Sometimes we are lucky to live surrounded by nature’s beauty and creatures, most of the time we take it for granted until it smacks us in the face! Since childhood, I have lived in the Sacramento Valley; through high school the rice fields were just obstacles on my way from Willows to Chico to have fun with my friends. When I moved back from attending college they became more meaningful. I married a farmer. I was a “city girl,” if you call Willows the city and you do in Glenn County when you are the Chief of Police’s daughter. I had no concept of farming until it became my way of life. Soon it became my passion to protect it and to educate those, who like me, failed to recognize the significance of water, farming and the environment in my own backyard.
Which brings me to today. I work for Western Canal Water District (Western Canal) whose progressive leadership gave me a task – to help tell the story about this exceptional region. As Eric Larrabee, our Board President, put it perfectly, “There are not many places in the world where people can view the beauty of the winter waterfowl migration and we are fortunate to live in the middle of it all.” Western Canal mounted a live 12mm camera running 24 hours a day to take advantage of a field that usually sees a lot of activity from a variety of waterfowl, including Tundra Swans, Mallards, Ibis, Sandhill Crain, Snow Geese, White Fronted Geese and an occasional Bald Eagle. Sometimes the birds are in the nearest rice check giving an up-close view and other times they are farther away with a view of Mt. Lassen in the background. Though we are nearing the end of this migration season, the WCWD Wildlife and Farming Webcam is an investment in the future. So please visit the webcam at: Western Canal.
Well said and I could not agree more!
I’ve always admired the people in Willows, now I can also admire the beautiful nature and wild life there! Great initiative to invest in a webcam! 🙂