2020 09-16 Yolo ByPass
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A sudden small bit of blueness returned to the sky today and the bright sun put forth its long awaited visual spectrum. Smoke from wildfires has obscured the sky, reduced lateral visibilities and shifted the spectrum to the yellow/brown for the past several weeks. Although I attempted some Yolo ByPass photography last week (2020 09-09) with limited success, the conditions today were a big improvement. After a long wait, the main road re-opened after a wonderful bridge was constructed…things seemed more normal.
There was a lot happening today bird-wise. We saw nearly 100 Buteo flying around and soaring at various levels. This began near parking lot one and continued as we traversed the entire refuge roadway system. In addition, several hawks were also photographed perched on objects, and one was photographed feeding on prey on the ground.
Egrets (snowy and great) were all over. Again, more than 100 were around the fields and canals…often in groups. At one point we saw nice red-winged blackbird murmurations with thousands of birds.
As we headed out to the main levee, we found a wonderful belted kingfisher which got annoyed at our photography and squawked at us a few times as it flew from one perch to the next.
A partly flooded field full of ibis and egrets together was also a nice sight.
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Read MoreA sudden small bit of blueness returned to the sky today and the bright sun put forth its long awaited visual spectrum. Smoke from wildfires has obscured the sky, reduced lateral visibilities and shifted the spectrum to the yellow/brown for the past several weeks. Although I attempted some Yolo ByPass photography last week (2020 09-09) with limited success, the conditions today were a big improvement. After a long wait, the main road re-opened after a wonderful bridge was constructed…things seemed more normal.
There was a lot happening today bird-wise. We saw nearly 100 Buteo flying around and soaring at various levels. This began near parking lot one and continued as we traversed the entire refuge roadway system. In addition, several hawks were also photographed perched on objects, and one was photographed feeding on prey on the ground.
Egrets (snowy and great) were all over. Again, more than 100 were around the fields and canals…often in groups. At one point we saw nice red-winged blackbird murmurations with thousands of birds.
As we headed out to the main levee, we found a wonderful belted kingfisher which got annoyed at our photography and squawked at us a few times as it flew from one perch to the next.
A partly flooded field full of ibis and egrets together was also a nice sight.
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