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The Daily Bucket. Friday Sequence: Belted Kingfisher, Ferruginous Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk [1]

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Date: 2022-12-30

Belted Kingfisher. Dec. 23, 2022. Leonhardt Ranch Learning Landscape, Quincy, CA. 11:24 a.m.

December 23, 2022

The morning was getting on and my butt was getting fatter, just sitting around. Time (as again, and as always) to get up off my keister and get out and look around, because you never know what you might see.

The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge. We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns. We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the phenological patterns that are quietly unwinding around us. To have the Daily Bucket in your Activity Stream, visit Backyard Science’s profile page and click on Follow.

The weather being amenable I hopped on my bicycle and began my regular circuit: over to Dellinger’s Pond, then down the bicycle path to the walking path and from there out into the valley on the Leonhard Ranch Learning Landscape, a nature area set aside under the auspices of the Feather River Land Trust. I’ve posted this before, but here it is again for reference:

And what that looks like from a satellite view:

Dellinger’s was still pretty much frozen over, but it was mushing up and there were some Mallard Ducks in the open water.

The ducks were way down toward the far end.

Not much reason to hang around there, so I trekked on down the bicycle path on the way back to the Leonhardt Ranch path. At the high school, up on a very tall light pole over the baseball park, a beauty of a Ferruginous Hawk. Here’s a sequence of frames:

I love this one by itself because it looks like the bird really has its eyes on me:

I went all the way to the end of the walking path, hoping to see Northern Harrier today, but alas none such. However, I was well rewarded with a Red-shouldered Hawk at not too great a distance. A most obliging subject. Front, right, left, and back profiles:

I was really hoping for some “action” with the Red-shouldered, like getting a sequence of launch/flight frames, but it was placid so I just have to accept that.

For a change of color, a Western Bluebird from very close by where I photographed the Red-shouldered Hawk:

And a Northern Flicker:

I folded up my tripod and began the walk back to the public entrance and where I leave my bicycle. Short of arriving, I heard a peculiar bird call, one I wasn’t familiar with, very much a chittering, and saw a flash of dark and white. Magpie, I said out loud to myself. I spotted the bird, but as soon as my camera was out and up off it flew. Happily, it landed again very close by and with freehand photography I was able to get a fair succession of shots of what was not a Magpie at all but rather that ostentatious Belted Kingfisher.

Final sequence for this diary:

Heh, nope. Had a good-weather-window day. Keep on scrolling.

December 28

The 24th, 25th, 26th were all grey hazy cloudy days; stay inside days. Yesterday was heavy rain all day. Today was very foggy in the morning but some clearing around noon. Jump on that bicycle and get on out. The Five-miler out and back across the valley.

My view across American Valley looking north-east, about ¼ mile from my house. Sun stayed behind clouds for most of the time. Air temperature was just above 40f. Still way better than just sitting on my butt in the house.

Resplendent raptors out this day:

Red-tailed Hawk

With a burst into flight.

Ferruginous Hawk

With a burst into flight.

Sequential poses; Red-shouldered Hawk, about thirty feet from my camera lens, that’s why the resolution is so good for the close-ups.

I’ve earned my chocolates for the day.

Now it's Your Turn.

What have you noted happening in your area or travels? As usual post your observations as well as their general location in the comments.

Thank you.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/30/2143525/-The-Daily-Bucket-Friday-Sequence-Belted-Kingfisher-Ferruginous-Hawk-Red-shouldered-Hawk

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