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.
A rainbow aura circled the sun as this Swainson's hawk soared overhead.
Notice the large size of the Swainson's hawk talons as it carries it's catch in one foot.
These hawks seize the moment to catch as many prey as they can when mowing begins on the mound At Sutter's Landing Park.
This hawk might have taken a snack while in flight. The rodent is most likely a California vole.
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.
Damselflies were propagating in large numbers along the shallows of the river where many fish congregated even closer to the banks.
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.
The male quail stood guard while the female dined.
Suddenly the quail made a hasty retreat as a Red-shouldered hawk flew in!
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.
Binoculars will be very helpful to ID this species.
This female Wood duck and her mate were busy dining in this swirl of Cottonwood Tree seed fluff.
Yum! Cottonwood soup.
I saw Canada geese and Mallards with young across the river, but these two Wood ducks appeared to have none at this time.
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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