Visitors 99
Modified 21-Dec-23
Created 5-Nov-21
79 photos
A cloudy day, flirting with occasional bursts of sun. The day after the first big rainstorm of the season. This storm delivered more rain than we saw all of last year -- in total! That was day of steady rain, some wind, soaking the ground and running off into every small creek and rivulet.
After the rain, the smooth muddy ground recorded the passage of quail, coyote, and finally human, as we explored the moist world.
The group of birders is smaller today than usual, more intimate, with time and space to notice small things along the way: galls on oak leaves, and even on mistletoe. Ants swarming on a gall tree, even venturing to explore the humans exploring the galls. Scat, new to me, tiny and dainty. A dead spider -- what is the story here?
And I even saw a few birds. Fewer than my comrades saw and heard, but wonderful, at rest and in flight. A scattered band of Western Meadowlarks, which I saw for the first time in years. A White-Tailed Kite, soaring overhead, then kiting.
It is good to be back into our rainy season. Enjoy.
My fellow birders have helped with several IDs. There is much to add -- please leave a comment if you know something interesting about a photo. This community appreciates it.
