2018 08-24 Yolo & Yolo Bypass
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We spent a couple of hours taking a late summer trip around the Yolo bypass. For the most part the ponds are still dry in most areas. We drove to Area G passing the big field where, just a few weeks ago, we found numerous Swainson’s hawks, red tailed hawks, and harriers. Not too much luck in the back area is today. Quite a few turkey vultures were soaring and resting on the ground, but no hawk activity. We did find a couple of nice red tailed hawk’s riding a thermal and interacting quite a bit near the main entrance and above the freeway with all of its traffic There were not as many white-faced ibis as last time, on the other hand there were more red winged blackbirds, especially in the rice fields. There are both mature and immature rice fields in the area right now. I took some pictures of both. A single harrier was flushing out the blackbirds from the rice fields to the east. After the Bypass loop we drove over to see the burrowing owls. Only one owl was out of its burrow. We noticed that someone has sprayed weed killer along both sides of the road…probably not too pleasant for owls. It was a nice day, cool temperatures, but a bit smoky. Can’t wait for more water to be released and the fall migration to get going.
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Read MoreWe spent a couple of hours taking a late summer trip around the Yolo bypass. For the most part the ponds are still dry in most areas. We drove to Area G passing the big field where, just a few weeks ago, we found numerous Swainson’s hawks, red tailed hawks, and harriers. Not too much luck in the back area is today. Quite a few turkey vultures were soaring and resting on the ground, but no hawk activity. We did find a couple of nice red tailed hawk’s riding a thermal and interacting quite a bit near the main entrance and above the freeway with all of its traffic There were not as many white-faced ibis as last time, on the other hand there were more red winged blackbirds, especially in the rice fields. There are both mature and immature rice fields in the area right now. I took some pictures of both. A single harrier was flushing out the blackbirds from the rice fields to the east. After the Bypass loop we drove over to see the burrowing owls. Only one owl was out of its burrow. We noticed that someone has sprayed weed killer along both sides of the road…probably not too pleasant for owls. It was a nice day, cool temperatures, but a bit smoky. Can’t wait for more water to be released and the fall migration to get going.
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