California quail

On our recent trip over to the Mendocino coast, I had other things on my mind besides looking out for birds; but I was lucky enough to encounter a few, some of them quite literally at my front door. Although I frequently heard some of the hawks that I saw on our previous trip, I never got near enough to shoot pictures. Still, I can’t complain since I had a perfect opportunity to spy on a good-sized covey of quail from inside the house in the middle of a rainstorm.

There are always plenty of gulls around

The American kestrel caught me by surprise; this was as close as I could get

I think this is either a Hairy or a Downy woodpecker