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First of Season blog sighting, Wilson's Warbler

3/31/2016

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Also starting to see a pair of black-headed grosbeaks at my suet feeders in the morning, no photo yet!

Male Wilson's warbler, Jack London state park, Glen Ellen

Wild hyacinth? Jack London state park.

This could be wild buttercup, Jack London State Park

California quail, at the entrance to Tolay Lake Regional Park

A pair of cinnamon teals on one of the sloughs, Tolay Lake

Male Tree Swallow portrait, Tolay Lake

Female Western Bluebird, Tolay Lake

Male Ruddy duck, Shollenberger Park, Petaluma

Male gadwall, Shollenberger

All the park's nest boxes still had the tree swallows' interest.

Female house finch with some nesting material? Shollenberger Park.

A group of gadwalls (I think) in flight

American Avocets were more active in the park

A lone Lesser Yellowlegs, Shollenberger Park, Petaluma

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Tomales Bay and Abbott's Lagoon, Point Reyes

3/24/2016

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Surf scoters in the relative calm of Tomales Bay

Greater Scaup, breeding male? Tomales Bay

Least sandpiper foraging along the shore, Abbott's Lagoon

Odd sparrow, looks like a cross between a white-crowned sparrow and a white-throated.

Scout quail acting as lookout for a smaller flock on the ground.

Small bunny on the path, Abbott's Lagoon

Much of the dunes are fenced off for the snowy plover nesting, Abbott's Lagoon at the ocean.

Abbott's Lagoon - a mix of fresh and salt water, bordering the coastal beachfront with large sand dune areas.

Marbled godwits on the way home, along Tomales Bay at Inverness

Blue-eyed grass blooming at one of the Tomales Bay beaches.

California poppies also in full bloom.

A couple of black phoebe's called to each other as they hunted insects along the sandy shore.

Wild irises were blooming along the trail.

Checked out by red-tailed hawk.

Male white-crowned sparrow belts out his spring song - note the banded legs.

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Tolay Lake tops off, fills up with ducks and swans

3/19/2016

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Mute swan, Tolay Lake Regional Park

American wigeons, Tolay Lake

Male ring-necked duck

Ducks on Tolay Lake

Cinnamon Teal, Tolay Lake

Golden-crowned sparrow

Mature white-crowned sparrow with two juveniles, Tolay Lake

Great-horned owl, Tolay Lake

Great-horned owl, leaping towards me as I crept closer with the camera!

Great-horned owl makes a sharp left turn to circle away from my approach.

New perch for the owl, hoping to avoid any further surprises!

Tree swallow on one of the nest boxes, Tolay Lake Regional Park

European starling perched on one of the traffic signs on the road out of the park

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Shollenberger Park after two weeks of rain

3/16/2016

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Female Northern Harrier, Shollenberger

Male Ruddy duck, Shollenberger

Female Lesser goldfinch in the rosemary bordering the park

This could be a juvenile Barrow's Goldeneye in one of the sloughs in the park

A small flock of snowy egrets prowled the banks of the river foraging.

A flock of scaup were on the river itself.

Female Avocet near the mudflats

Black-necked stilts also searching the mudflat area.

A male Anna's hummer flashing its iridescent colors.

The Say's Phoebe after having just caught and eaten a cricket.

The white-faced ibis flock still at the neighboring Ellis Creek Facility.

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New round of "el nino" storms - everyone hunkered down, even the birds!

3/10/2016

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Song sparrow at the very flooded Laguna, between storms

Trail through the Laguna under water, with 4 to 7 inches more on the way!

Male Anna's hummer at the Laguna.

Wildflowers at the Laguna blooming with all the rain (I believe this could be Western Hounds Tongue)

A small group of cormorants flew over

One of several pied-billed grebes in the Laguna waterway

Back at Camp Meeker

Red-breasted nuthatch sits for a long time at one of the suet feeders, loading up.

I must have one of the few functioning hummer feeders in the area as there are as many as six or seven hummers using it - both Anna's and Allen's. Refilling sometimes twice a day.

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Prairie Falcon, Tolay Lake Regional Park

3/6/2016

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Sunday hike through the park, between the latest round of el nino rain storms...

Prairie Falcon in flight, Tolay Lake Regional Park, Petaluma

Prairie Falcon, first seen on a fence post

The falcon jumped into the air at my approach

Possibly a female Nuttall's Woodpecker, Tolay Lake

Golden-crowned sparrow in the park

Small flock of long-billed curlews still "grazing" in the park

Low pass flyover by a juvenile red-tailed hawk, Tolay Lake

Another view, juvenile red-tailed hawk

With recent rains, Tolay Lake begins to fill up

Killdeer on the path ahead of me

Red-winged blackbird in the park

This is the time of year for the male Western meadowlark to pour out its song from any high perch, and several were doing so during my walk

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First of Season blog sighting, Wilson's Warbler

Tomales Bay and Abbott's Lagoon, Point Reyes

Tolay Lake tops off, fills up with ducks and swans

Shollenberger Park after two weeks of rain

New round of "el nino" storms - everyone hunkered down, even the birds!

Prairie Falcon, Tolay Lake Regional Park

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