I got up around 6:30 this morning and headed out around 7:00 to do some grocery shopping and go over to the Cosumnes River Preserve for a walk.
It was a fingertip-freezing 33° at the preserve, so I kept my walk pretty short. I’d dressed for the cold, but it still managed to get through my layers of clothes and into my bones. Rattle-rattle- rattle… The birds were apparently smarter than the humans, and were staying hunkered down in the tules and long grasses and were really difficult to spot. I did come across a pair of kestrels – a male and a female – who were working on different sides of the road, several Turkey Vultures, and a Red-Shouldered Hawk, along with the usual ducks and geese. I did some gulls fighting over a duck carcass, and some Black-Necked Stilts horning in on a Northern Shoveler “feeding vortex” but nothing else outstanding or special.
Still, it was a nice – if exceedingly chilly – walk. The sun was out, the air was fresh and cold, and you could see the mountains all along the horizon with their new blankets of snow… Just lovely.
You must be logged in to post a comment.