Coyote Run, 07-17-21

I was feeling pretty good this morning, so I headed over to the American River Bend Park for a walk. It was 62° at the river when I got there, but warmed up quickly to over 70 as soon as the sun got itself up. I took the trail that runs closest to the river (but sits above the shore).

Not a lot of waterfowl are out now; most of them have migrated out of the area. But I saw the usual suspects like Mallards and Common Mergansers. There was a Great Blue Heron fishing near the shore, and because the trail I was on was ABOVE where the bird was standing, it wasn’t aware of me, so I was able to get a few photos of it.

At one point, I could hear Killdeer and other small birds complaining on the other side of the river, so I looked over there to see what was going on. There was a young female coyote walking along the shore, scaring the critters up but not chasing after any of them. Just showing them who’s boss, I guess.

CLICK HERE for the full album of photos.

There were Acorn Woodpeckers and Western Bluebirds flitting from one tree to the next in another area, but I couldn’t get a lot of good photos of them because they were moving too fast and wouldn’t pose for me. Hah!

Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus, male

I walked for about 2½ hours and head back to the car. When I got there, I saw a Western Gray Squirrel chewing at a clear jar. Closer inspection revealed that the jar was filled with dry-roasted peanuts. The squirrel had managed to chew through part of the cap, and was eating the nuts. Smart baby!