I headed over to the Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve again for a walk. The weather was lovely all morning, so the walk was a pleasant one. The only thing that kind of messed up my morning was that I was lost in thought while I was driving to the preserve and overshot it by about 10 miles. D’oh!

The Black Phoebes, California Scrub Jays and Red-Shouldered Hawks seemed to be out about everywhere. I think many of them were fledglings just learning how to fly and hunt for themselves – so they were kind of conspicuous.

CLICK HERE for the full album of photos and video.

At one tree, a young hawk flew up into the bare branches right next to a European Starlings nesting cavity nest. The parent birds, seeing the hawk, flew into the tree next door – their beaks full of worms and bugs for their babies – and just stood there waiting for the hawk to move on. I could hear the fledglings in the nest – who could see their parents – clamoring to be fed.

At another part of the trail, I saw a Red-Shouldered Hawk fly low across the floor of the forest with something in its talons, and then perch up in a tree right across a clearing from where I was walking. It looked like the bird had gotten a fat crayfish, and it spent several minutes ripping the thing apart and devouring it before it flew off again with a series of loud shrieks. I was able to get still shots and video of the bird while it was feeding.

I could also hear lots of Nutthall’s Woodpeckers around, but even though they’re noisy and announce themselves when they fly, they’re fast and it’s hard to get any good shots of them. I only got one in the camera’s eye and only got a few photos before it took off again.

The other critters that were out en masse were the ticks. I used repellant spray before I went out, but I still got attacked, and ended up taking six home with me – that I later found attached to my clothes and torso. Eeew! I know they have their place in the ecosystem, but I hate those things.