2019 11-15 EDH-Yolo & ByPass
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We had three destinations in mind when we left around 9 AM. Our first stop was to be Plainfield in hopes of seeing hawks, especially ferruginous. Then we would go see the owls in Yolo County on our way to the Yolo ByPass wildlife area.
As we were getting in the truck before we left our driveway, of all things, there was a large red-tailed hawk perched on one of our neighbor's rooftops across the street. We took this to be a good omen as we headed out for the day.
Plainfield had one or two red-tails perched on telephone poles and one very well camouflaged ferruginous hawk in a tree. There were no hawk masses. Coincidentally, the fields had been plowed and there were no crops of any kind nor any irrigation equipment. We moved on.
As we drove the roads to survey the owls a single hole on the west side contained a pair. They were side-by-side 3/4 of the way out of their hole. Very photogenic. There were no other owls visible and we rode up and down searching. We continue down the road, onto the dirt, and drove all the way to the levee. We did see one red-tailed hawk, and snapped a shot of a very feisty kestrel.
The final stop of the day was to drive the loop at the Yolo ByPass Wildlife Area. Not all of the fields are flooded yet, perhaps because it has not rained. However, there were lots of raptors and other interesting creatures to be seen. Highlights included seeing six or eight harriers including one gray ghost, several large red-tailed hawks, a well-camouflaged great horned owl, and a troop of active river otters. Of course, the otters made the day!
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Read MoreWe had three destinations in mind when we left around 9 AM. Our first stop was to be Plainfield in hopes of seeing hawks, especially ferruginous. Then we would go see the owls in Yolo County on our way to the Yolo ByPass wildlife area.
As we were getting in the truck before we left our driveway, of all things, there was a large red-tailed hawk perched on one of our neighbor's rooftops across the street. We took this to be a good omen as we headed out for the day.
Plainfield had one or two red-tails perched on telephone poles and one very well camouflaged ferruginous hawk in a tree. There were no hawk masses. Coincidentally, the fields had been plowed and there were no crops of any kind nor any irrigation equipment. We moved on.
As we drove the roads to survey the owls a single hole on the west side contained a pair. They were side-by-side 3/4 of the way out of their hole. Very photogenic. There were no other owls visible and we rode up and down searching. We continue down the road, onto the dirt, and drove all the way to the levee. We did see one red-tailed hawk, and snapped a shot of a very feisty kestrel.
The final stop of the day was to drive the loop at the Yolo ByPass Wildlife Area. Not all of the fields are flooded yet, perhaps because it has not rained. However, there were lots of raptors and other interesting creatures to be seen. Highlights included seeing six or eight harriers including one gray ghost, several large red-tailed hawks, a well-camouflaged great horned owl, and a troop of active river otters. Of course, the otters made the day!
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