The Waterfowl Management Area located at 18110 Henry Miller Avenue, on the left, one can't miss it,…read morealthough it's blessedly unlikely that anyone will be in office to greet you, though there are portable restroom accommodations, is in my opinion, the rarest and most precious part of the wildlife refuge complex, one of the nation's true, understated, and relatively unknown treasures. Los Banos, advertises itself as "the crossroads of California". Exactly what is crossing there and from where I have yet to figure out. To my eye, it's a generally hotter than blazes agricultural area far, far to the east of Monterrey, far, far to the north of Fresno, and far enough from the Sierras to the east, and south enough of the endless wastelands of Stanislaus County, as to be somewhere out in the middle of the crossroads of nowhere. There is housing for ag workers, planters and harvesters, who sought a better life in el norte, and found what we got, and religiously send checks home to their families. One thinks that rent might be reasonable here. Follow 165 north of Los Banos only a little past (maybe a few miles) the intersection with 33 and, Henry Miller Drive comes up on your right.
That being said, the waterfowl refuge is a lonely place, and a certain pathos accrues with that feeling. The area is comprised of a series of interconnected canals, and the regularity of these, the symmetry and almost manicured clean lines of the shores which indicate the involvement of humanity. The park is dedicated to the preservation of the remarkably intricate and refined habitat, the wetlands. Dawn and sunset are simply magnificent. Look hard and many species of bird life will be revealed to you. Absolutely, bring binoculars. I was particularly fortunate to be able to observe a flock or large family of egrets, and to be able to meditate on much else, within, and somewhat beyond cognition, in these turbulent times, inspired by this rare environment.
