Mourning Dove

It’s dove hunting season, nearly the end of the first week. Every time I see a mourning dove I tell it to hide, come stay in our yard, go into Davis proper… This bird was hanging out near the office, safe from hunters for now.

Back to the Bypass

We went back to the Bypass on Friday evening after a report of a sharp-tailed sandpiper. I keep a fictitious seen-once-only-list and this bird’s on it. No luck, but we did see a snowy plover and had a gorgeous look at the rising full moon. Least sandpipers and white pelicans in the sketch…

Chicken

Drew chickens at lunchtime. They are much calmer than, say, kingfishers.

White-breasted Nuthatch

This bird has been hanging around the past few days, finally got a look at it.

Red-necked Stint

When you have a national rarity that shows up in your neighborhood, the least you can do is sketch it. I tried. It flew. (I did see it for quite a while but not in my own scope, and we were all perching precariously along a berm last night, it’s a wonder nobody fell into the mud.)

These Caspian terns were far more cooperative.

Salvaging a Botched Sketchouting

I was able to get out sketching with Becky again. We decided to go over to the Arboretum for a change. Unfortunately we came across a drowning wood duck, which probably has botulism. (Becky is a vet and former rehabber, she knows these things.) We took it over to the Vet Med Teaching Hospital where they will make a determination about whether or not it can be saved (lots of fluids; botulism is a toxin) or needs to be put out of its misery.

We didn’t have much time left but went back to the Raptor Center where we both drew this red-shouldered hawk, whose name is Mishka. It’s blind in the right eye, so non-releasable.

Red-tailed Hawk with Ground Squirrel

Cooper’s hawks, red-shouldered hawks, and now this red tail have been busy monitoring the ground squirrel burrows out on the field, here. Red-tails are perfectly capable of taking adults, but it seems the only ones that make it to adulthood are smart. This young ground squirrel wasn’t quick enough.

Nuttall's Woodpecker, again

I tried to draw the lazuli bunting that landed in the almond tree this morning, but it flew, chased off by a Western wood-peewee, which I also failed to sketch. So here is a Nuttall’s woodpecker which stayed at least long enough to get a good handle on the shape, then returned for a better study of feathers and markings. I love Nuttall’s. They’re cheery little things.

Red-tailed Hawk

The red-tails are coming back down from the foothills. This youngster caused all kinds of commotion when it landed in a pine tree.

American Kestrel

This bird has been terrorizing the ground squirrels, which is funny since it doesn’t really pose a threat to any but the very youngest, all of which are growing fat and bigger than kestrel-prey size.