Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area

March 22, 2015

Soundtrack:

• Elliot Smith -- From a Basement on a Hill

Pongo and I got a late start on Sunday, so we stayed fairly close to home.  We went to the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, which I always enjoy visiting even though I've never had an outstanding wildlife viewing experience there.  It's normally been a low-key two or three hours hanging out and taking the auto tour to see the ducks and blackbirds.  Yesterday was no different.

Great Egret -- Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, CA

One thing I can say is that there always seem to be a lot of great egrets there.  I'm not sure why that is, but I tend to get my best great egret photos from this place.

Great-tailed Gackle -- Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, CA

We saw this gackle alone in a tree singing his heart out.  Such strange sounds come out of this bird's mouth.

Red-tailed Hawk -- Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, CA

Western Meadowlark -- Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, CA

The strangest sight was these two cormorants sitting on a power pole like hawks.  I've never seen such a thing.  Crazy birds.

Double-crested Cormorant -- Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, CA

Alameda / Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline

More Odds and Ends

April is a great month for wildflowers.  California's wildflower shows can be extraordinary.  Each year is the luck of the draw on any given year.  The last few years haven't been that great, this year included.  Still, even the bad years have their spots and moments.

Yellow-rumped Warbler -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

Brush Rabbit -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

There are usually a lot of rabbits at the shoreline, both brush rabbits and jackrabbits.  The jackrabbits are a bit nutty.  The brush rabbits are always skittish.  The jackrabbits are less so.  They're brave until suddenly they're not, then they run like bananas for a couple of seconds, then they're rave again.  Goofballs.

Turkey Vulture -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

Black-crowned Night Heron -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

Mallard -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

Double-crested Cormorant -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

I saw a couple of pelicans in April.  The first of the year.  Loves me some pelicans.

Brown Pelican -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

Brown Pelican -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

San Luis National Wildlife Refuge

Back to San Luis

February 14, 2014

I've made four visits to San Luis Wildlife Refuge since September.  I've followed how the place changes over the winter.  From the looks of it, winter is winding down, at least based on the populations of some of the birds I saw.  Well, what I didn't see, really.

Double-crested Cormorant -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

The pintails are gone.  So are the snow geese.  Pintails are early migrators.  They're usually in the first wave of birds to arrive in California in the fall and the first to leave.  I don't know what the geese's deal is.  They may have just moved farther up the valley.  San Luis flooded their fields later in the year than the reserves North of Sacramento.  I assume that's how it works in general, the birds show up here later because it's farther South and they empty out sooner.

Sheep -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

The herd of sheep surprised me.  They were contained inside a temporary fence on the auto tour route.  I'm not sure if they're there to keep the grass down or what.  Goats are used for grass maintenance in the bay area.  There's a guy who drives his herd around and sets them up wherever people need the grass eaten down.  You never know where you'll bump into those goats.

Red-tailed Hawk -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

I saw a lot of hawks and other birds of prey on this tour.  No eagles, though.  No owls, either.  Bummer.  The hawks and harriers and kites and kestrels were cool, though.  I suppose the hawks are easy to see in part because the trees are so bare.

There was a particularly interesting interaction between a red-tailed hawk and a northern harrier.  I initially encountered the hawk seen in these pictures as he was sitting in a tree.  He (or she) let me take a lot of pictures from what turned out to be a pretty close location.  When the hawk flew off I thought it was because he'd tired of my presence, but after looking at the pictures I was surprised to see a build up of mosquitoes around the hawk.  I suspect the bird moved off to the nearby pond shore because of the insects.

Red-tailed Hawk -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA (did I just miss a great shot or what?)

Enter the northern harrier.

Northern Harrier -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA 

For whatever reason, the harrier didn't like where the hawk had decided to land.  So, the harrier buzzed the hawk a couple of times.  The hawk didn't seem to be too bothered. The harrier landed on a bush a couple of hundred yards away and it looked like that was the end of the tiff.  The hawk went about its business getting a drink of water and the harrier sulked over in the corner.

Northern Harrier -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA 

The hawk hadn't forgotten and he (or she) hadn't forgiven.  After taking a long, reflective drink of water, the hawk lit out after the harrier and the two disappeared in in the distance.  For all I know they're still duking it out.

Red-tailed Hawk -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

White-tailed Kite -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Crab Cove

A Day in the Park

August 24, 2013

I wouldn't normally post a blog about a trip across the island.  I mean, it's not the grandest of adventures, after all.  I had a pretty good day with the camera and the local inhabitants, though, so a post seemed in order.

Gull & Double-crested Cormorants -- Crab Cove, Alameda, CA

Crab Cove faces the San Francisco Bay.  Candlestick Park is easily seen across the water.  Crown Beach runs down this side of the island, with Crab Cove set at its Northwest end.  It's not much of a beach.  It'll get crowded during the summer and there always seem to be a lot of kite surfers around, but it's on the bay so there's no actual surf.  It seems weird to me that people flock to a beach without crashing waves.

Least Tern -- Crab Cove, Alameda, CA

Yoshika's dog rescue organization was hosting a fund raising picnic.  A lot of people showed up, which was nice.  I'm not too comfortable in large social gatherings, though, so I spent most of the afternoon driving around picking up missing supplies and walking around the park looking for things to photograph.  I got some pretty good pictures of birds in flight.  Good for me and my cheap camera, anyway.

California Ground Squirrels -- Crab Cove, Alameda, CA

Most of the animals aren't skittish.  I guess they wouldn't be here if people bothered them much.  I got a good look at the ground squirrels that live in the rocks that bound the beach.  Pongo loves chasing the squirrels back into their dens when we go for walks out here.  Charlie tends to be more interested in smelling the grass.  Some of the other boxers were really into that at the picnic as well.  Boxers are weird dogs.

Domestic Mallard Duck -- Crab Cove, Alameda, CA

Yoshika has been telling me I need to get a better camera.  There are times when I look at pictures online and wonder if I couldn't do better with something a little nicer than my point and shoot.  Then again, it's got a 35x zoom on it and seems to do pretty well, aside from being a bit slow.  I don't know if I want to get into chasing the perfect gear set up.  We'll see, I may upgrade in a year or two.

Snowy Egret -- Crab Cove, Alameda, CA