Killdeer

One of these mornings I’m going to get myself back over to the vernal pools at Phoenix Park to visit the birds — and hopefully spend more than 45 minutes, which was all I had on my last trip. Even in that small amount of time, I saw Crows, Ravens, Canada Geese, Goldfinches, Black Phoebes, and a handful of Killdeer. […]

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Crowing about crows

While I was mostly hoping to photograph some smaller birds yesterday morning while exploring the vernal pools at Phoenix Park, it was impossible to ignore the local crows. There weren’t very many of them, but they were very vocal — and determined to defend the area from the single Red-shouldered Hawk that made the mistake of passing just a little […]

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D’oh! in the fog

I was feeling a bit smug as I tramped around Rossmoor Bar with the Big Guy yesterday morning; I’d already come up with a bright idea for a blog post title (see above) based on my lack of confidence at finding any deer, let alone giant bucks, in the fog. But then after walking around for over an hour and […]

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Oh, Raven

I think I saw more ravens than gulls during our visit to Mendocino Headlands State Park earlier this month. While hiking around, I pulled a muscle in my lower back, so I left the Big Guy to wander while I limped back to the car. I was perched sideways in the driver’s seat, feeling more than a little sorry for […]

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Take the River Road

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is so vast and ever changing that there is no way I could hope to ever see all of its aspects. Every time I go there I’m amazed at how beautiful it is. On this particular day, I traveled along the River Road on my way to Antioch, and after taking a wrong turn I paused […]

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Morning rain

It’s been quite a long time since I walked along the Palisades; when the skies are blue and the temperatures mild, the trails are full of other folks walking, running, or riding bikes. This morning I calculated that the misty weather would mean fewer people — and I was right. It may have had to do partly with the fact […]

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Yolo wetlands

In my lifetime, I’ve crossed and recrossed the Yolo Causeway many, many times. But last week was the first time I actually stopped to explore the surrounding wetlands, now designated as the Vic Fazio Yolo Wildlife Area. I wasn’t precisely sure what to expect when Google told me I had arrived at my destination — and I’ll admit I was […]

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