Flora and Fauna

I posted a photo of one of the birds I’ve snapped out here on Facebook and one of my cousins asked for more, so I figured I’d do a big post with all I’ve photographed in the past week. It’s a veritable zoo right here in my back yard! Most of the bird photos were taken here at the RV park, the wildflowers are all within a half-hour’s ride from here, as is the coyote I recently photographed. I’ve been checking almost every day for more shots of the bobcats here at the park, but they’re elusive critters – popping out when least expected and I haven’t seen them for a couple of weeks now. This photo was taken the first day I saw the big cat. His paw print is VERY big:

There are many owls living here at the park and no wonder! There are so many rodents and bunnies here. There are owl pellets underneath several of the trees. I’ve been reluctant to coax the owls out (why blind them temporarily with my flash?), but I finally took the plunge and photographed this owl just before he/she flew. Another owl was in the box, but stayed half-hidden, then wouldn’t even stick his head out at all. It was fully dark and hard to see, so left them alone after that..

In another couple of weeks, there may be Red Shouldered Hawk fledglings. This mama has been brooding and protecting the nest – sometimes papa helps, but usually he can be seen hunting or guarding from the crow marauders.

A Bewick’s Wren:

Hummingbird acrobatics. These photos aren’t really clear, the bird was in the treetops amongst the blooms. I believe it is a Costa’s Hummingbird.

Looks like an Air Force C5A!

The kildeer were taking baths at the pond, then doing their funny little dance of bobbing up and down.

California Quail cocks and hens flock together. As I was walking up the hill to make a phone call last night, one got separated from the others by mistake. Finally at the top, he was frantic and instead of walking or running as they usually do, he took off and flew a big circle back around me to the bottom of the hill where his mates were.

Nuttall’s woodpecker also make their home here in the valley, first photo is the female, next the male.

The Northern Flicker is so beautiful and showy.

The Ring-necked Turtle Doves sing back and forth to each other all day long. Their song sounds a lot like an owl, who, who, hoot – except there’s one that doesn’t have the clear deep bell sound, he sounds like he needs to clear his throat. This lady was working on her nest.

This bird was misidentified in my earlier blog post: I called him a hooded oriole, but he’s a Cassin’s Kingbird.

There is one more bird that need a better photo. A Bullock’s Oriole. He would not come out from behind the eucalyptus leaves, except one time, and he was too far away for you to appreciate his bright yellow/orange plumage.

Was this Western Meadowlark warning the coyote? She sat on the fence near me and sang the whole time the coyote was running away.

It was very early evening – around 5:00 when I spotted this coyote. Even though I listen to coyotes sing every night, I’ve only ever seen one run across the road nearby. But Saturday at the Santa Rosa Plateau, I spied one as I was driving down off the plateau. He didn’t stick around long to cooperate though.

Are you still here?

OK – I’m outta here.