Marble Springs Road

One of two sandhill cranes we spotted grazing near the wetlands.


Swallows darted between the rafters of this old bridge built in 1908.


The Marble Springs bridge over the marshes.

As we turned off the pavement of the county road, the sign read, "No Snow Removal Beyond This Point." This would not be a good place to be in the dead of winter. But this morning the sun was just rising and the marshlands on both sides of Marble Springs Road were filled with waterfowl, swallows and raptors.

The lady at the tourist information office in Portola, CA, (elev. 4500') gave us directions to the bird sanctuary on Marble Springs Road. She pointed out a pond where she had last seen two ruddy ducks, and they were still there, blue beaks and all. Out in the middle of "nowhere", these ponds and marshes are home to ibis, ducks, Canada geese, marsh wrens and lots of birds I probably didn't see. In the center of a beautiful valley, cattle graze on its higher ground.

She didn't mention the old bridge that we would have to cross as we made our way eastward on the gravel road. Built in 1908, today farmers use it to move equipment between their fields and swallows nest in its iron rafters.