Field of Dreams

Song - In The Air Tonight - Phil Collins cover by Sierra Eagleson 

 

 The day after Thanksgiving Mr. B and I decided to take a little day trip to our Field of Dreams.  See all of those cut corn stalks in this field near Lodi?  Guess what they attract?

 

Birds....thousands and thousands of glorious birds.....

Great Blue Herons

Tundra Swans

 

 Great Egrets

And Sandhill Cranes.....

October through March these birds migrate to the Delta wetlands coming as far away as Siberia and Canada. They will spend the winter here before returning to their home.

Sandhill Cranes in flight with their long fingertips in the breeze.....

We spent several hours observing so many birds and as we were leaving I spotted something that didn't look like a bird.

 

 A coyote running under the Walnut trees near a levee. He worked his way around the levee and began to approach the birds in the water. I thought they might all fly off or at least move away from the shores.  

But nope they stayed put but kept an eye on him as he took a long drink of water then moved on.

 

We headed back to "civilization" just as the sun was setting.  It was a wonderful warm day with windows open while listening to the multitude of birdsong.

 

We spotted Mt. Diablo in the distance near Rio Vista heading home. 

 

"Life is a journey

I don't have a map for."

--Delta Goodrem

 

Voices of the Pacific Flyway

Song - Snow Geese Flying & Honking

 

Two Sandhill Cranes

On Tuesday my friend Jill and I drove to Lodi to enjoy a mini road trip and to do some bird watching.  We saw hawks all along our journey mostly on telephone poles surveying the ground below.  We were heading to the Woodbridge Ecological Reserve. 

Every Fall thousands of waterfowl birds migrate from Russia, Alaska, Canada into California and the Pacific Flyway. Below is a GPS map of the migration from the US Government and Western Ecological Research Center.

The birds mostly come from colder countries and over winter in California's Central Valley.

 

Great Egret

A Great Egret can be identified by its large size and a yellow-orange bill while the Snowy Egret is much smaller in size and has a black bill.

 

 

Two Tundra Swans

We arrived at the Reserve in the early afternoon and drove up and down West Woodbridge Road.  There is shallow water on both sides of the road where the birds gather.

 

 

 

 

Several Sandhill Cranes in a field with more in the background

 

Tundra Swans in flight

Later in the afternoon birds began to fly overhead in great numbers.

 

 

 

More Tundra Swans

Greater White-Fronted Geese in the foreground and Snow Geese in the mid-section

The Greater White-Fronted Geese are named this because they have a small bit of white feathers above their bill.

 

 

 

Greater White-Fronted Geese blend in with the landscape

 

 

A solitary Sandhill Crane with a red head

 

 

 

 Snow Geese landing in a nearby field

 

 

 

Snow Geese in flight with their distinctive features of white body and black tipped wings

 

 

 

Coming around again!

 

 

 At this point it's getting pretty noisy as they are calling from the sky, the water and the fields

Jill had me turn the car off several times so we could take in the excited calls.

 There were several Northern Pintail ducks nearby

 

An American Kestrel (which is one of the smallest falcons) on the wires.  So colorful!

 

 

 Western Grebe with long bills

 

What I believe is a Red-Shouldered Hawk blending in with his background

A very friendly Great Blue Heron quietly standing by the side of the road.  Didn't seem bothered  by the car or our cameras clicking.  Guess he wanted to make sure we got his good side!

Sandhill Cranes

A different shot of the American Kestrel

A hawk in a Walnut Tree

Jill spotted this Coyote as we were leaving

Not sure why he was so thin as there are plenty of birds to eat.

A Great Egret taking off.....

And there she goes.....

A parting shot of a Sandhill Crane

 

After leaving the Reserve we went into Lodi and enjoyed a yummy early Thai dinner at Thai Spices that my friend Ellen had recommended!  Thanks Ellen - it was so delicious! 

We drove home into a beautiful sunset.

Hope to go again soon!

New Place of Business

I am now conducting my business from a new location......

It's the only place I can get internet!

 

And here some are my new associates....

Peaty - a new up & coming associate who can help you clean out your bread drawers!

Peaty 2 & 3 - Jr. Associates of Peaty 1 who is teaching them how to give me that look.....you know the one....."I'm both cute and starving". I have to say that they keep me entertained for hours each day!

 

And my story would not be complete without the villan.

 

 

And a beautiful critter he is! Mr. B spotted him on the way home from the beach.

 

** Side Note: My connector from my camera to my iPad isn't working so once I download my photos onto my laptop, I then have to take pictures of my photos with my iPad. Confusing but it works.

 

PS - I love my new office space!

 

Posted with Blogsy

A Bare Spot

Song - Animal Crackers in My Soup by Shirley Temple


The critters were abundant in Lake Tahoe over the last two weeks.

There was a Ladybug hatch one day at the beach.  They would float in on the water, land in the sand, dry off and fly away.  It was hard to cool off in the water with out stepping on them as they blanketed the shoreline.

The Canadian Geese and Sea Gulls were out in record numbers as well.  They could hear you opening your lunch from across the lake! 

The Merganser's and ducks would float in and out.

Every morning several Tiger Swallowtails would great me "good morning"! It was lovely to watch them float through the forest weaving in and out of the trees.

I saw squirrels, chipmunks, huge Carpenter Ants, deer and this little fellow came to visit Mr. B and me when we returned to the cabin from the beach.....

I named him "Bobby Bear".

Doesn't that just fit this big guy (who was about the size of a VW bug!)?

I think he needs a pedicure........

Cute, fuzzy-wuzzy guy who was focused on getting to the creek behind me.

There were lot's of Robins, Stellar Jays and songbirds. I even saw a Bald Eagle but wasn't quick enough with my camera.

Can you see the White-Headed Woodpecker?  I had never seen one of them before. It was just after a thunder shower.

The Forest Rangers had a "bird show" going on near Camp Richardson, just down the street from our cabin.  There was a Kestrel which was found in someone's swimming pool.

A Red Tailed Hawk.........

And a Gyrfalcon or "white falcon" who had to wear a blinder the entire time because he was raised by one man and never saw any other people.  When the man died, he would become traumatized if he saw other people.

This is the woman who is now raising him.  She is a Master Falconer and the young woman several photo's above is her apprentice.  Falcons were used for hunting before guns were invented.  It's how they got food on the table for the family!

But one of my favorite critters was a litter of Coyote pups who were having a great time playing with each other on this log. We saw them on our way home from Yemmonaide Lake (Angora Lake).

And now to show you the fiercest animal of the forest.......

She was on-guard all day long and in the afternoons she was plain tuckered out!  Probably dreaming about chasing squirrels......


"The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight.  The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention." 
- May Sarton