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We spent about an hour driving the main loop. Side routes were closed today. It was a sunny day with light haze and practically no breeze. We didn’t have to blast the truck heater! Sightings of various raptors were very good. Totals included: 3 great-horned owls, 3 white-tailed kites, 1 American kestrel, 5 red-shouldered hawks, 2 red-tailed hawks, 1 Northern harrier, 1 Great blue heron, a few great egrets in the distance, 2 black phoebes, lots of ducks (mostly shovelers), and 2 tundra swans in distance. No geese were seen along the loop although there were big flocks in near distance sky, and a mix of greater white-fronted and snow geese on the north side of the I-80 as viewed from the highway.

There were lots of ducks but zero blackbirds seen throughout today. Coots were everywhere on the road and quickly scampered back to the safety of their ponds as we drove nearby.

On the main road heading southbound towards the hunter check-in station (station closed today), we saw 3 separate great-horned owls perched in the middle of leafless trees that were about 50 yards from each other. The red-shouldered hawks were photographed here, too. So was the solitary, but friendly, kestrel. The kestrel flew from one tree to the next and perched on low, bare branches along the way…keeping 1 eye open and watching us. It made a few swoops down to the roadway and back to its perch, perhaps hunting insects (?). On one such occasion it swooped down directly at my camera lens and landed close by on the roadbed for a few seconds. Good for in-flight photography.

The 2 swans were visible with binoculars and telephoto lens in a far pond. We watched them for a short while as they seemed to be feeding.

No otters, beavers, muskrats or turtles seen today

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