I headed out to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. I had signed up to take a tram tour in the afternoon, but then I found out that the tram doesn’t cover any area that isn’t covered by the regular auto tour, so I went in earlier and just drove the circuit myself. I was hoping to see some bald eagles, and I did, but they were pretty far away so I couldn’t get close-ups of any of them. Along with the waterfowl, there were a lot raptors out and about today. One hawk flew across the trail in front of me and disappeared into the tules. A few seconds later, it flew back out again – right at the car. I thought for sure it was going to crash into me, but it swerved at the last minute and flew right by my open passenger side window – looking in at me as it continued on by. Awesome! It all happened so fast, though, that I didn’t get photos of it. There were also a lot of Meadowlarks all around, singing and walking along the side of the trail. I also saw my first live raven, which was kewl, too..

And here’s a short video of a Meadowlark singing: http://youtu.be/5l8u7EcFwOU