We ran this trail this morning and saw several large birds. With novice eyes there’s no hope for us to identify them without photos, so we headed back at the end of the day to see who might still be around. We had just 30 minutes to spend.
This is likely a different coyote, but this morning we saw a one in the spaghetti squash field along the trail. It looked ready to pounce on something, and we stopped to watch. After a few seconds it leapt forward just as a California Towhee flitted away. Phew! The coyote trotted along beside us, on the other side of a fence. It appeared to be tracking a bird flying overhead (or visa versa.) Then, what we think was a red-tailed hawk (very large, red-brown, black with a white band across the tail) came down to the coyote’s level in the field and flapped its wings rapidly before flying away. We’re not sure what that was all about.
I got really excited thinking these were something new for our list, but after some research it appears they may be mourning doves tucked in for the night. All puffed up, they seem much larger than the doves in our yard.
All in 30 minutes! We will be back. I think there is a White-Tailed Kite out there. We haven’t had the camera the several times we’ve seen a large mostly white bird over the open grassland section. It has black wingtips and hovers in the air before diving straight down. For another day.
Goodnight Neverland! – Blair
The Big Year 2021 
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