Sports

  By water birds I mean those that are attracted to marshes, ponds, lakes, rivers and coastal areas. Winter is a good time to see water birds in Plumas County and nearby areas.

  When attempting to identify water birds on Lake Almanor, Sierra Valley, the Quincy water treatment ponds or the ponds east of the La Porte Road it is useful to have a spotting scope with 20 to 60 times magnification. Some places provide a closer view of water birds such that they can be identified with birding binoculars that have only eight times magnification. One such place is Hansen’s pond located at the north end of Quincy Junction Road just before the junction with Chandler Road. This winter I have seen hooded mergansers, ring-necked ducks, American wigeons, mallards, American white pelicans, tundra swans, great blue herons, great egrets, Canada geese and a greater white-fronted goose on or near this pond.

Chester High School ski team member Bailey Smith hightails it down the mountain at Boreal on Feb. 1. Smith placed first in the girls’ category the first three races of the season. Photos submitted

James Wilson

  The Chester High School ski and snowboard team is well into its season, and is doing exceptionally well.

  The team is mainly racing at Boreal, but made its way to Alpine once this year with another race scheduled to take place there.

  The team, coached by Terry Hernandez, placed first in both the boys and girls skiing races the first three races in a row. The team raced at Boreal on Jan. 18, at Alpine on Jan. 25 and back at Boreal on Feb. 1.

Chester’s David Estacio leaps ahead of his competition to make a layup during the Volcanoes win over University Prep on Feb. 8. Estacio made seven three-pointers during the game, including a half-court shot at the end of the third quarter.  Photo by James Wilson

James Wilson

  The Chester boys basketball team is on top of its game right now. The team just finished off University Prep on Feb. 8 and Redding Christian on Feb. 5 to complete a seven-game winning streak.

  To boot, the Volcanoes’ win against Redding Christian propelled them to the top of Northern Section Division-VI.

  The 54-42 win over University Prep along with the 64-46 victory over Redding Christian improved Chester’s record to 9-2 in league and 20-5 overall. Chester shares the number one seed with Redding Christian who also stands 20-5.

  “Our goal from the beginning was to win the section this year,” said Chester’s coach Joe Gilmour. “Chester hasn’t won a championship since 1984. We are poised and ready to go to win that section.”

Overseas venison

  Question: We are interested in shipping sealed venison packages to the troops overseas. Are there any California laws that prohibit this? The sealed venison will consist of packages of 50 to 100 pounds. If you could please advise us of any regulations or guidelines related to the shipping of sealed game to troops overseas, it would be greatly appreciated.

—Anonymous