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We left home around 1030am and headed to the same Yolo County location where we photographed a hawk aggregation last Sunday (2021 04-25 NorCal). Although not so many hawks were flying and soaring as last time, there were still plenty in the air and loads of them on the ground in several fields. One field in particular had 80 - 100 hawks on the ground in a tightly packed group and more in the air soaring. We saw a couple of red-tailed hawks, dozens of Swainson’s hawks, and one or two northern harriers. One field had several dozen great white egrets on the ground with a few Swainson’s here and there with them. The egrets were fighting for territory, perhaps guarding rodents which they were eating.

After taking some photos of the hawks we decided to make a drive around the loop at the Yolo By-Pass Wildlife Area. The By-Pass was vacant, and only a few other vehicles and hikers were seen during our 1-hour visit. The area is still quite green even though only a few ponds had a minimum amount of water in small pools. Wild mustard is still blooming everywhere, particularly on what would be islands if the ponds had higher water levels. Some of the red-winged blackbirds were photogenic and we saw a couple of hawks.

The water in the main irrigation canal along the levee for the shipping channel was very glassy smooth and reflected the trees and sky. I took a couple of iPhone wide angle shots.

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