Natural History Wanderings

Today the Raptors birding class did a field trip to Pt. Reyes. We birded between the Bear Valley Visitor Center and Drakes Bay with many stops in between.  Birding highlights included watching an American Kestrel chasing a Merlin,  observing Red-tail Hawk mating behavior, and seeing eight raptors. I have a list of 47 birds that I saw, heard or were identified by others. I am sure I am missing at least a few.   Here is my list: Pt. Reyes Bird List 1/26/14

In addition to the birds we also saw five river otters in the pond behind the Drakes Bay Parking lot, Tule Elk including some males with showy antlers, a Bobcat and usual Black-tailed Deer. Wildflowers were scarce but I did find a paintbrush in bloom near the pond near Drakes Bay Parking lot.