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Daily Bucket - Celebrating Open Space in Capay, Yolo County [1]

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Date: 2023-06-13

Wandered over to Capay, a small town in Yolo County, on Saturday to attend an open space event. The town situated on Highway 16 has a park just north on County Road 85 with a number of accessible trails that follow Cache Creek and also meander in a large circle through grasslands. However, the closer you get to the creek bottom, the more uneven and difficult the terrain.

For the event, several local conservation groups and state and county parks had information booths. They featured a guided nature walk along Cache Creek. After the nature walk, there was a live band playing Latino music.

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A lively group made up of several families and adults followed the guides down to the creek. The guides pointed out various plants and natural items in both English and Spanish. As we learned about some of the plants, we kept an eye out for signs of critters including tracks left in the mud and scat (animal poop).

Unfortunately, over eager children and the ambient noise level caused by a large group of people on a trail, sent the birds flying before I could get my camera in focus. I spotted a great egret, a great blue heron, a downy or hairy woodpecker and a pair of red-wing blackbirds who all took off very quickly.

So I left the group, headed back to the trailhead, sat on a bench and listened for the birds. The park provides scattered benches and picnic tables (some covered) that served as a great spot to sit and watch. I was rewarded with the following sightings:

Northern Mockingbird stands in a mowed dry meadow

California Scrub Jay sits high on a snag.

Turkey vultures soar near the event. A vulture roost was seen a few yards away from the park.

Brown-headed Cowbird on a different snag

Flock of Canada Geese fly over the event.

Several tree swallows kept flying around a particular tree close to my bench. A closer look revealed a nest box carefully hidden in the brush. They must have had babies because I saw the swallows taking insects and dropping them off into the box. I watched them make a number of runs and could hear their calls.

Tree Swallow with an insect. The nest box is about 10 feet below hidden in the bushes.

As the group came back from their trip along the creek, a California Thrasher perched high in the tree and announced their return as seen in the title photo. I knew that my ability to get more bird photos was limited.

The Trasher called for about a minute providing a great sighting for the group as they returned from their walk.

I did find a lot of info on several new birdwatching spots to explore. Met some cool outdoor folks. Not a bad morning.

Weather in NorCal still mild and expected to stay in the low 80s rising to the low 90s by the end of the week. Last weekend was unusually cool, overcast and we even had a few raindrops. Really nice for Sacramento as we are usually in the mid-90s to 100 by now. I am happy to have a cooler summer this year after last year’s record breaking scorcher including a new all time high of 116 degrees on September 6, 2022.

What’s doing in your neck of the woods?

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/13/2174840/-Daily-Bucket-Celebrating-Open-Space-in-Capay-Yolo-County

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