Gualala Birds

We’ve been back in the bay area for the past week and plan to stay for another week; the holidays and family are to be celebrated.

I’ve done some local birding and a new favorite of mine, the Ferruginous Hawk (bird #124 for me), has shown up in the front yard.

Unfortunately, he picked the tallest tree in the yard with plenty of branches to obstruct him – but I still managed to get some photos.

I tried to predict the direction he would leave the tree ( the direction he was facing was head on to the breeze – usually a good indicator of how they’ll launch), so I patiently stood across the street for 20 minutes in the cold waiting for him to leave. Of course he launched 90′ from me, giving me a nice view of his buttocks as he left to find a less nosy neighbor.

I’ve had Merlin Bird id tell me Cedar Waxwings (bird #50 for me) have been in the neighborhood – I managed a photo of a small flock of them flying overhead but never perched. Today fixed that as they seem to like our Chinese Pistache tree – as do the Nuttal’s Woodpeckers (bird #17) and the Northern Flickers.

Tomorrow I’m going with my step-daughter to see if we can find the Sandhill Cranes – wish us luck as this would be a lifer.