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The eastern Sacramento Valley had a thin layer of overcast, and the central region was mostly sunny. The day featured three areas and four shoots: 1-East Folsom, 2-Woodland, 3-Yolo, and then back to 4-East Folsom again.

The two stops in East Folsom (this may actually be within the El Dorado County limits). At 820am an owl check found it out and perched above its burrow in a piece of timber that frames a small creek as it passes under the railroad tracks. On the second trip, at the end of the 4-stop circuit, the owl was sitting in the entrance to its burrow. Consequently photos of it in and out of the hole were taken. (Note: on several recent trips the bird was very deep in the burrow and unable to be photographed or clearly seen using binoculars.

An hour later I drove along the rural roads and ag fiends in the southern Woodland area to check for hawks. It was overcast at first then started to break up. At least 20 hawks were seen, probably more. As usual, most if not all were red-tailed hawks. On Rd 25A they were found perched on the wheels of the moveable irrigation pipes as well as on the ground. All were very skittish. The region received several inches of rain during the preceding days, so the shoulders of the roads were VERY muddy…at one point my 4-wheel drive sent me sliding along the deep mud and made me wonder if I’d make it back to the asphalt roadway (I did, after a few hair-raising minutes). On Rd 97 all the trees had multiple hawks, and most of the utility poles did too. Most flew off into the ag field as I drove along the road.

Almost an hour after the hawks I made a single pass up and down the road in Davis where most of the burrowing owls have traditionally been photographed. Only one burrow produced hawks above ground. The eastern-most burrow had 3 hawks, all about the same size, standing around the rim of the burrow. I’ve never seen 3 birds in that hole before.

On the way home I made the second stop at the East Folsom location mentioned above.


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