but seeds of
plants and eggs of shrimp lie in the
cracked soil.
25
In late fall, rain stimulates growth.
Soon after, thousands of shrimp,
insects, and microscopic animals
hatch, providing a protein-rich “soup”
for ducks and shorebirds. Drying
springtime pools display vivid rings
of goldfields, white meadowfoams,
and purple downingias. North winds
trigger summertime plant growth,
and the cycle continues.
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29
30
31
Notice how the high
concentration of calcium and
salts have lightened the soil color.
It’s not surprising that early attempts
at farming these poor soils failed.
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32
33
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13
13. What Is
The Future Of
These Special
Lands?
This is a great opportunity to see
many different habitats at a glance.
The Coast Range Mountains, in front
of you, silhouette the cattails of the
seasonal marsh. Turning to your
right, the tall trees of the riparian
woodlands are a dramatic contrast
to the vast grasslands which give way
to the jagged Sutter Buttes in the
distance.
Today, in California, over 90% of the
original habitats like these have been
lost to urban development and
agriculture. But the picture is not
entirely bleak. Thousands of acres of
special habitats like these are being
restored and created throughout
the State. Although much has been
achieved, there is much more to be
accomplished.
Listen for the sounds of nature . . .
leaves rustling in the wind, wren’s
musical rattle and buzz, crickets
chirping, creek bubbling . . .
14. How Can
You Help?
If you’ve enjoyed the beauty and
wonder of these wetlands today,
you can help preserve them for
tomorrow’s generation.
By conserving water, volunteering,
joining a wetland conservation
group, or buying a Migratory Bird
Hunting and Conservation Stamp
(Duck Stamp), you will be doing your
part to protect our valuable wetlands.
We hope you enjoyed the Wetlands
Walk. Visit again, during a
different time of year to explore
the dramatic seasonal changes
that occur here!
1 Mallard Pair
19 Western Meadowlark
2 American Coot
20 Coyote
3 Seasonal Marsh
21 Immature Red-tailed
Hawk
4 Raccoon
5 Northern Flicker
22 Black-tailed Jack Rabbit
6 Black Willow
23 California Ground
Squirrel
7 Cattail
24 Smartweed
8 Cottonwoods
25 Killdeer with Young
9 Wood Duck Pair
26 Grindelia and Blister
Beetle
10 Turkey Vulture
11 American Bittern
12 Yellow-headed
Blackbird
27 Black-tailed deer
28 Common Garter Snake
29 Western Pond Turtle
13 Marsh Wren
30 Damselfly on Pickleweed
14 Pacific Tree frogs
31 Western Sandpiper
15 Muskrat
32 Fairy Shrimp
16 Bulrush
33 Goldfields and
Downingia
17 Redhead Pair
18 Ring-necked Pheasant
Photo Credits:
Cover, Great Blue Heron and Page 5, Northern Flicker ©Vaughn Ruppert
Pages 9-10, 11-12 and photos 1, 2, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 21,
22, 23, 25, 31 ©Steven R. Emmons.
Photo 9, Wood duck ©Mike Peters
Photo 14, Tree frog ©1996 Glenn McCrea.
Photo 32, Fairy shrimp ©George Turner.
Photos 26, 28, 33 Joe Silveira, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
All other photos U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
If you are finished using this brochure,
please return it to the rack for others to use.
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Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge
752 County Road 99 W
Willows, California 95988
530/934 2801
http://www.fws.gov/refuge/sacramento
TTY 530/934 7135
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
1 800/344 WILD
Pacific Southwest Region Information
http://www.fws.gov/cno
This brochure will be made
available in other formats
upon request.
May 2013
Printed on 100% recycled paper with a minimum
50% post-consumer fiber content.