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Spring time at Sutters Landing Park 2014 by Robert

5/4/2014

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After being away in snow country for a while, it was especially nice to return to and see Swainson's hawks out busily hunting on the grassy mound at Sutter's Landing Park, as the annual summer mowing began.
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A rainbow aura circled the sun as this Swainson's hawk soared overhead.
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Notice the large size of the Swainson's hawk talons as it carries it's catch in one foot.
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These hawks seize the moment to catch as many prey as they can when mowing begins on the mound At Sutter's Landing Park.
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This hawk might have taken a snack while in flight. The rodent is most likely a California vole.
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While I was waiting for the hawks to return this curious Western Fence lizard was watching to see what I was up to from a safe distance.
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Damselflies were propagating in large numbers along the shallows of the river where many fish congregated even closer to the banks.
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I arrived at the river early enough to catch sight of these two residents. I haven’t seen them together at the Park for a long time now. The California Ground Squirrel and our state bird, the California Quail. I was surprised to know these same quail are also found in Montana.
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The male quail stood guard while the female dined.
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Suddenly the quail made a hasty retreat as a Red-shouldered hawk flew in!
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I’ll have to check my photo records to see how long it’s been since last I’ve seen the colorful Lazuli Bunting! I might have seen the female before as she could easily be mistaken for a sparrow by me.
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Binoculars will be very helpful to ID this species.
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This female Wood duck and her mate were busy dining in this swirl of Cottonwood Tree seed fluff.
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Yum! Cottonwood soup.
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I saw Canada geese and Mallards with young across the river, but these two Wood ducks appeared to have none at this time.
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This Red-tailed hawk mom appears to be still incubating. They have moved slightly further down river from the nest I’ve observed them use for the last three years.
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