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Visitors 98
Modified 21-Dec-23
Created 6-May-16
125 photos

Birding out of Escobar Gate, we saw a coyote hunting near the lone valley oak; six kinds of brodiaea; five kinds of oak; butterflies mating; and many birds, late spring flowers, and insects. I was glad to show Helen's cousin Sue some of our local highlights, including a red-tailed hawk, turkeys, and my favorite: a white-tailed kite, rapidly beating its wings to hover stationless in the wind, then diving to seize an unsuspecting vole.

Check the kite images for some meditations on windhover, kites, and poetry.

Sally, Phil and other birders; John, Sara, and everyone: my IDs may need correction or amplification. Please leave a comment! And I think I saw another dove or pigeon, not a mourning dove. The photos are here.
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) in FlightWild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo)Pretty Face (Triteleia ixiodes ssp. ixiodes, AKA Golden Brodiaea)Flower of Pretty Face (Triteleia ixiodes ssp. ixiodes, AKA Golden Brodiaea)Entrance OaksFlower of Ithuriel's Spear (Triteleia laxa)White Globe Lily (Calochortus albus, AKA Fairy-lantern)Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo)Meadow FlowersOwl's Clover, Cottontops, and Blue DicksOwl's Clover, Cottontops, and Blue Dicks (Detail)White Blue Dicks (Dichelostemma capitatum ssp. capitatum)Pitcher Sage (Lepechinia calycina)Field and Forest: California Buckeye (Aesculus californica)Leather Oak (Quercus durata) in BloomLeather Oak (Quercus durata) in Bloom (Closer)Oaks in SerpentineNest of Dusky-footed Woodrat (Neotoma fuscipes)New Leaves of Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia).New Leaves of Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia).