I got the chance to go on about 6 hours worth of hikes today. 4 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon with my kids in tow. It was a beautiful Northern California day and there was plenty of wildlife out and about. All and all it was a good day of nature.
We saw Common Yellow Throats, Scrub Jays, House Finches, Western Meadowlarks, Western Bluebirds, Acorn Woodpeckers, Brewers Bluebirds, Chestnut Backed Chickadees, Violet Green Swallows, Turkey Vultures, Wrens, and Sparrows. We also saw Western Fence Lizards doing there mating pushups( which is a pretty funny sight, dozens of Blue Bellies doing pushups on rocks), Southern Alligator Lizards, A Western Rattlesnake, Black Tailed Mule Deer, Black Tailed Jack Rabbits, Western Gray Squirrel, and California Ground Squirrels. Not to mention the countless Butterflies we saw and wildflowers starting to bloom. All and all it was a perfect day except for one thing.
Only One Red Tailed Hawk!! That was it. I can walk outside my house most days and see not only Red Tails but Red Shouldered Hawks, Sharp Shinned Hawks, Coopers Hawks, Osprey, Northern Harriers, and American Kestrels. On Occasion we have seen Prairie falcons, Bald Eagles, Golden Eagles, A Rough Legged Hawk and very soon Swainson's Hawks will be here. this was the first outing I have had were there just were not any hawks. Not to say i would rather have been at work or stuck indoors but were all the darn Falconiformes at today. I dont be mean to complain but I love birds of prey. Easter Sunday should change that we are going up to my in laws in the pine Forests of the great Sierra Nevadas so i am expecting to see alot of stuff out of the normal as we live at the edge of a massive Foothill oak woodland. It was a great day in the sunshine state though!!!!!
