(Icterus Bullocki)
A little down the road I pitched a blind and waited near an old dead tree that tends to be a favorite with Raptors. Soon enough an American Kestrel favored me with its presence.
(Elanus Caerules)
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| San Luis NWR, Merced, California | ||||||||||||||||||
| A 2 hour drive away from the Bay Area is the excellent and undiscovered San Luis National Wildlife Refuge. An early morning trip there revealed a cornucopia of birds - and I encountererd just one other birder during the 6 hours I spent there!! | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Bullock's Oriole (Icterus Bullocki) |
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| Driving along the auto-tour route I came across a Great Blue Heron busy swallowing a fish, after stunning it a few times with its beak and shaking the water clear... A little down the road I pitched a blind and waited near an old dead tree that tends to be a favorite with Raptors. Soon enough an American Kestrel favored me with its presence. |
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| White Tailed Kite (Elanus Caerules) |
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| A small flock of quail suddenly attraced the Kestrel's attention, but it continued to sit on the snag and watch the birds below. Suddenly, I see, out of the corner of my eye, a large Rough Legged Hawk swoop down on the quail. The kestrel makes a dive for it at the same time.... I don't know if either of them got anything, but the frightened quail take off right over my head, heading for safety... | ||||||||||||||||||
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