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We had a little rain last night, consequently the day was clear and bright and a bit cool. It was our first fall trip to Sac NWR, and the first since our last one on May 20, 2017. Many of the fields, but not all, had water. We took the drive. Here is a chronology.

On the first leg of the drive, heading south, there was a red-tailed hawk on a branch. A bit further along, as the road bent to the west, I the sunroof of the truck to photograph three red-tailed hawks circling overhead.

Continuing west, the most unusual sightings (and photographs) of the day included two separate individual striped skunks close to the road. One was on the north side, foraging along the edge of the flooded field. Further along on the westward leg we spotted a large, great horned owl perched on a low branch on a tree that was about ¼-mile north of the road. The owl sat motionless, perhaps asleep. About 100 yards further there was a second skunk moving through the roadside grass and tall reeds.

Later, to the northwest, a large Buteo was seen in flight. Ponds had thousands of white-fronted geese a few hundred snow geese. Lots of ducks were there too. The reeds had red-winged blackbirds, as usual. The field behind the elevated platform was dry. Down the road 0.8 miles from the platform a huge, dark eagle was perched high in a tree. It took off before we got close, perhaps in response to another birder in a pickup truck that parked for a while (to take photos)…like we wanted to do. The eagle moved east and sent a few thousand geese into the air. About 1.4 miles from the platform there was another red-tailed hawk.

After the turn to the west we saw a harrier swooping along the fields next to the road. The last sighting was a peregrine falcon atop a tree among bare branches. The falcon was all puffed-up, perhaps to stave off the cool winds from the south blowing across the ponds and into its face.



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