המועדפים של featherenthusiast

During the start of the eclipse neighbor hood dogs started to howl like crazy and then died down after about a minute. Birds still tweeted but it was less and sounded more panicked, two turkey vultures were flying near by and then immediately landed once the eclipse had started,

Reviewing old field notes and photos, I came across this tanager with what seems like a bit of a streak on its wing, which I wouldn't expect on a Summer or Scarlet. I'd appreciate others' opinions to verify it was not a Western Tanager.

Fresh roadkill I found this morning. Thought I would document it. Placed it in mosquito creek after I took some pictures and looked at it up-close. It was cool to see the skin like texture of the underside of its lower mandible. Rip little buddy.

My friend was walking and came upon this 4 ft Black Rat Snake coiled around a juvenile Broad-Wing Hawk. The Hawk was unconscious. He and his wife picked up the duo with a towel and untangled the snake. The snake had a small wound near the tail so he surmised that the hawk likely attacked the snake, but bit the wrong end. Big mistake! Rat Snakes are constrictors. The snake slithered away seemingly unaffected. The hawk took approx 20 minutes to recuperate and fly away. Happy ending for the snake - lesson learned we hope for the hawk.
The hawk had a purple band on its leg, but we don't know who tagged it.
A separate observation has been logged for the snake.

I was absolutely ecstatic to have even seen a pacific jumping mouse but was even more shocked when it allowed me to take photos on my phone up close for a few minutes as it fed. This individual still had awareness but didn’t seem super bothered by my presence. I’ve been wanting to observe this species for a while and I’m so happy to have gotten this experience.

Edit: Saw a different individual in the same spot today (9/27/23, 1:20 PM). Glad to see population activity.